The Panda Bear on the Efficiency Cycle and the Popularity of Children’s/Young Adult Fiction for Adults.

The Panda Bear took the afternoon off from work to celebrate her birthday. The Panda Bear likes taking afternoons off. It gives her time to think, relax and organize herself. In today’s world, time to think can be a luxury; in a rich country like the United States time to relax should not be such a rarity.

The Panda Bear went to the library. She has noticed with her eReader she does not need to take time off to browse through books (something she liked to do). The Panda Bear is not discussing the intrinsic value of the paper book versus the eBook. Part of the appeal of the eBook is that it saves time in this time starved world of ours. However, there is an efficiency cycle when new technologies become are introduced. Working people like a new technology because it makes life easier for them. The technology then becomes widely used and becomes a practical necessity. Then the powers that be decide workers no longer “need” so much free time and make everyone work harder. Therefore, a technology that is supposed to save labor can really be making people work harder in the long run. Someday the Panda Bear thinks that in the not so distant future the powers will increase the school and work week because people will no longer “need” the time to access paper books, magazines or newspapers. However, for now the Panda Bear enjoys the time savings of her eReader.

Since it is her day off, the Panda Bear has decided to devote herself to a light post. It has been widely commented recently how popular Children’s/Young Adult fiction is for mature adults. Series such as Harry Potter, Twilight, and the Hunger Games appeal to both the young and old. The Panda Bear confesses she has sometimes gone to the teen section for her reading materials and has read books for written children as an adult. The Panda Bear thinks these are some of the reasons that children’s/young adult fiction is popular with adults.

1. “Family” and “child” friendly books always have to have some appeal to adults. Adults are the people who buy children these books and read it to them. As more of the adult population does not live with children/teens, adults are simply enjoying “family” pleasures without the children. 
2. Adults now like stories of the supernatural, witches and vampires.
3. The plot line in Children’s/Young adult fiction is stronger than in much contemporary adult fiction.
4. Children’s/Young Adult Fiction has a larger potential readership than adult only fiction. 5. The language is simpler in Children’s/Young Adult fiction. Actually some of the simple language of the books makes the Panda Bear worry about the reading level of some teenagers. The Panda Bear and her friends were reading at adult reading levels in high school. For the Hunger Games series, the Panda Bear thought teenagers should be at a higher reading level.
5. Children’s/Young Adult’s books have a “moral” to them. The Panda Bear was attracted to the Hunger Games series because it had a social message. Modern adult fiction is for the most part amoral. Adults enjoy reading stories with a moral to them.
6.  Related to the above issue, Children’s/Young Adult fiction has less sex and violence then adult fiction. Adults may be embarrassed to admit it but they make like “cleaner” fiction. 

Though, it has nothing directly to do with Children’s/Young Adult fiction, the Panda Bear recently read F. Scott Fitzgerald’s book “Flappers and Philosophers”, a collection of short stories that Fitzgerald must have written as a young adult. The stories are very good and quite easy to read. The Panda Bear highly enjoyed this book.