Children's Literature Discussion

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Recommended: The impact of childrens literature then and now

Children's Literature Discussion

"The history that makes us wish fairy tales did happen, that life were

like a children's book and we all lived happily ever after, is not an

easy history to read or write. If we persist in thinking that children

need hope and happy endings then the stories we give them about the

Holocaust will be shaped by those expectations… For there are those

who would tell us yet another fairy tale, one in which the mass murder

of millions of people did not happen I know that it did, and I know

that we need to find ways to tell children."

(Kertzer, 1999, p.253)

Children's literature continues to inspire both children and adults,

and more recently while doing so, has prompted questions to emerge

concerning the appropriateness of particular content. When adults

begin to delve beyond the pastel coloured, cheery fairy-tales and

nursery rhymes into something deeper the realism they discover becomes

disquieting. Should children be permitted to read and immerse

themselves in illustrations of soldiers, concentration camps and

bombs? Should young people be dwelling upon and receptive to concepts

of war and violence through literature? The manner, which authors

explore and attempt to depict these sensitive and graphic issues such

as acts of violence and war, comes into question when a microscope is

placed over such contemporary and historical children's literature.

However, the answers seem to be unattainable or non-existent until the

stories are examined closely.

Analysis into junior fiction classified as 'Realism literature'

reveals an array of contradicting opinions and perspectives given by

academics, critics and the like. A critical perspective will be

gathered within this pape...

... middle of paper ...

...al. Port Melbourne: Thomas C.

Lothian Pty Ltd.

6. Heffernan, J. and Mclean, A. (2001). My Dog. Hunters Hill: Margaret

Hamilton Books.

7. Innocenti, R & Gallaz, C. (1985). Rose Blanche. Mankato: Creative

Education Inc.

8. Johannessen, L. R. (2003). Making history come alive with the

nonfiction literature of the Vietnam War. The Clearing House, 76,

March, 120-127.

9. Kertzer, A. (1999). "Do you Know What 'Auschwitz' Means?"

Children's Literature and the Holocaust. The Lion and the Unicorn 23,

February, 238-256.

10. Lehr, S. (1995). Battling Dragons: Issues and Controversy in

Children's Literature. InTomlinson, C. Justifying Violence in

Children's Literature (pp 39-50). Portsmouth: Heinemann.

11. Whitehead, W. (1991). Old Lies Revisited: Young Readers and the

Literature of War and Violence. London: Pluto Press.

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