Before World War II, few works had been created with children specifically intended as an audience. It is only in modern times that an art has emerged with these specific needs in mind – children's literature. Written works designed for children are meant inherently to address the child as an adventurer in a world that constantly reveals new aspects of itself. The literature delineates the processes of life – natural and social, that is – the unknown and the barely known. Indeed, one will find that exceptional authors have tackled nearly every topic one might consider – both intentionally and as a result of implication.

Knowing, then, that children's literature possesses a unique audience one must examine what necessarily separates it from the literature of the adult world. Children's literature is restrained in three areas. First, it may not be nostalgic, for children will have little concept of the past when they themselves have existed for short periods of time. Secondly, it must not be didactic, for children are not interested in bland ideological dialogue, but the real stuff of life. Thirdly, it must not despair, for the spirit of a child may otherwise be crushed. These distinctions are the primary manner in which children's literature achieves a purity of form and begins to enact a magical dialogue.

The modern world has become an increasingly harsh one, one wherein not only will the child find less and less in the way of the security she needs to grow into a self-confident and happy creature, but she finds little in the way of role models who live consciously in a creative and non-destructive manner. The miraculous artifice of children's literature is that the boundaries created by the fragility of its audience cause a celebratory hope to take the place of plodding despair. Children's literature is a means wherein the discovering spirit of a child is refocused into delineating the world around her in a positive manner. It provides a voice that encourages the child to explore and love her world – to delight in the magic of existence, while at once sheltering the growing mind from the corrosive modern spirit that tramples on creation indifferently.

Frequently apolitical and holistic in its mindset children's literature functions of the level of emotional and idealistic response. In facing the unknown world, the fantasy of the child must necessarily be stimulated – fiction as an imaginary device (whether or not it is used in the sub-genre of fantasy) is intrinsically valuable to both cultivating a capacity for creative and spontaneous thought, as well as helping the child to face reality in a creative manner. This is coupled with the necessity of helping the child to confront dark realities – deaths, pain, change, hate – in an inherently hopeful manner. The child is helped to understand the role of these elements in life, and that, though tragic, they contribute to an appreciation of life as a system. It is thusly, then, that children's literature is a manner of delineating the vast universe. It is a manner of addressing the needs of the human. But foremost, it is an art consistently facing the frontier of human experience that encourages wonder and delight in life.

Children's literature speaks not solely to the child - indulgence in such literature speaks to the child in man – calling upon those faculties which he has submerged – his sense of wonder, his sleeping fantasy, his desire for community with his fellow, with nature, and the love of life that calls one to create – effective children's literature can be the incantation which finds what the modern has lost – a catharsis of honest intention, a vision of life as it could be – the ideal which he has long since shackled. These powerful voices can speak to that which we have forgotten how to hear – it can function as the key to the gate. For this, I posit the merit of this literature, not only for consideration but also for celebration.

Some examples

The John Newbery Medal, awarded yearly for most distinguished contribution to children's literature, is a good barometer of quality and upon rudimentary searching one can find something stirring and rewarding. A brief exposition of ideas discussed in several books follows.

Number the Stars (Lois Lowry):
An incredible look at community – the solidarity of a united tribe in the context of good willed humanity. There is a strong example of a strong family unit. Above all, however, is the willingness of the child narrator (and those around her) to struggle and strive for an ideal.

Out of the Dust (Karen Hesse):
A verse-novel which posits a young girl in the context of the dust bowl, declaring the beauty of an enduring spirit in the face of harsh reality and that which arises from destruction.

Tuck Everlasting (Natalie Babbitt):
A novel which subtly and gently explains how death is necessary for life. The strength of the narrator's assertion of this ideal is at once beautiful and idealistic.

Walk Two Moons (Sharon Creech):
The acceptance of death; varying notions of family and community; posits to the reader questions such as, "How would I like to live?" Provide numerous powerful examples of love as an ideal.

http://www.ala.org/ala/alsc/awardsscholarships/literaryawds/literaryrelated.htm

by Piper Pocket

April 22, 2007