Children are automatically drawn to what they feel relates to them the best. From clothes to games, and even literature, children are attracted to certain elements that separate what’s “girly” and what’s “boyish”. Most children literature is designed in a manner that attracts a specific crowd. The authors and illustrators of children literature take into consideration whether they want their book to be intended for girls or for boys. However, in the story Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Beverly Cleary, deception as to which crowd the book was intended is shown throughout the story. The books unique style has the ability to capture both young boys and young girls. By containing general phrases and avoiding specific representations of boys and girls, the structure of the book allows children to view the book not in a sense of gender but rather in a sense of fun, educational and exciting. Ramona Quimby, Age 8 lends to its children readers authorship in that the story allows children to decide whether this book is a boy book or a girl book. Cleary manages to make the story interchangeable. The shape, design, and title name of Ramona Quimby, Age 8 are all characteristics that awaken the senses of children when they are searching for a book that serves their greater interest. In this book Cleary shows how easily it is to manipulate the minds of children through the use of language within the text, and images. Ramona Quimby, Age 8 allows children to make there own decision as to what the gender of the book is. Whether boy or girl, the story is made in a way that takes children on an interesting learning experience as they delve deep within the text. Made possible for both girls and boys Beverly Clearly avoids focusing on a specific gender and we...
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... be suited for both girls and boys the stories illustrations appear to be more acceptable to boy than to girls. Research has shown proved that “girls enjoyed many boys' books, but boys refused to read most girls' books”. (Stauffer) This is an interesting static when trying to understand what might have been taken into consideration when Ramona Quimby was written. If the story did not include curiosity through the images and the text, and portrayed Ramona with long hair and girl-like features it is most like that boys would not have gained the interest to make it through the book. Tigreen made Ramona’s character so that she is just enough “girl” but much more “boy”. Girls are much more simple wile boys are hyper and energetic
The illustration take gender to a whole other level and making Ramona even relate to kids who do not relate to their gender a queer sense
Munro, Alice ““Boys and Girls” Viewpoints 11. Ed, Amanda Joseph and Wendy Mathieu. Alexandria, VA: Prentice Hall, 2001. Print.
Women pageant queens think they are supposed to represent the ideal of female beauty. The tomboy is especially associated with childhood and is defined by the girlhood performance of masculinity. As Michele Abate noted, “The traits most Americans are likely to name as constitutive of this code of tomboy conduct include proclivity for outdoor play (especially athletics), a feisty independent spirit, and a tendency to don masculine clothing and adopt a boyish nickname” (Abate). What does it mean to be a boy in children’s literature and the kind of varieties of boys that are represented? J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series typically features a social, educational, and physical dangers of school life that provide opportunities for adventure, mischief, and exploration. This collection of experiences allows boys to enact traditional forms of boyhood while practicing many of adult men’s culture and the ability to plan out schemes. Not all boys in children’s literature fit these conventional models of the physically robust athlete, hearty survivalist, or mischievous bad boy. Children’s literature also includes boys such as Laure in Little Women, who are described as sensitive, saintly, sickly, or effeminate. The literary and popular texts help understand expectations of boyhood and the insight into contemporary constructions of
Children literature is a term that refers to the texts written for children. The artist uses creative ways to ensure that children are provided with educational books, touching on a variety of themes. This paper will include comparison of two characters from the two texts, “Hana's Suitcase: A True Story,” authored by Karen Levine and “Charlotte’s Web,” written by E.B. White, with the aim of understanding ways in which problems are solvable as indicated by selected characters.
Senick, Gerard J., and Hedblad, Alan. Children’s Literature Review: Excerpts from Reviews, and Commentary on Books for Children and Young People (Volumes 14, 34, 35). Detroit, Michigan: Gale Research, 1995..
Falconer, Rachel. The Crossover Novel: Contemporary Children’s Fiction and Its Adult Readership. New York: Routledge, 2009.
It has always been amazing to realize how well the literature I read as a child has stayed with me through the years. It takes an exceptional writer to compose a narrative that maintains a storyline on the same level of a child's understanding; it takes everything short of a miracle to keep a child's interest. However, that undertaking has been accomplished by many skilled authors, and continues to be an area of growth in the literary world. Only this year the New York Times has given the genre of children's literature the credit it deserves by creating a separate best-sellers list just for outstanding children's books. Yet, on another level, children's literature is not only for the young. I believe that the mark of a brilliant children's author is the age range of those who get pleasure from the stories; the wider the range, the better.
Munro, Alice. "Boys and Girls." The Norton Introduction to Literature. Eds. Carl E. Bain, Jerome Beaty and J. Paul Hunter. 6th ed. New York: Norton, 1995.
Ward, Martha E. and Marquardt, Dorothy A. Authors of Books for Young People. 2nd ed.' (supplement). Metuchen & London: The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 1979.
Laura Ingalls Wilder may be viewed as one of the greatest children’s authors of the twentieth century. Her works may be directed towards a younger crowd but people of all ages enjoy her literary contributions. The way that Wilder’s books are written guarantees that they have a place among classics of American literature (“So many…” 1). Laura Ingalls Wilder’s form of writing portrays an American family’s interworking in a journey through childhood.
Munro, Alice. “Boys and Girls.” Introduction to Literature. Ed. Isobel M. Findlay et al. 5th ed. Canada: Nelson Education, 2004. 491-502. Print.
“Boys and Girls” describes a major turning point in a girl’s life, turning down a path towards womanhood. Her childhood fears of the dark and fears of being less than a perfect worker to her father and her control of her brother slowly dissolve. Her decision to free the terrified horse highlights her pivotal journey into adulthood. And her ability to cry with sensitivity over her decision of freedom, demonstrates the acute sensitivity of a woman.
Adolescent is essential in understanding gender development. With a society that classifies everything in feminine or masculine. Children are identifying by colors and toys. Girl’s wear pink, play with dolls and have pretend kitchen while, boys wear blue, play with action figures and have pretend guns. These differences are still instilled in young children what is socially acceptable. Some stores have tried to combat the gender stereotype by eliminating toys aisle and instead use a genderless aisle. The removal of gender label removes gender stereotypes. However, gender differences are also evidences in marketing advertised. Stores like Walmart and Toys R US recently, tried to tone down their gender specific children’s marketing. Toys can be representative as way children should be gender identities. For example, females should play with dolls. However, playing with dolls does not naturally portray person as feminine or it proves a girl as female. By
Alice Munro’s “Boys and Girls” is a story about a girl that struggles against society’s ideas of how a girl should be, only to find her trapped in the ways of the world.
Literature has been part of society since pen met paper. It has recorded history, retold fables, and entertained adults for centuries. Literature intended for children, however, is a recent development. Though children’s literature is young, the texts can be separated into two categories by age. The exact splitting point is debatable, but as technology revolutionized in the mid-twentieth century is the dividing point between classic and contemporary. Today’s children’s literature is extraordinarily different from the classics that it evolved from, but yet as classic was transformed into modern, the literature kept many common features.
Many people think that boys in our culture today are brought up to define their identities through heroic individualism and competition, particularly through separation from home, friends, and family in an outdoors world of work and doing. Girls, on the other hand, are brought up to define their identities through connection, cooperation, self-sacrifice, domesticity, and community in an indoor world of love and caring. This view of different male and female roles can be seen throughout children’s literature. Treasure Island and The Secret Garden are two novels that are an excellent portrayal of the narrative pattern of “boy and girl” books.