The attitude of parents towards problem topics in literature is important, as they are the ones who often have doubts about certain children’s books. Parents have a strong influence on a child's literacy, access to books, quantity, and quality of reading with their child, and the encouragement that the child receives. Their attitude is transmitted to teachers, who face pressure and questions about their professional autonomy, and whether they can include more demanding content in their schoolwork. In this thesis, we studied the attitude of parents towards problem topics in literary works to help parents better understand the importance of problem literature, for teachers to abandon their concerns about the attitude of parents towards these books, and for children to have access to more quality and diverse reading materials. The aim of the research is to determine the attitude of parents of children from 1st to 5th grade towards problem topics in literary works, which problem topics they consider suitable or unsuitable, which are more suitable for discussion in the home environment, what concerns they have when including literary works with problem themes in a child's reading, and what constitutes a problematic text for them. We used a descriptive method and a quantitative approach through an online questionnaire. The sample included 233 parents of children from 1st to 5th grade. The results showed that more than half of the parents understood problematic texts as texts that deal with problem topics such as death, sexuality, and violence. Generally, parents have a positive attitude towards problem topics in children's and youth literature, as about half of the parents frequently or occasionally talk to their children about these issues or read books with them. It should be noted that in more than half of the cases, parents read such literature with their children when they feel that it is necessary due to issues such as distress, school events, etc. The problem topics that are very welcome in children's literature from 1st to 5th grade and have the majority support of parents are books about children with special needs, poverty, and a different world. Topics considered less suitable include suicide, same-sex partnerships, and violence. None of the topics were explicitly mentioned by the parents as only suitable for discussion at home. The respondents also expressed their reservations about problem topics in literary works. The two most outstanding concerns, expressed by half of the parents, were the quality of books with problem themes and the teacher's professional competence to handle these books in a school environment. We found that most parents leave the choice of books to their children or help them with it, as library visits are usually a joint activity. We also explored whether the attitude of parents towards problematic topics in literary works is influenced by the number of children, their professional field, or their gender. The results showed that the attitude of parents is only influenced by their gender, as women more often read books on problematic topics with their children when they feel it is necessary, compared to men. We also formulated practical recommendations that will help parents choose quality problem-oriented literature. The purpose of the recommendations is to empower parents to courageously delve into problem themes for their children and recommend these books for them to read.
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