Northern Lights and Tom's Midnight Garden which are both prizewinning, children's books will be discussed in relation to David Rudd's 'defence' of the work of Enid Blyton. This will be achieved by answering the following questions and tying them into Rudd's essay. How can the success of a children’s book best be quantified? What criteria are used for judging children’s books? How do the chosen texts stand up to this criteria? Who are different groups that judge children's books and what criteria do each of them have? How have the criteria for judging the merits of children’s literature changed since the eighteenth century? What are the arguments for defending Enid Blyton? Finally, are the arguments presented sound, and if they are what impact does this have on how we judge children's books in general?
How can success best be quantified? Successful children's books are books that are known to be highly appreciated by a large, statistically verifiable number of children and, possibly, by many critics as well, however, the latter is not always true especially in such cases as that of Enid Blyton. By this definition it would appear that Enid Blyton would be considered an unmitigated success with sales of over 500 million books worldwide, having been translated into 40 languages and in August 2008 was voted the best loved UK author according to a survey conducted for the Costa Book Awards. Plus the fact that she still sells over 11 million books a year despite having died over 40 years ago. Is popularity then the best way to judge the success of a children's book or are there other criteria that have to be fulfilled? Given that Blyton has been heavily criticised it would appear that many people are of the opinion that the success of...
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...itories, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 276-85.
Squires, C. (2009) ‘Marketing at the Millenium’, in Montgomery, H. and Watson, N. J. (eds) Children’s Literature: Classic Texts and Contemporary Trends. Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 183-98.
Tucker, N. (2009) ‘Twentieth-Century British Publishing’, in Maybin, J. and Watson, N. J. (eds) Children’s Literature: Approaches and Territories, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 143-56.
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Ward & Trent, et al. The Cambridge History of English and American Literature. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1907–21; New York: Bartleby.com, 2000
Ward & Trent, et al. The Cambridge History of English and American Literature. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1907–21; New York: Bartleby.com, 2000
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..
... Rpt. in Children's Literature Review. Ed. Tom Burns.
Falconer, Rachel. The Crossover Novel: Contemporary Children’s Fiction and Its Adult Readership. New York: Routledge, 2009.
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.
...ia J. Campbell. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1996. 39-65. Rpt. in Children's Literature Review. Ed. Scot Peacock. Vol. 82. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 14 Jan. 2014.
The opening of Kathleen O’Neil’s article is a discussion of children’s picture books being used throughout history as tools to teach children cultural expectations. O’Neil mentions that children’...
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.
Literature: The British Tradition. Ed. Roger Babusci etal. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1994. 69-79.
... (eds), Children’s Literature Classic Text and Contemporary Trends, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan in association with Open University
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"The Value of Children's Literature | Education.com." Education.com | An Education & Child Development Site for Parents | Parenting & Educational Resource. Web. 20 Oct. 2010. .