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Tuesday 17 February 2015

Children's books are universal

I stumbled across a lovely article on my Facebook feed this morning - you can read it HERE. It discusses many aspects of children's literature, including the timeless nature of the classics in the genre. Also, the fact that many authors who write for both children and adults often find that it is their children's books that remain in print, rather than those written for adults. The theory behind this seems to be that they are re-read far more than the majority of adult literature - by children of all ages and adults alike.
As it happens, my current reading is one of John Christopher's trilogies - The Prince in Waiting, Across the Burning Lands and The Sword of the Spirits. In common with the better known Tripods trilogy (The White Mountains, The City of Gold and Lead, The Pool of Fire), it is set in a time in the future, this time after much of the world has been laid waste by earthquakes and volcanoes, when deformities of both humans and animals are common, and communities are small and insular, ruled over by feudal princes. Why do I like these books? Well, they are very well written. They're great stories. They explore themes of good and evil, redemption, human striving and endeavour - familiar themes that anyone can relate to, and they have characters with traits that are recognisable. They also - and this is one of my own theories as to why so many adult readers come back to kid's literature - they're safe. They have a beginning, a middle and an end. Issues get resolved. Good eventually wins out and the losses along the way can be seen to have contributed to that. By and large, they're shorter reads than a lot of adult literature, so they're perfect for that rainy afternoon when we want something to do that's not too demanding. In other words, they're perfect comfort reading - which is why I keep coming back to my collection of children's literature over and over again.

Another point that is made in the article is that it's extremely rare for a children's book to win any of the big awards. There are, of course, separate awards for the genre. However, the big ones, like the Man Booker, which is, in theory, open to all comers, doesn't consider children's literature. If you look at the traits that are required to win one of the big prizes - that the book has 'classic' potential, is superlatively well-written, can be re-read, etc, we could be entirely justified in questioning this. I suspect that what children's authors are up against, on the whole, is that both the literary world and the general population tend to regard children's literature as a somehow lesser literary form.

I don't agree with this at all. Certainly, there are some badly written children's books, just as there are badly written adult literature (Fifty Shades of Grey, anyone?!). Equally, there are so many that are on a par with the classics of adult literature. Ergo, if the basic criteria were applied equally to both genres, there's no logical reason why children's literature shouldn't appear on major award shortlists.

An additional thing the article looks at is that so many dual authors end up being better known for their children's literature, rather than their adult work. Off the top of my head, a couple come to mind; Rumer Godden, Noel Streatfield - I do have many of Godden's adult novels, and nearly all of her children's books, but try as I might, I've never been able to find any of Streatfield's adult works. The article also mentions A.A.Milne, who was a West End playwright and the features editor of Punch, but is best known for his creations Winnie the Pooh and Christopher Robin.

The article also looks at the phenomenon of re-reading. I've discussed this in the past in many posts because I've found that there seem to be two quite distinct camps of readers - those who only read a book once, and those who return to the same books over and over. I'm one of the latter, and I re-read for the pleasure of it. In the article, the writer makes the statement about children being natural re-readers, due to them finding new things in the same book as they grow up and acquire more life experience. Personally, I don't think that's confined just to children. There can be so many layers in a book that a life time of reading it can continue to throw up new aspects regardless of age and the lived experience. The funny thing is, people don't seem to have an issue when we watch the same movie over and over, but often point the finger when it's the same book being read many times - I hear this from DB ALL the time, by the way, which is why I bring it up! He's a movie nut and has watched some of his favourites up to 50 times...but still thinks it's weird that I re-read some of my books every six months or so.

I know I have avid readers of children's literature among my readers - or YA fiction as it is mostly known as now - so I'd love to hear what your favourites are as well as any thoughts you might have from reading the article. It really set my brain ticking this morning, and I hope it does for you too!

15 comments:

  1. Goodness me.... Where to start?
    Swallows and Amazons
    The Dark is Rising
    Narnia
    A Traveller in Time
    little White Horse
    A Wrinkle in Time
    Eliidor
    Orders to poach
    The midnight folk and The Box of Delights
    The Twilight of Magic
    And more. Great article in the Guardian. Thanks for directing me there.

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    1. Oooh...you have some there I've not read Georgina! Thank you :-) I'll have to go hunting... And MUST get myself new copies of the Narnia series, which I've been craving to re-read for a while now.

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    2. Apologies for random capitals - my iPad gets ideas of its own. Have you read the Mortal Engines trilogy by Philip Reeve? Well worth a try. And then there are the Bartimaeus books by Jonathan Stroud. Both for children but I only discovered them in the last 6 years or so.
      Which of my choices have you not read? I'd be really interested to know.

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    3. I've not read any of the last three on your list. How recent are they? Just so I know where to look! And, no - I don't know that trilogy, or the Stroud books. Sounds like I have me some hunting to do!

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    4. The Twilight of Magic is by Hugh Lofting who wrote Dr Doolittle. My mother loved Dr Doolittle and tried to get me to read the books but I never got into it at all so she tried me with this stand alone (I think) book about 2 children who come by a magical shell and save the king from a plot... But I love the whole feel of the book. It has a special taste when I read it. Weird I know.

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    5. The Midnight Folk by John Masefield is about an orphan boy Kay Harker who discovers magic happens in his house at night. His governess is not what she seems. He gets involved in a quest for long lost treasure. Great fun and wonderfully written. A Box of Delights is the sequel with Kay a little older and coming home for the Christmas holidays. Sinister goings on and a creepy clergyman. Lots and lots of snow and the wolves are running. Read this in winter for best effect. Two truly great books. You must read them.

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    6. Orders to Poach, Steer by the Stars and The House in the Hills by Olivia Fitzoy just pre WWII. The Stewart family live at Carrick on the West coast of Scotland. Actually Inverewe on the map. Great adventures with hunting, shooting ,fishing, hill walking, sailing and enjoying the countryside. Ninian, Fiona, Jean, Jamie and Sandy Stewart and their friend Hugh Grant just have great adventures in the Scottish countryside and are all very real characters ranging from 12 to about 24. No parents to get in the way. Quite hard to find. My books came from my mother and she told the library she had lost one, and paid the fine in order to keep it. Worth a struggle to find them though. Try Fidra books.

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    7. Oh my - that all sounds fabulous! I'm ripe for some new stories too - haven't been buying many books of late. I'll have a trawl on Ebay and see if any of them are there... Thank you!!!

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    8. Glad to be of assistance!
      If you like the Box of Delights (probably 1930s) the BBC made a very good series some years back which you can get on DVD. Such a good book. If you don't enjoy I'll eat... something pretty indigestible.

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  2. And the wonderful Children of Green Knowe
    Joan Aiken's alternative history series
    But it' stage middle if the night and I must go to sleep.

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  3. I detest when people think children's literature is somehow "subpar" or "easy to write". Writing for children is far more challenging than writing for adults. Kids are tough critics, really. And to be able to capture the spirit and exuberance and thought processes of children? Not everyone can do it.

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    1. That's very true Becca - thanks for dropping by! Children have the ultimate bullshit meters, so if the writing isn't up to par, the book just won't make it!

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  4. I detest when people think children's literature is somehow "subpar" or "easy to write". Writing for children is far more challenging than writing for adults. Kids are tough critics, really. And to be able to capture the spirit and exuberance and thought processes of children? Not everyone can do it.

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  5. Just to let you know I've posted a piece about the Orders to Poach books on my Purple Velvet blog. Great fun books.

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    1. Lovely - going to have a look now. My poor neglected blog - MUST get back to posting here... I've been focusing on my other one for a while and this one has fallen through the cracks.

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