20th century children’s literature

Introduction

Children’s books have evolved over the years from simple nursery picture books to short stories and other publications. The main works discussed include children lore, short stories, and rhymes. The conceptual framework of key writers such as Griswold who have proposed methods of analyzing children’s literature is also applied in this essay. The different styles used by these authors, as well the changes in the concepts and approaches used in writing the books form the main part of this essay.

Answer One

Both the shows Telletubies and The Muppets feature a lush natural environment that creates the feeling of safety and fun and encourages children to explore and play at the same time. Muppets showed that children had various emotions and were prone to making mistakes. Telletubies show was specifically designed to suit children who could not decipher adult shows. In the show, children get the idea that life can be as enjoyable as the characters in the show that live in a nursery rhyme land. The Peter Pan and the Wonderful Wizard of Oz novels are also portrayed as the opportunity for children to enjoy the fantasy of staying young forever. In Peter Pan, Wendy tells her mother “…he isn’t grown up…he is just my size…” when her mother inquires about Peter Pan who was supposed to be very old (Barrie 12).

The Griswold concept of aliveness and scariness are captured in this 20^th century children’s literature. Notions of anthropomorphism of toys, animals, and objects show the extensions of the child’s consciousness by which some books generate a dream of a cognizant universe. The lore such as Bloody Mary rituals and cruel jokes forms a part of the child’s development. When the child is scared after being exposed to a practical joke, he/she learns how to deal with fear as well as how to handle it. The concept of smallness is a method of availing alternative dimensions to the adult notions of what is important. Other traditions such as moron knock knock and elephant jokes serve to encourage children to master embarrassment as well as intimidating them to desist from being cruel about certain things.

For example, Barbie dolls, Cabbage patch dolls, and Cinderella stories create an alternative world for children that are different from the real one of adults (Griswold 276). The lightness concept can be seen in the books Wizard of Oz and Peter Pan. These illustrations show that contemporary publications capture different aspects of aliveness and scariness that are more vivid, imaginative, and effective. When the author writes that friends of Peter Pan can fly to different dimensions from the physical to the metaphysical world, it indicates the usage of Griswold’s concept of lightness. Children can control their “small” world in the best way they perceive it, which may be different from the regular (Griswold 275).

Children books such as Charlie and the Charlie Factory picture childhood as a constant adventure in which children are expected to live life to the fullest. In Charlie and the Charlie Factory, Charlie describes the factory as having “huge iron gates leading into it, and a high wall surrounding it, and smoke belching from its chimneys, and strange whizzing sounds coming from deep inside it” (Dahl 4). According to these modern children books, children have the opportunity to be creative in building their own perception of the world, life, and other aspects in it. Various elements that excite children are also mentioned in the book; for example, sweet snacks are a constant element in Roald Dahl’s book. Roald also envisioned that children had a fearless and enjoyable life that adults lacked.

In Winnie the Pooh, the previous aspect of living a full and basic life among children is replicated. Winnie the Pooh and the Wizard of Oz bring out the fantasy within children who are very creative to the extent of believing in talking animals and flying people. When Winnie the Pooh climbs the trees in search of honey, he sings many songs such as “…Isn’t it funny How a bear likes honey? Buzz! Buzz! Buzz! I wonder why he does…” These songs are repeated by many children during playtime with the belief that bears can actually sing.

Through children games with toys such as teddy bears, one can see that children have the need for companionship in the way they communicate and care for their toys. Children also use these toys to make friends with other children through sharing. Young girls exhibit motherly behavior by trying to mimic their mother’s actions on the Barbie dolls.

Answer two

Children’s literature and folklore play a major role in perpetuating superficial principles and elements under the guise of promoting multicultural folklore. Many of the books claim that they offer material that covers behavior change and other values but are actually based on spurious myths written for the popular audience. These children books are a product of haphazard adaptations of the original stories that were edited to increase their appeal. The adaptation of indigenous North American traditions with various changes that distort the real story and therefore the values within the story form the base of the majority of the modern children’s literature (Oppel & Terry 14).

This is simply a subtle way of presenting the authors as passing the stories down by word of mouth while this is not the truth. Children book authors, reviewers, and critics have all given a nod to changing the source and meaning of most folklore without much care. The New Age attempt to represent American traditions in Seven Arrows met severe accusations that it had misinterpretations, as it offered false information on the traditions of North Cayenne. These misinterpretations distort the way in which children develop by instilling false ideas that are fantastic in nature. Over the years of rewriting the book, Seven Arrows has lost most of its originality, as most authors do not seek primary data on the community but instead rely on other people’s work.

Children’s’ literature possess very little authentic values and morals on the best way to behave among children. Authors of children literature write books such as An Arapaho Tale, create an assumption in the buyers that they get an Arapaho Tale that is an Indian legend. The Secret Garden is another book that talks about a child discovering a secret garden and other family secrets that are ultimately reconciled by innocent girl’s efforts. Although a book like The Secret Garden has managed to maintain its storyline over the years of adaptation and retelling, other books have not been so lucky. The Secret Garden encourages rebellious behavior by narrating the success that the little girl has in bossing every adult in her residence. The book also promotes negative ideas such as sneaking and disobedience.

Some authors also are biased towards negative Western values or adapting them to Western audience. For instance, the children’s book Cat in the Hat portrays disobedience as a good behavior that can be seen when children are shown that disobedience is acceptable. The same can also be said of Where Wild Things Are that displays talking back to one’s parents as tolerable. Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren is another example of children’s books that may develop rebellious behavior among children by displaying Pippi as a childhood hero despite her dreadful behavior. Authors have oversimplified and adapted the children’s books to the market to an extent that educators do more harm in exposing their children to such publications instead of teaching them proper ethical and moral principles that have a positive impact on their lives. The simplification of children’s books has made most of them lose their meaning and purpose.

