Rachel Bachman writes: “We talk about craft. So why do discussions of didacticism in children’s literature sometimes seem to suggest that the problem begins with the author’s desire to communicate something meaningful? Somewhere along the way, I think we may have confused two pieces of advice that sound remarkably similar but are not quite the same thing. On one hand, we have ‘don’t preach to children.’ And on the other, ‘don’t write children’s books with a message.’ The first is excellent advice. The second is a little strange.”