Children’s Literature: History, Genres & Benefits
The Golden Age of Children’s Literature (1863-1911)
The Golden Age of Children’s Literature, spanning from 1863 to 1911, marked a significant shift in how childhood was perceived. Children’s books became more respectful, emphasizing enjoyment and imagination over pure instruction. Writers moved away from didacticism and moralizing, focusing instead on entertainment and sparking children’s imaginations.
Fairy Tales and the Rise of Fantasy
The renaissance of traditional fairy tales went hand-in-hand with this wave of imaginative writing. A key contribution of Golden Age writers was the introduction of the fantasy genre. These works, often novel-length, involved unreal elements, drawing a connection to traditional fairy tales.
Prominent writers of this era include:
- Lewis Carroll
- George MacDonald
- Charles Kingsley
- Edith Nesbit
- Oscar Wilde
- Kenneth Grahame
- J.M. Barrie
- L. Frank Baum
A Modern Children’s Story: Jacob’s Chicken
Jacob, a creative child, draws a unique, colorful chicken. His teacher, however, ridicules the drawing in front of the entire class. The chicken, feeling dejected, flies away. An ornithologist, searching for undiscovered birds, finds Jacob’s chicken. He sends the chicken, now named “Gallina kaponi,” to the zoo, where it becomes the main attraction. Among the many visitors are Jacob’s teacher and classmates. When they see the chicken, a student named Laura points out that it’s Jacob’s creation, angering the teacher.
This story is a fantasy with an ironic twist, told by a third-person narrator. The author uses a flowing narrative style, revealing character personalities through their interactions rather than lengthy descriptions. This indirect approach highlights the story’s key clues and themes.
Understanding Narrative Perspectives
The narrator is the voice telling the story, distinct from the author. Different types of narrators include:
- Third-person narrator: The narrator is outside the story, referring to characters as “he,” “she,” and “they.”
- Omniscient (all-knowing): The narrator can access the thoughts of all characters (e.g., C.S. Lewis’s *The Chronicles of Narnia*).
- Limited point of view: The narrator knows only what one character knows (e.g., Rafael Sánchez Ferlosio’s *El Jarama*).
- Second-person narrator: The protagonist or main character is addressed as “you.” This style is uncommon (e.g., Juan Goytisolo’s *Señas de identidad*).
- First-person narrator: The narrator is an “I” (or “we”) within the story, sharing their perspective (e.g., Mark Twain’s *Adventures of Huckleberry Finn*).
- Self-conscious narrator: The narrator acknowledges that the story is a fictional creation, a technique often seen in metafiction (e.g., Chaucer’s *Canterbury Tales*).
- Unreliable narrator: The narrator’s credibility is compromised (e.g., Henry James’s *The Turn of the Screw*).
Selecting Texts for Children: A Teacher’s Guide
Teachers should consider these factors when choosing books for children:
- Linguistic level
- Suitability for students’ psychological and cognitive development and interests
- Text type: genre and length
- Values and cultural background
These considerations are crucial to prevent students from developing a negative attitude toward reading. Aligning books with students’ individual characteristics promotes a love of reading and encourages them to read more.
The Importance of Reading: A Reader-Response
Reader-response criticism emphasizes the reader’s role in experiencing and interpreting a literary work. It recognizes the reader as an active participant who brings the work to life and completes its meaning.
Reading offers numerous benefits, including:
- Exercising the brain and improving concentration
- Developing empathy and calming the mind
- Teaching children about the world
- Improving vocabulary and language skills
- Stimulating imagination and providing entertainment
Fiction and Fictionality
Fiction encompasses works that deal with imaginary or invented events and information. It can apply to literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical works.
Fictionality, derived from “fictional,” refers to the quality of literary works that capture the author’s vision through specific mechanisms. These mechanisms vary among authors but often share similarities within their works. Fictionality reveals the process of creating fiction, both in text and thought patterns.
An example of a fictional product is the picture book *Varmints*, which simulates reality by presenting an imaginary world.
Intertextuality
Intertextuality is the presence of expressions, themes, or stylistic features from other texts within a given work. These can be incorporated as quotations, allusions, imitations, parodies, or recreations. Intertextuality helps us understand how texts influence one another.
Examples of intertextuality can be found in *The French Lieutenant’s Woman* and *The Purple Rose of Cairo*, where elements from other works are referenced.