Relentless Progress : The Reconfiguration Of Children 's Literature

There are numerous genre’s in literature, but the level of importance and influence on an individual will differ. Exposure to books and stories is especially important for children because it their chance to acclimate themselves to written language and in turn create their own visuals for the toneless words. “Why Fairy Tales Matter: The Performative and the Transformative”, by Maria Tatar contains an ample amount of textual evidence from author’s research into fairytales, as well as writer’s personal experiences with fairytales. Although Tatar supports her claims with evidence, her resources are not concrete, and seems excessive at times. Also, her assertions are weakened by her failure to defend her conclusion against competing beliefs.

Children’s literature is the precedent for the development of all children. Children’s literature varies from poetry to children’s picture books. Every aspect of children’s literature gives an ability to grow a child mentally and develop their ideas and imagination. In early literature, children were romanized to be perfect and well behaved. Author Maurice Sendak counters the idea of a perfect child in his book “Where The Wild Things Are”. Sendak uses his picture book to illustrate a child’s ability to have feelings of anger, resentment, and frustration. The interviewer, Patrick F. Roughen of Red Feather Journal states that“Where the Wild Things Are (1963) contains some of the earliest attempts in children’s literature to represent the intrapsychic challenges of the lives of children. Anger, frustration, and the complexities of parent-child relationships can be found throughout its pages”. “Where the Wild Things Are” reinforces the idea that children are capable of emotions that one would imagine are only depicted in the adult world.

In the modern world, children’s literature, fairy tales, and fiction books influence our childhood and early development. In the 1500’s and 1600’s no children’s literature for entertainment existed, they had educational books. As babies, toddlers, and preschoolers, my parents and teachers read us books after books. It is proven that reading to young kids is important for their imagination, vocabulary, and communication skills in early life.

Since the view of childhood changes in the nineteenth century, the potential of children’s literature becomes evident. With the reference to the sources of children’s literature, they can be traced back to alterations in translation and in the literature for adults, where a child or childhood are essential concepts; moreover folk literature is concerned to be a wide source for this literary genre. According to Peter Hunt

In her speech, and the article, titled “The Case for Good Taste in Children’s Books,” Meghan Cox Gurdon addresses the controversy on Young Adult Literature. Throughout her speech at Hillsdale College she labels this current category of fiction as gaudy, inappropriate, and sacrilegious. Gurdon’s claim on the content of YA, for Young Adult, books obtains effectiveness through her ability to incorporate real world examples, the claim made by the opposing view, and a moral push.

When readers read a story written by an author they will usually think that the author likes to read books and is what led the author to writing a book. William Goldman said, “As a child, I had no Interest in reading” (Goldman 3), this can lead readers to imagining the author as a young child rather than an adult not wanting to read a book. When Readers imagine the author as a young child the image imagined can give a better sense of how the author felt as a young child. The imagination of a child giving the reader a picture to think about is less complex than that of a adult giving a reader a picture to think about.

Children’s literature has existed for as long as there have been stories to be told to children. Stories, books, songs, poems are all made for children. Children’s literature does not have a definite definition of what it is; basically, it is anything a child reads (Lerer, 2008). Children begin to learn what reading and writing are used for before even knowing how the system works. Children recognise the function of written language by seeing examples of written language that are being used around them. Many children know the difference between reading and talking, they are aware that written language is used to do things in this world (Emitt, Zbaracki, Komesaroff and Pollock, 2015). Quintilian, John Locke, Saint Augustine and Doctor Seuss speculated on the ways children learn the Australian language and learn about their lives from literature (Lerer, 2008). In fact, Lerer states that “the history of children’s literature is inseparable from the history of childhood, for the child was made through texts and tales he/she studied, heard and told back,” (2008, p.1). Children’s literature nurtures an understanding of narrative structures and visual images played in storytelling, this helps develop

Children’s literature can take many forms, from far-fetching science fiction to spell binding who-done-it mysteries. One of the most popular ideas presented in these various forms is that of escapism. The characters in these stories explore quite complex social issues in ways that are less confrontational then realism. One might consider why escape is such a central theme; as a child there are numerous benefits to fantasy, it allows readers to experiment with different views of the world and takes hypothetical situations and invites them to make connections between this fictive scenario and their own reality. John Stephens an English professor at Macquarie University has said “ Fantasy writing operates through metaphor- so that the unfamiliar is used to stand in for, or comment upon, the familiar.”

