A children's book should be as good or better, its characters as believable and as carefully plotted and written, as any of its adult counterparts. If it does all of these things well, it will have a happier and longer life and exert greater influence than many adult novels. Certainly, few children's books are to be found in remainder catalogs. A book is either well written or poorly written. It is either interesting or boring.
Children care nothing about best-seller lists, awards, and book reviews.
They know what they like and they read it, not only once but half a dozen times or more. When they outgrow one type of book, they move beyond it. I remember one of my daughters who, in about third grade, asked for and got for Christmas, all the Bobbsey Twins books her father could find. Our concern today, however, is not the reading of mediocre literature but the possible replacement of any reading by electronic means. We marvel at the early readers in past centuries who absorbed more books as children than many adults today do in a lifetime.