Make Believe
On Telling Stories to Children
Readers rate it 3.9 (6 on Hardcover)
Released May 5, 2026
Content report card
Make Believe parent’s guide: what’s inside
Violence
Language
Sexual content
LGBTQ+ themes
Scary or mature
Substance use
What it offers
Positive messages
Positive role models
Educational value
A note for parents
This is a book for adults about children's literature and storytelling, not a book for children. It is literary criticism and parenting/education commentary by a renowned children's author. Parents seeking a content report for a children's book should provide the actual children's title instead.
Analyzed by AI · 1 month ago
Read it with your kids?
Rate it and suggest an age to help other parents.
From the publisher
Make Believe is a book for adults about books for children, a rallying cry for art and imagination, and a celebration of the power of storytelling in all our lives. Mac Barnett, the beloved, bestselling children's author and U.S. National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, urges us to think expansively about the... Make Believe is a book for adults about books for children, a rallying cry for art and imagination, and a celebration of the power of storytelling in all our lives. Mac Barnett, the beloved, bestselling children's author and U.S. National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, urges us to think expansively about the potential of children's books--and the particular brilliance of young readers: What if children are a great audience for art? What if they are in fact better equipped to engage deeply with stories than adults? What if humans' ability to appreciate art is, if not innate, awakened early in childhood? Well, then we'd better do our best to make some good kids' books. Barnett has published more than 60 children's books, which have been translated into 30+ languages and have sold more than 5 million copies worldwide, winning many international prizes along the way. Make Believe is his incisive, intimate, and timely invitation to approach children's literature not only as an art form worthy of deep study and criticism, but as a portal into the lives of the children. And at a time when we are faced with a national literacy crisis, he champions the profound joys of literature and the importance of reading for pleasure. Written with humor and academic rigor, Make Believe reads like a letter from one's smartest and funniest friend.
Shelved under
- Family & Relationships
- literary criticism
Share this guide
ISBN 9780316607803