[MD] Primer children's book

[Dan Glover]

Hello everyone

>From: Mike Craghead <mike at humboldtmusic.com>
>Reply-To: moq_discuss at moqtalk.org
>To: moq_discuss at moqtalk.org
>Subject: Re: [MD] Primer children's book
>Date: Mon, 09 Oct 2006 17:23:21 -0700
>
>Greetings!
>
>Isn't the MOQ a bit beyond the scope of a children's book?

Having raised 5 children and now being the proud grandfather of 8 and 
counting, if there is anything at all that I can say a child knows, believe 
me, it's Quality. So no, I do not believe the MOQ is beyond the scope of 
children. T'is a pity I cannot say the same for a lot of adults.

>In fact,
>through many developmental stages, isn't the differentiation between
>"self" and "other stuff" (i.e. SOM) crucial?

That is going to occur despite any books a parent might read to a child. 
This seems like a frivilous arguement to me.

>Is metaphysics even a
>factor until a child is well into the double-digits?

So far as I know SOM is a metaphysics too despite the fact most people fail 
to realize it. So again, your arguement seems frivilous.

>
>In my opinion, the two things a children's book needs most are clarity
>and humor.

Of course it does. An overall positive attitude is essential and simplicity 
is better than complexity. Humor is of value as well.

>Without both (in correct proportions!), a book ends up
>muddled preachy or or saccharine or [fill in your own substitute word
>for "lame" here]. I'm concerned that making the MOQ palatable in
>children's book form is outside the realm of possibility, even for the
>most skilled wordsmith.

We all have opinions. If I listened to them back then, LILA'S CHILD wouldn't 
be a reality. So I'm not listening to any negativity now either, thank you 
very much anyway.

I've got some ideas I'm bandying around but I'm no wordsmith, much less 
skilled. Still, I feel up to the challenge. I don't see this project as an 
impossibility at all. Then again, I would have problems getting palatable 
music to come out of an instrument. That is outside the realm of 
possibility.

>
>Wouldn't a book about gumption traps be fantastic, though?

There is nothing glorious about limiting one's thinking to accomodate 
others. ZMM is in my opinion one of the most powerful books ever written and 
you're going to limit yourself to one part? I'm sorry, but that's just 
silly.

>I sat my kids
>down and read them that part of ZAMM (and I'll probably keep doing that
>again and again until it sinks in). Replace the word "carburetor"  with
>"homework," and you've got a practical cure for homework-itis.

I made a point to read to my children every night. My oldest 2 slept in one 
room, the next oldest 2 in another, and my youngest by himself. I would read 
in shifts - 20 minutes in each room. When they were very small we would read 
regular childrens' books but around the age of 8 we began reading the 
classics like Mark Twain and Ernest Hemingway and many, many others. ZMM 
came along at about the age of 12. It is such a powerful book to read aloud. 
I thought the kids identified with Chris a great deal and my daughters cried 
when we learned he had been killed. I did too.

LILA is beyond the scope of a child, I will admit that. But there's no 
reason the ideas in LILA couldn't be distilled and installed into a 
chldren's story.

Thanks for your input.

Dan