Norwegian Writer Working on Children's 'Porn Book' Together With Daughter

Children are curious. For a growing child, everything is exciting when seen for the first time, including sex. Acclaimed Norwegian writer Gro Dahle will satisfy their interest with a controversial book on such a delicate matter as pornography. Incidentally, she is writing this book together with her daughter.

Gro Dahle, who has over 60 book titles in her CV and is not averse to provocation, is now in the process of writing a contentious children's book on pornography in collaboration with her daughter Kaia Dahle Nyhus, who will provide colorful pictures, Norwegian national broadcaster NRK reported.

54-year-old Gro Dahle is known for her penchant for topics, which may be perceived as borderline provocative. In her previous works, she addressed issues such as domestic violence, incest and divorce. Now she has turned to pornography.

Må ta på alvor at porno er en stor del av barnekultur sier barnebokforfatter Gro Dahle som gir ut bildebok om porno https://t.co/nCcfYVuwhu pic.twitter.com/IzONaVsdzE

— Ine Marit Bertelsen (@inemarit) April 30, 2017

"I had no idea how common it is for children to watch porn," Gro Dahle told NRK, citing a 2014 Swedish survey, which revealed that nine out of 10 boys and three out of 10 girls watch pornography. "This means that porn plays a bigger part in the children's culture than it does in children's books. It's high time to start talking about it," she said.

Blekkspruten av Gro Dahle og Svein Nyhus er en bildebok som handler om incest. https://t.co/MbsG4EsfDu #overgrep pic.twitter.com/kekKTQTuwG

— Martin Johannessen (@Larerbloggen) September 13, 2016

The "porn book," as the Dahle family call it, has been entitled "Sesame Sesame" and is about 7-year-old Al, who uses his big brother's computer and accidentally finds himself in a whole new world of sex, until discovered by his mother. Instead of a reprimanding him, though, his mother explains that porn is quite commonplace and that it's not really dangerous despite giving a strange picture of sex.

Gro Dahle's books are known for creating a stir. Her picture book "Angry Man" about a boy witnessing domestic violence was named as the best picture book of the year by many critics and was chosen as the best children's book by the Norwegian Culture Ministry. However, still many argue that her works are not really suitable for children, no matter how good they were.

"Librarians might put the book on high shelves to make it unavailable for children," Norwegian daily Aftonbladet's literary critic Kaja Korsvold wrote about "Angry Man."

According to Dahle, there are no surveys that indicate that children get traumatized by watching porn, but it can arguably lead to poor self-esteem or a skeptic view of sexuality. Nevertheless, Dahle is sure that "Sesame Sesame," which is due to appear in bookstores by August, won't be the children's first encounter with porn.

Joda, sterkt å bli del av kritikeren Guri Fjeldbergs modige engasjement her: https://t.co/dCoS3lRull pic.twitter.com/p2JCGjG08z

— Svein Nyhus (@SveinNyhus) September 24, 2016

Gro Dahle has a Master of Arts from the University of Oslo. She made her literary debut in 1987 and has since become a prolific poet and children's author. She is best known for her stylistically naïve and burlesque depictions of psychological problems from a child's point of view, made in collaboration with her husband Svein Nyhus and her daughter Kaia Dahle Nyhus. Dahle has also admitted to having Asperger's syndrome, which is a mild form of autism.

— Ei diktbok er ein forskinsrapport, seier Gro Dahle. Eg trur Gro Dahle er viktig for oss. Les henne! @Oslo_poesi no pic.twitter.com/N7kAon2hVf

— Anne Marit Godal (@annemgo) October 9, 2015

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