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!
The above post from la-gronota.com would be an insightful look at the world of modern children's fiction and the contributions it makes to the wider world of literature and/or children's education. I say would be...except that it patently fails to deliver any of these noble goals due to its inclusion of the usual postmodern and/or postfeminist clap trap which tends to dominate good literature these days.
What am I talking about here? The derisory comments regarding Enid Blyton - who was, quite possibly the most influential and greatest children's writer since Lewis Carroll that this country has ever published - and JK Rowling - without doubt one of the most commercially successful children's authors which these shores have ever produced! Put the two together and you have quite a legacy - which I do not think any modern children's author can afford to ignore.
While it may be true to say that, compared to the values and attitudes of today's 21st Century values, Blyton's work may seem strange and a little dated, it's important to overlook these values and focus instead on the impact of her work. For as well as publishing children's books, Blyton engaged in an extensive programme of going out to schools - effectively putting 'reading' on the curriculum. While such 'book tours' are commonplace today, it needs to be remembered that this method of both promoting books to children while at the same time as educating them was almost invented by Blyton.
Her work may be viewed today as promoting values which are no longer in fashion - but that's the inevitable consequence of looking historically at older genres. Trying to fit these older values into modern ways of looking at the world is destined for failure. So, instead, modern writers should look at the narrative structure of her work, the stimulus to her child reader's imagination which it provided and the fact that, the icing on the cake, she brought great pleasure to thousands and thousands of children, before immediately dwelling on the distinctly adult concerns of supposed sexism, political incorrectness etc which seems to be the foundation of la-gronota's post.
W6nderf43 re-3y, 6rra5ne! (That's the surprise that the laptop keyboard sprang on me today, in the middle of trying to edit La Gr@not@'s "Alice And I" compilation. I'm now using an external keyboard borrowed from the neighbours. Another late night awaits me...)
I type again: Wonderful reply, Lorraine! (In case you're trying to decypher the code, the capital L makes NO impression.)
The thing is that there IS always jam. As you write, there are excellent books for children about, if we only look for them. BUT...
I was at a book fair in Spain a few months back. I was dismayed to see that there are NEW editions of Enid Blyton being produced. Has the copyright run out? Is that why people are churning this crap out? And, of course, many parents will buy it for nostalgic reasons. ("Oh look, Dear! I grew up on these books!") They don/t remember just how repetitive the books were. Or maybe they never noticed.
I once saw a documentary about E. B. Aside from her questionable emotional life, there was this young man really enthusing about her books. He had PILES of her books all around his living room. I suspect that his enthusiasm was rather tongue-in-cheek: "I mean: the plots in the Famous Five are all EXACTLY the same. On page 13, the F. F. meet 'a cunning old man' (though sometimes it's 'a cunning old woman'). On pager 37, the dog disappears! On page..." and so on. DON'T check up on those page numbers and tell me it just isn't so. I saw that documentary decades ago and can't remember the details. But that was the quid of his happy enthusiasm.
Christine: I'm less impressed by your comment. Keep giving children pap and they'll come to believe that pap is what there is, basta. As for "Not just 'dumbed down'" Not JUST??? Are you implying that you need to 'dumb down' in order to write for children??? It's obvious that you don't know the same children that I do. (And I know a LOT of children, so I'm not JUST talking about the especially bright ones.)
'Dumb down' for children long enough and assiduously enough, and you'll end up with 'dumbed down' children... who will - in all probability - grow into 'dumbed down' adults. Which is most probably what the Powers-That-Be want.
I apologise for repeatedly using the word "dumb" in this context. I'm well aware that people who can't speak find this usage offensive.
Different.
Writing for children is different than writing for adults and as such needs a different approach. Not just 'dumbed down', but things said and presented in a suitable way. It's like teaching children is different than teaching adults: neither is more worthy and each has their challenges.
The important thing is encouraging children to read, whatever they might start with. Start them on Enid Blyton or goosebumps or animal stories, and they'll progress to other things once they get comfortable with reading and realise it can be fun.