Although an extremely successful playwright author, talented poem author, and a superb novelist in his early years of writing, A. A. Milne is known around the world because of his highly treasured children’s book series, Winnie-the-Pooh. Milne’s love for writing and words started at a young age, but he didn’t pursue this career path until after graduating from Cambridge with a degree in mathematics according to S. Ward (9). Milne was able to relate to the young readers of his children’s books, as well as give a sort of distinguished outlook with the parents and adult readers. Alan ventured far beyond children’s literature, unwilling to stay with one type of writing for too long of a period of time. Because Alan Alexander Milne attempted many contrasting types of work, he showed to be skillful in writing a wide variety of compositions.
Milne’s love for literature began at a young age. John Vine Milne, A. A. Milne’s father, was an extremely competent and highly educated schoolmaster. He was the master of a school house for boys called the Henley House, which was located in London. His mother was a teacher as well. Alan did not prosper because of special attributes at home, as he had two older brothers that were not as auspicious as he. Alan Alexander had true talent from a young age. His father was at home one morning teaching the two older brothers how to read a small word. Although the brothers were unable to, John was appalled that “three-year-old Alan could. ‘Cat,’ he said” (Ward 6). In later years, at his father’s school house, Alan was taught by an extremely talented author, H. G. Wells. Milne and his brother Kenneth, together loved literature. Before Milne was a teenager, the two brothers reenacted dramas,...
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...Alan Alexander Milne amounted to much more than just an author of children’s books. He took a leap of faith into his writing career with not even a degree in literature. Milne’s hard work paid off as he became famous as a playwright, a novelist, a poetic author, and most importantly, a children’s author for his extremely successful Winnie-the-Pooh series. He used a simple, but intrinsic voice that helped him define and shape each line and character.
Works Cited
"Alan Alexander Milne." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 8 March 2014.
Milne, A. A. The Complete Tales of Winnie-the-Pooh. New York; Dutton Children’s Books,
1994. Print.
Milne, A. A. The Magic Hill. New York: Penguin Group Penguin Putnam Books for Young
Readers, 2002. Print.
Milne, A. A.. Rakkav. N.p.. Web. 10 Mar 2014.
Ward, S. Meet A. A. Milne. New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, 2001. Print.
Dr. Seuss, also known as Theodore Seuss, has written many poems as well as short stories, and is considered one of the greatest children’s author in history. His silly stories are able to excite children in ways that make them want read. His Wife says,” Ted doesn’t sit down to write for children. He writes to amuse himself;” Little do children know that often, in his stories, there is a lot of political undertone, a few examples include The Lorax, Yertle the Turtle, The Sneethces, and The Butter Battle Book. If you were to really critique some of his books or poems, you might see that some of his themes wouldn’t seem to pertain to children.
Jon Scieszka has an original style that is all his own. Many of his books such as The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs, The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales, and The Frog Prince Continued have led several people to believe that he has created a new genre of children's literature: using unique perspectives to retell classic fairy tales. But what motivated Scieszka to become an author? And how does he come up with his innovative ideas? I will answer these questions by discussing Scieszka's many inspirations including his teaching career, students, and his family.
Margaret Wise Brown is not the only author that has been able to adjust her writing style to better suite different age levels for children. Another author that could fit into this category would be Ruth Krauss, author of “A Hole is to Dig,” and many more other great children’s books. Both of these authors’ genres could be categorized as simple and defining. For example, Margaret Wise Brown wrote the famous book, “Goodnight Moon” and compared to Ruth Krauss’s book, “A Hole is to dig”, it is easy to see these attributes of writing style.
High school students in many American schools first read this book in an English class, which has been a staple for many schools. A required reading assignment exposes many more people to the book. Even though the book is considered to be a children’s book by many, it is still enjoyed by people of all ages.
C.S. Lewis was a brilliant philosopher, theologian, and author. Many things influenced Lewis throughout his life, and inspired him to write over 30 books. Even 50 years after his death, he still continues to change people’s lives. He believed there were many dimensions to fantasy and imagination. He stated that, "Great stories take us outside the prison of our own selves and our presuppositions about reality. Insofar as stories reflect the divine maker in doing this, they help us face the ultimate Other--God himself, distinct as creator from all else, including ourselves." (Morrow). Lewis inspires people to believe in God, be creative, and never lose their imagination.
