Some writers seem to feel that writing for children is a lesser art form, even that it's "beneath" them.
We at La Gr@not@ (http://la-granota.com) believe that the very reverse is true. It takes a writer of real talent to write for children without "writing down" to them. To treat them as a public deserving of quality... and of our respect.
We also believe that it's one of the most important reading publics that exist. Just think about it: Most adults read for one of the following reasons:
:
To keep themselves informed (news media, current affairs, non-fiction)
To exercise their brains (who-dunnits, thought-provoking fiction, philosophy, etc.)
To entertain themselves (fiction of all kinds)
To have a good laugh (GOOD humour, the "Twilight" series and other non-intentionally funny books)
To "edify" themselves (religious and spiritual fiction and non-fiction)
To turn themselves on sexually (erotica, pornography)
To "improve" themselves (self-help, religion, erotica...)
To escape from reality (romantic fiction, historical dramas, dubious "non-fiction")
Out of obligation (reading for studies or work)
Just because they're bored and the telly's on the blink / they're in some foreign hotel without telly from "home"
To snort derisively at "the drivel that some people write"
Children have 3 main reasons to read:
[At a young age] To feel proud of themselves: "I can READ!!!"
To spend quality time with their parents (often including cuddling [one of my favourite activities]): "Daddy, can you read me a story?" (then sometimes reading it TO Daddy)
To [help] open the doors to this marvelous, new WORLD that they're constantly discovering.
I'm not a fan of all of the reasons that adults might have for reading. But the reasons that children have are all gems.
Let's not fob them off with thin gruel. Boring, repetitive crap of the Enid Blyton school, warmed-over conservative values from the 50s coupled with self-glorification ("Us versus Them"/"WE are the Good Guys. Let's kick some Baddie BUTT!") of the Harry Potter school.
Let's give them something worthy of their attention and trust. Something we can be PROUD of having written.
Do you STILL think that it's a lesser art form?
p.s. Happy Birthday, Alice's Adventures In Wonderland!
There are brilliantly varied children's books out there, from 'Meg and Mog' by Helen Nicol and Jan Pienkowski, brief and witty, to 'The Magic Pudding' an epic by Norman Lindsay, 'Orlando The Marmalade Cat' by Kathleen Hale, 'Bottersnikes and Gumbles' by S. A. Wakefield, to 'The Sparrow With One White Feather' by Lady Ridley, and the A.A. Milne books in their original form with Ernest Shepherd's illustrations. I loved Enid Blyton's 'Adventure' series, and the 'Harry Potter' books - it was after several readings (aloud) that the penny dropped on Diagon Alley; - 'Harry Potter toast' is cut into triangles.
Wilhelmina,
I agree that some writers can be snobbish about different forms of writing and story telling although it was a shame to spoil your point by being the same and dismissing the very popular and entertaining Enid Blyton stories and Harry Potter books.
'Is writing for children unworthy of your considerable writing talent?'
I believe that writing for children is more important than writing for adults. I, also strongly believe that contemporary children's literature is of a higher standard than contemporary adult literature. You only have to look at the winners and finalists of the Newbery- and Carnegie Medal.