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!
Hi Wilhelmina,
As a former school librarian, I agree that books for children - and indeed young adults - should be of top quality, in writing and production. There are excellent authors out there, and children love to read good stories well-told. They will accept pap, if that's all there is, but why sell your kids short? That's like saying they'll eat white bead and marge if there's no jam.
It's been proved (as far as such things can be said to be proved) that children who read books are more socially aware and more emotionally developed than those who don't. Give them a rounded world to discover, not just point-and-shoot computer games and books that follow the same lines. Yes, peer pressure will make them lean towards these, but you can teach them to have broader values if you give them something they enjoy reading.
My grandsons could recite The Gruffalo's Child from start to finish when they were three; they make up stories all the time (one in particular can talk for England!) and use their imagination because it gives them pleasure. They do play computer games and watch TV, but they read too.
You could say it's a higher art form, to be able to connect with a mind that wants to follow every word you write. Give them your best.