Rudd’s (2009) essay evaluates Enid Blyton’s work offering a different perspective to account for the appeal and popularity of the author. This essay looks at the aspects raised by Rudd. How Blyton, Pullman and Ransom illustrate the different aspects of a good or a bad book. The way critics confer prestige on a book or author and the arising criticism. How the agenda of the committees affects the selection of prize-winners. Finally, looking at the factors involved in success.
The set books used in his essay are Pullman (1995) Northern Lights and Ransom (2001) Swallows and Amazons.
Critics view the books by Pullman and Ransom as examples of literary excellence. In order to evaluate this opinion it is necessary to discuss what aspects critics
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Thus, according to this criteria, Pullman’s book is the most prestigious as he won the most prizes with the Carnegie in 1996, Children’s book of the year 1996, Guardian Children’s fiction prize 1996, The Best Carnegie medal winner in 2007 and on the short list for the British Fantasy Award in 1995. In contrast, Ransom received the first Carnegie Medal in 1936 not for ‘Swallows and Amazons’ but for ‘Pigeon Post’, the sixth book in the series. Swallows and Amazons was on the Daily Telegraph 100 books every child should read 2008. Blyton has received no awards that the critics would view as prestigious but only for popularity, like the Costa Book award for Best loved Author 2008. This is due to not only the selection criteria but also the members of the selection committees. They consist of children’s librarians and teachers as in the Newbury and Carnegie medals or literary critics, media representatives and publishers. The novels selected often have educational and self-improving emphasis even when the novel deals with fantasy and …show more content…
She has enjoyed greater commercial success, longevity and popularity despite her reputation for writing unacceptable and bad literature. Blyton also fulfils the dictionary definition of prestigious as she has had influence, a reputation (which has shifted from good to bad) derived from passed achievements. She produced an enormous amount of writing in her career; at its height, in 1955, she produced no less than 70 works in a single year. She was a respected educationalist writing educational primers and with a weekly column in Teachers World (1923-27). It is hardly surprising that vast numbers of people have read her novels. One of the reasons she remained popular especially after the WWII was the difficulty in paper sourcing and social conservatism of the time preferring consoling images and values of a time before warfare (Tucker, 2009). The emergence of Children’s Literature as a serious entity and social criticism did not appear until later in her career, in the 1960’s. This enabled her books to be read for almost 30 years without criticism and her work was as lauded as were other prestigious writers. The rising popularity of television and Rudd summary of Blyton’s style made for an easy transition of her characters and books onto the screen. The world may have changed around Blyton but it did not stop the popularity that her books had already achieved from
Damrosch, David. (Ed.) The Longman Anthology of British Literature 2nd ed. New York: Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers Inc., 2003.
The World Book Encyclopedia. 2000 ed. : p. 78. Griswold, Rufus Wilmot. The "Scarlet Letter" The Library of Literary Criticism of English and American Authors. Ed.
After a four week survey of a multitude of children’s book authors and illustrators, and learning to analyze their works and the methods used to make them effective literary pieces for children, it is certainly appropriate to apply these new skills to evaluate a single author’s works. Specifically, this paper focuses on the life and works of Ezra Jack Keats, a writer and illustrator of books for children who single handedly expanded the point of view of the genre to include the experiences of multicultural children with his Caldecott Award winning book “Snowy Day.” The creation of Peter as a character is ground breaking in and of itself, but after reading the text the reader is driven to wonder why “Peter” was created. Was he a vehicle for political commentary as some might suggest or was he simply another “childhood” that had; until that time, been ignored? If so, what inspired him to move in this direction?
Canada’s Reads awards are books that can “change perspectives, challenge stereotypes and illuminate issues” (CBCBooks). Lullabies For Little Criminals, a novel written by Heather O’Neill, won this award. William Faulkner stated on receiving the Nobel Prize in literature, “the young man or woman writing today has forgotten the problems of the heart in conflict with itself…The writer’s duty is to write about these things….” Lullabies For Little Criminals definitely portrays these conflicts that young authors have forgotten through Baby’s, a thirteen-year-old girl, first hand view into a world where the innocence of childhood is stripped away, a world void of family, a world of manipulative love.
Works Cited Henderson, Gloria Mason, Anna Dunlap Higgins, Bill Day, Sandra Stevenson Waller. Literature and ourselves. 6th ed. of the book. New York: Publishing Services, Inc., 2009.
Griffith, John, and Charles Frey. Classics of Children's Literature. 6th ed. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2005. 21-29, 322-374. Print.
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.
Guerin, Wilfred L., Earle Labor, Lee Morgan, Jeanne C. Reesman, and John R. Willingham. A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. 125-156.
...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.
Since 1922, the American Library Association has honored the most distinguished American children’s book each year. The Newbery Medal, for instance, honors authors for distinguished work in literature. The decision to honor illustrators similarly, resulted in the Caldecott Medal in 1937. It is important to look at these award-winning books with a critical eye. This paper will examine all of the Caldecott winners, but analysis will be based on the pictures, not the text. The artwork, subject, theme, race, and gender in the book will be assessed. Due to the vast number of Caldecott award winning books, it makes sense to group them by decade to ascertain common themes and threads and to assess an underlying reason for the changes
Stillinger, Jack, Deidre Lynch, Stephen Greenblatt, and M H. Abrams. The Norton Anthology of English Literature: Volume D. New York, N.Y: W.W. Norton & Co, 2006. Print.
Abrams, M.H. and Greenblatt, Stephen eds. The Norton Anthology of English Literature: Seventh Edition. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2001.
... (eds), Children’s Literature Classic Text and Contemporary Trends, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan in association with Open University
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.