The "Christian fantasy children's book" response we all needed

People need to read this. I am laughing so hard I'm nearly crying at 7:30 AM, mostly out of relief that someone's actually put these words on paper.

This isn't really a blog post. But bear with me.

This snippet is from a 2007 Novel Rocket interview by Gina Holmes (https://novelrocket.com/2007/10/ya-author-interview-nathan-wilson.html/). Here, N.D. Wilson (one of my all-time favorite authors) is posed with, I think, a common question. The answer is something I have struggled to convey time after time, and that the inquirers are often unsatisfied with.

So please please please--DO NOT load your child down with Bethlehem Books, with children's fantasy that professes Christianity, merely because this MUST mean it's good literature--right? That's how you get kids to turn away from books. This is why we have children and young adults growing up today who say they don't like reading: because they weren't given the right books at the right time; because they were overloaded with mediocre, moralist-driven literature, and nothing else.

I write. I'm a writer. I have had the question posed to me: "What's the point in using your gift if it doesn't give glory to God?" For context, this refers to me not explicitly throwing Jesus references into every story. This, above, is the answer I've always wanted to give. This is it.

The Christian fantasy police need to chill.

Peace out.