Make it a rule never to give a child a book you would not read yourself. — George Bernard Shaw

Make it a rule never to give a child a book you would not read yourself.

Author: George Bernard Shaw

Insight: There's something quietly radical about Shaw's advice here. Most of us assume kids' books are a separate category—something we tolerate rather than actually engage with. But he's suggesting something different: that if a story isn't worth your own time, it probably shouldn't be taking up theirs either. This matters more now than ever. Children are drowning in content designed to keep them distracted, but not necessarily thinking or feeling anything real. When you actually read what you're handing them, you notice which books have genuine ideas worth exploring, which ones have humor that lands for adults too, which ones treat their characters like real people. That discernment is the gift. Your child isn't getting another screen-based time-killer—they're getting something you've genuinely chosen because you found value in it. The non-obvious part? This rule isn't really about protecting kids from bad books. It's about respecting your own judgment enough to stand by it. When parents read the books their children read, something shifts. You become less of a gatekeeper and more of a fellow traveler in stories that matter. And kids can tell the difference.

Source: Maxims for Revolutionists, 1903