I first started noticing the shift many years ago. I was teaching school, raising kids, writing for kids, and reading a lot. The mainstream children’s book publishers and the religious market publishers used to run side by side back then, covering the market for any type of children’s book. But slowly at first, a shift started to happen. More and more books published by the mainstream publishers had themes or conflicts directly connected to the trending issues of society. These trends began taking precedence over strong writing. As time went on, the shift kept increasing. Books that I was excited to read would blindside me with edginess and presentations of values that left me disappointed. The pull between the mainstream publishers, and the religious publishers became more and more strained. Then in 2016, it became too much, and a tear opened a whole new void in children’s book publishing. Where were the new traditional kid’s books?
Many times over I saw the frustration of parents, teachers, and kids wanting to find good, traditional literature, but only finding fluff, edginess, or a focus on social ills. Where were the portrayals of traditional families? Strong dads? Choices and consequences? Patriotism and duty? Deeper understandings of life? All the hallmark elements of traditional literature had diminished in availability, and those that were being published were buried without marketing fanfare.
I also saw the frustrations of writers. So many strong, traditional stories were not being picked up by the mainstream publishers because they weren’t ‘edgy’ enough, or didn’t include the expected social agendas. Mediocre writing was being published over strong writing, because ‘good literature’ was no longer the focus.
Parents began having their kids read ‘old’ traditional literature, the books the libraries were weeding out to make room for the new. The problem is though, kids today are different. The way they read and learn is different. They need ‘new’ writing styles. Today’s kids need ‘new’ traditional, not old traditional.
So that’s what Chicken Scratch Books is. We’re here to fill the void created by the separation of mainstream children’s book publishers from their historic place. We’re here to provide traditional children’s books in a world where many writers have been unable to find a home for their traditional writing. We’re here to publish good literature for kids. That is our only agenda.
If you explore us much, you’ll see that we are different. We are teachers. We are parents. We are writers. We are entrepreneurs. We do things differently to ensure that kids – and their gatekeepers – longing for good, traditional literature won’t be disappointed.