In the book, the author uses children as the audience. She uses children because their minds are pure at such a young age. The world, nor people opinions have affected their minds, unlike has with adults. So, the author wants the youth to see people for who they are on the inside not

Reading novels is an experience unlike any other. With the crack of a new book, the reader is transported into the pages, into a new land, ready to take on the role of protagonist. Each little girl has the chance to be a pirate-fighting hero, each little boy able to become the doting husband. If that sentence sounds strange, it is because society has socialized individuals to gender any and all activities, reading included. Elizabeth Segel drives this point home in her article “As the Twig is Bent… Gender and Childhood Reading,” which gives an in-depth analysis of gender in children’s book, and the implications it has for readers.

At one time or another almost every child has read a story about mystical beings, dashing heroes, and evil villains, all acting out a story in a mysterious place, in a time long, long ago. Fairy Tales, while almost purely of a fictional content, offer us a glimpse into the culture and social staples of a certain society. The classic fairy tale Hansel and Gretel, by the Brother's Grimm, depicts two young siblings abandoned in the forest by their parents during a time of a great famine. The Simpson's has long been a fundamental element of many adolescent children and is a modern, and somewhat skewed, version of the classic fairy tale. These two mediums of expression, however different they may be, give us concepts and facts about

Oftentimes when we think of children’s literature we have grown accustomed to picture a fairytale ending. The type of ending that leaves you with a warm, comforting feeling and a type of “anything is possible” attitude. As a story is told there is a rise of conflict, and it is almost certain we can count on the happily ever after mentality. That is just a general conception to be expected. We expect this because children are innocent, and we keep this innocence alive in the books and movies that are geared towards that early age group. In “The Great Gilly Hopkins”, by Katherine Patterson, she has stripped young readers from the ideal, yet unrealistic ending that is a common theme of children’s literature and in turn made a necessary, realistic perspective on life.

Little Billy is in bed ready to listen to his mom read Little Red Riding Hood, but then she stopped just before Red’s grandmother got gobbled up by the wolf. Some parents argue that fairy tales are bad for younger children. Parents might think fairy tales have a little too much mature content in them, but on the other hand the child’s parent can just skip over that part. Children should read fairy tales because they boost a child’s imagination, children develop critical thinking skills, and fairy tales can help children deal with emotions themselves. Children that read fairy tales boost their imagination.

In today’s society, literature is a beneficial tool that allows us better understand human nature. It provides authors with a means of expressing themselves, and through the analysis of their works, readers are able to discover truths about the human race. For instance, through the observation of reoccurring patterns, underlying messages, and the development of characters within certain pieces of literature, one can observe and analyze the way in which one’s environment effects their psychological development. J.M Barrie’s Peter Pan suggests that Neverland is the ideal developmental environment for human beings. Through the contrasting qualities of Neverland and “the real world”, the portrayal of Wendy, and the character development of Peter Pan, one can observe how J.M Barrie depicts Neverland as the ideal developmental model.

Literary heroes that are also ordinary children are engaging to readers, particularly child readers. James Pope and Julia Round write that “Roald Dahl is a fascinating author in that his books for children feature child heroes who are very often neither hero nor villain, but a wild, subversive combination of both” (258). These characteristics are also true of Coraline and Harry Potter, as they are presented as imperfect, but ultimately find the power within themselves to save what is important to them. Children readers are empowered by Coraline and Harry because they identify with these ordinary children and feel as if they can also make a difference in their lives, as the characters defeat the evil in theirs.