{"id":44,"date":"2011-12-13T17:43:30","date_gmt":"2011-12-13T17:43:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/whatsheread\/?p=44"},"modified":"2011-12-26T17:47:20","modified_gmt":"2011-12-26T17:47:20","slug":"maggie-goes-on-a-diet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/whatsheread\/2011\/12\/13\/maggie-goes-on-a-diet\/","title":{"rendered":"Maggie Goes on a Diet"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Maggie Goes on a Diet <\/em>written by Paul M. Kramer and illustrated by Mari Kuwayama\u00a0is a self-published picture book written in rhyme for elementary aged children, but don\u2019t let it anywhere near your kids.<\/p>\n

Maggie is fourteen years old and obese and is consequently bullied by her peers.\u00a0 She\u2019s also terrible at sports, but decides one day to lose weight.<\/p>\n

Author Paul Kramer says \u201che began writing children\u2019s books that deal with important issues that kids face today.\u201d\u00a0 Though I don\u2019t doubt his good intentions, the book not only falls well short of his goal, it delivers a damaging message to children.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a snippet of the poorly written text:<\/p>\n

Searching the refrigerator in hopes she would feel better,<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em>Eating lots of bread and cheese including some cheddar.<\/em><\/p>\n

Maggie was not going to let anything else upset her.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

There\u2019s so much wrong with this book, it\u2019s hard to know where to start.\u00a0 But I\u2019ll try and start from the top.<\/p>\n

1) The weight loss is fast and dramatic.<\/strong> After Maggie decides to lose weight, she loses a lot of it, and fast! She loses a whopping fifty-one pounds with her self-guided healthy eating and exercise routine.\u00a0 It\u2019s an amazing feat, but with no adult guidance, it\u2019s not a probable outcome for a child who up to that point had no discipline with food and was an emotional eater.<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

2) Skinny = Popular and Athletic<\/strong>.\u00a0 While getting thinner, Maggie becomes popular and a super athlete (she hits a walk-off homerun in baseball and becomes a soccer star).\u00a0 For a kid who previously fell down while running too fast, it\u2019s a miraculous and unbelievable turnaround.\u00a0 For Maggie, weight loss leads to friendships (sleepovers with girlfriends and lunchtime companionship at school), the attention of boys, and athletic awards.<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

3) It\u2019s poorly illustrated and written.<\/strong> I probably shouldn\u2019t care \u00a0so much, but I do.\u00a0 This book is not a pleasant read, as you have to push through the badly written rhymes and unattractive drawings before you realize the message itself is toxic.<\/p>\n

Many have criticized the author\u2019s use of the word \u201cdiet\u201d saying we should never use it with children and should only talk about healthy eating instead.\u00a0 With bookstores filled with diet books (and ultra slim models and stars portrayed on magazines, movies and television), it\u2019s difficult to avoid the word or miss that we uphold a certain standard in our culture.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not as concerned about the use of the word as I am about the skewed message behind it.\u00a0 Kramer\u2019s focus on thinness\/dieting leading to popularity and athletic success instead of leading to overall health is disturbing and wrong.<\/p>\n

As with most important life lessons, it\u2019s up to parents to discuss and model healthy eating, exercise and balance, with or without the word \u201cdiet\u201d thrown in. \u00a0In the book, Maggie\u2019s parents are non-existent and have me wondering where they were while Maggie gained the extra fifty pounds?\u00a0 And where are they now that Maggie\u2019s entire world has changed and she\u2019s associating her newfound happiness and fun life to \u201cgood fortune\u201d and a newly svelte body.<\/p>\n

Good literature addressing these topics is necessary considering our current obsession about weight and body image, especially since one-third of our children are either overweight or obese.\u00a0 Unfortunately, Maggie Goes on a Diet<\/em> is not the place to turn for insight about these matters.\u00a0 In fact, it (and the kind of thinking it represents) only exacerbates the issues.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Maggie Goes on a Diet written by Paul M. Kramer and illustrated by Mari Kuwayama\u00a0is a self-published picture book written in rhyme for elementary aged children, but don\u2019t let it anywhere near your kids. Maggie is fourteen years old and obese and is consequently bullied by her peers.\u00a0 She\u2019s also terrible at sports, but decides […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":186,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nMaggie Goes on a Diet<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Maggie Goes on a Diet written by Paul M. 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