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Critics' Opinion:
Readers' Opinion:
First Published:
May 2004, 256 pages
Paperback:
Aug 2005, 304 pages
Book Reviewed by:
BookBrowse Review Team
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From the book jacket: A shocking
exposé of the $15 billion marketing maelstrom aimed at our
children and how we can stop it.
Comment: Consuming Kids is a very scary read - which makes it all the
more important that it is read. Much of what Linn says
has already been discussed in other recent books about
consumerism such as Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic
by John De Graaf, No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies
by Naomi Klein and Branded: The Buying and Selling of
Teenagers by Alissa Quart. However Linn takes a slightly
different angle by looking at the 'whole child' - taking the
position that children are 'multifaceted beings whose
physical, psychological, social, emotional, and spiritual
development are all threatened when their value as consumers
trumps their value as people'.
Obviously children have been the target of advertising for a
long time but as Linn writes 'comparing the advertising of two
or three decades ago to the commercialism that permeates our
children's world today is like comparing a BB gun to a smart
bomb. Linn doesn't just serve up the problem, she offers
solutions. In addition to lots of advice for parents and
other groups involved with children she insists that there
needs to be much tighter laws controlling advertising to
children, because self-regulation obviously isn't working.
'Linn makes a compelling case....concentrating on how the sheer volume of
marketing aimed at controlling youthful imagination is what
should most concern us. Play, she notes, comes naturally to
children, who, by imaginatively engaging the world within safe
boundaries, develop rich inner lives, creativity, critical
thinking and autonomy in adulthood. But anything that
facilitates free play is precisely what "the loud voice of
commerce" cannot endure.' - The Washington Post.
This review
first ran in the August 3, 2005
issue of BookBrowse Recommends.
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