A literature ambassador said most children's books are 'crud.' Now there are calls for him to step down

"So I now offer Barnett's Addendum to Sturgeon's Law: Maybe more like 94.7 percent of kids' books are crud."

"Sturgeon wrote that "ninety percent of everything is crud," and investigated why science fiction among all other literary genres was looked down upon. He believed low quality exists in every genre-no one genre is inherently bad or should be denounced."

""He is in a position of power where he could protect and uplift us and instead he says things that cut to the bone and arm book banners? That's why we're mad," the author wrote. "Not because the argument about overly didactic books has no merit. Because what he wrote doesn't HELP CHILDREN'S LITERATURE.""

"He was appointed by the nonprofit Every Child a Reader and the Library of Congress (LOC) to raise "national awareness of the importance of young people's literature as it relates to lifelong literacy, education and the development and betterment of the lives of young people" as explained on the LOC's website."

An essay collection for adults includes a claim that about 94.7 percent of children’s books are “crud.” The claim references Theodore Sturgeon’s idea that ninety percent of everything is crud, which argued that low quality exists across genres and no genre should be denounced. The author is the ninth national ambassador for young people’s literature, appointed to raise national awareness of young people’s literature for lifelong literacy, education, and improving young people’s lives. Authors reacted with anger on social media, arguing that the remarks could help bad-faith actors seeking to ban books. Some criticism focused on the concern that the comments do not support children’s literature.

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