" Important books do not have to teach. We have long known that. In fact, we take a very superior attitude toward the books for children of the eighteenth century, which were written so patently to teach manners or morals or to give information. Yet if we examine a large number of new books intended supposedly for children’s pleasure reading, we see that many, many people — authors and publishers alike, and parents, because they buy them — feel that a good children’s book must be written with an acknowledged purpose. "

― , Margin for Surprise: About Books, Children, and Librarians