Theodor Geisel was able to enlist the help of the nation through his war efforts as well as maintain his beliefs in a time of high distress in our nation. As a result, Dr. Seuss came out of WWII as a famous writer who held no bounds when it came to his work and therefore was able to continue to produce and create amazing stories with deep meaning, for his target audience of children. This was done so successfully, that Seuss is still known today for several of his works, adapted into movies but also still read to millions upon millions of children each and every night.
‘Some idea of a child or childhood motivates writers and determines both the form and content of what they write.’ -- Hunt The above statement is incomplete, as Hunt not only states that the writer has an idea of a child but in the concluding part, he states that the reader also has their own assumptions and perceptions of a child and childhood. Therefore, in order to consider Hunt’s statement, this essay will look at the different ideologies surrounding the concept of a child and childhood, the form and content in which writers inform the reader about their ideas of childhood concluding with what the selected set books state about childhood in particular gender. The set books used are Voices In The Park by Browne, Mortal Engines by Reeve and Little Women by Alcott to illustrate different formats, authorial craft and concepts about childhood. For clarity, the page numbers used in Voices In The Park are ordinal (1-30) starting at Voice 1.
When reminiscing on past memories of favorite books, cartoons, songs and stuffed animals, many people will think about Winnie the Pooh. The man behind all of your fun filled childhood adventured with Christopher Robin and his bear friend Pooh is Alan Alexander Milne, more commonly known as A. A. Milne. Besides his creation of Winnie the Pooh short story and poetry books he was a very accomplished man through out his whole life. He showed great affection to family members, friends, and to his wife and child. He was also dedicated to his work and set his mind to whatever task he was facing.
Richard Robinson, the President and CEO of Scholastic Inc., the world’s largest publisher and distributor of children’s books, said that a great children’s text contains a simple and original idea, is written with humour and makes the world more interesting. Despite being published in 1928, A.A. Milne’s The House At Pooh Corner remains a highly effective children’s text. The text meets the criteria set out by Richard Robinson and it has been able to do so through its good uses of literary elements such as style, themes and characters. Some examples of this can be linked to the works of various developmental theorists such as Jean Piaget, Lev Vygotsky and Erik Erikson.
Norton, D. E., & Norton. S. (2011). Through The Eyes Of a Child. An Introduction To Children’s Literature. Boston, MA, 02116: Eight-Edition Pearson Education
Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, is perhaps one of the most beloved children’s authors of the twentieth century. Although he is most famous as an author of children’s books, Geisel was also a political cartoonist, advertisement designer, and film director (Kaplan). He used the power of imagination to produce unforgettable children’s books and helped solve the problem of illiteracy among America’s children. By using his experiences in life as a foundation for most of his books, Theodor Geisel created a unique writing style that incorporated various elements and techniques, enabling his books to appeal to people of all ages.
113- The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 6th ed. of the book. Vol.
Jones, Marnie. "The Threat to Imagination in Children's Literature." International Journal of the Book 3.2 (2005/2006): 71-76. Print.
Potter’s book is, beneath its didactic Victorian narrative, remarkably subtle and subversive in its attitudes towards childhood, and its message to its child readers. Browne’s Voices in the Park, on the other hand, dispenses with any textual narrative; by his use of the devices of postmodernism, visual intertextuality and metaphor, he creates a work of infinite interpretation, in which the active involvement of the reader is key. Although The Tale of Peter Rabbit is not a ‘modern’ picturebook, and was written to a different concept of childhood than Voices in the Park, it certainly falls within Bader’s description.... ... middle of paper ...
The construction of children’s literature was a gradual process. For a long period of time children’s books were frowned upon. The stories were said to be vulgar and frightening. Adults censored children’s ears to stories of daily life, tales with improbable endings were not to be heard. It was not until the mid 1800s that stories of fairies and princesses began to be recognized. Although children’s literature was accepted, the books were not available for all children. With limited access to education, few public libraries, and the books’ costs, these texts were only available to the middle and high- class. As public education and libraries grew so did the accessibility of books and their popularity. They no longer were considered offensive, but rather cherished and loved by many children. Children’s literature became orthodox and a revolution began, changing literature as it was known.