Answer three

The majority of writers of children’s’ literature employed word play, comedy, and nonsensical literary styles, all with a view of capturing the child’s attention and mind. These books contained imaginary creatures, fantastic individuals, and astonishing feats expressed using playful words that were concocted by the authors for the liking of children. Edward Lear, one of the pioneers of children’s fictional books, employed the skill of nonsensification that entailed writing about people or animals in ridiculous or extreme circumstances. Within the last twenty years, children’s books have evolved to become powerful tools of the child’s exploration through play. Books such as Peepo show family values with peepholes that can turn the book into a toy, as the pages are apparently eaten by hungry caterpillars.

Works by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson also displayed clever word play, especially in the combination of words to create new and fun words for children. He also created new English words for imaginary characters in his books. An example is the usage of the word “frumious” from the combination of fuming and furious. The term frumious was used to describe a creature called Bandersnatch that featured in his verse Jabberwocky. Theodore Geisel also created the word“grinch and Sendak coined the term”rumpus” in his book Where the wild things are. The usage of wild words that amazed children has also been assisted by striking images and illustrations that make the books funny and interesting.

Other children’s books have sections where the children can act out the storyline for themselves. These fragments are found within storybooks to impart the message in the book to children by engaging them in studying the book, for example the book We’re Going on a Bear Hunt. In this book, the journey to hunt a bear makes children sing and participate, for example “Uh-uh! A forest! A big dark forest. We can’t go over it. We can’t go under it. Oh no! We’ve got to go through it! Stumble trip! Stumble trip! Stumble trip!” It narrates an adventure, and it gives the children a chance to relive the story as they wish. Other books have language games, for example The Random House Book of Poetry for Children by Jack Prelutsky and Peg and the Whale by Oppel. In Peg and the Whale, Oppel uses playful words such as “grit”, “mettle”, and “grumption”.

Iza Trapani, a writer of fictional children books such as Baa Baa Black Sheep and Froggie Went A-Courtin, includes various animals doing silly antics and making funny speeches. The books Goodnight Moon, the Cat in the Hat and Green Eggs and Ham both possess simple and funny rhyme, as well as subversive humor. In the book Goodnight Moon, the author narrates that “…in a great green room, tucked away in bed, is a little bunny. Goodnight room, goodnight moon…”(Margaret Wise Brown 12). A common feature in children books is the application of the basic literary styles in a playful manner, for example, alliteration, onomatopoeia and assonance. Onomatopoeia is by far the most used style where things are named by the sound they produce, for example zap, bam, wow, wham, and grrr. This illustrates some aspects of aliveness found in Griswold’s concepts through anthropomorphism of objects, toys, and animals (Constance 170).

Answer four

The evolution of children’s literature over the years has resulted in the creation of books that serve to appeal to the children by tapping into the needs of growing infants. However, by stating that these books are suitable for children makes them appropriate. The long-term impacts of the literary styles contained in these books serve as evidence that they are created for children. Charlotte’s Web possesses various teachings and morals such as loyalty and assistance in times of need; thus these values help children grow up to be upright civilians. These books display the cultures from diverse backgrounds around the world that helps children develop a recognition and respect for other cultures (Aaron 23).

Books and games that have topics on different communities enable children to explore the world. Multicultural books such as Yum! Yuck: A Foldout Book of People Sounds, A Caribbean Counting Book and Shake It, Morena: And Other Folklore from Puerto Rico are some of the examples of literature that unites children of different backgrounds. These multicultural books have stories on the different lifestyles, clothing, jobs and cuisines from around the world. They can also help break stereotypes, prejudices, and attitudes formed within communities. Children’s literature and lore can also help develop individual abilities and qualities. For example, The Paper Bag Princess teaches children to be independent and brave.

Children’s books need to be evaluated before being introduced to the classroom to avoid presenting children with inappropriate or difficult books. The story should be analyzed to make sure it is interesting and age-appropriate. The characters in the books should be checked for diversity and gender equality. The themes within a particular book should be positive and constructive containing morals. The settings and environment on which the book is based also need assessing to ensure that diverse populations are represented.

Conclusion

The authenticity and purpose of the contemporary children’s books can be put to question with sufficient evidence pointing towards their current target at the market instead of academic excellence. Most authors have also engaged in creative methods of appealing to children to an extent that the profession has been distorted greatly. However, the role played by children literature in shaping the behavior of children cannot be ignored. Most pf the positive qualities possessed by many upright citizens were developed at the young stage using these literature.

Works Cited

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Aaron, A. Choosing Children’s Books with Age Appropriate Themes. Children’s Books and Reviews. 21 January, 2012. 25 July. 2012. <http://www.childrensbooksandreviews.com/childrens-books-how-to-choose-them-part-3-themes>.

Barrie, James M. Peter Pan. Pink Monkey. 25 July2012. Web. 25 July. 2012. <http://pinkmonkey.com/dl/library1/book0218.pdf>.

Constance, Hale. The Sound of a Sentence. The Opinion Pages. 11 June, 2012.Web. 25 July. 2012. <http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/11/the-sound-of-a-sentence/>.

Griswold, Jerome. Feeling Like a Kid: Childhood and Children’s Literature. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006. Print.

Oppel, Kenneth, and Terry Widener. Peg and the Whale. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2000. Print.

Dahl, Roald. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Maranatha. 2012. Web. 25 July. 2012. <http://www.maranatha.wa.edu.au/computing/Docs/ebooks/Roald%20Dahl%20-%20Charlie%20and%20the%20Chocolate%20Factory.pdf>.

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Brown, Margaret W, and Clement Hurd. Goodnight Moon. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1947. Print.

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