It was so interesting to discover in chapter two that children's literature is a relatively new concept. Apparently, children were once regarded as "small adults" who should enter adulthood as soon as possible. Apparently, they did not recognize childhood as an important part of life as we do now. I also found the discovery of the printing press, and the subsequent use of chapbooks to be very interesting. Hundreds of years ago, many attempted to censor what was in books for children -- trying to keep the material limited to items about manners, religion, and courtesy. It was also interesting to discover that John Locke was the first person to suggest taht children should have mental development that mirrored physical development -- thus becoming the first person to suggest that perhaps children should truly experience childhood. At this time, fairy tales, fables, nursery rhymes and poems for children started popping up. Illustrations of children's book began in 1658 with the Orbis Pictus -- painted world, a story acommpanied by drawings that illustrated things in the natural world. I was intrigued by the fact that many of the things that we take for granted today were considered milestone books for the times. Books that were sensitive to the needs of children, books that addressed gender roles, and adventure books all came into the genre at different times and meant different things to children's literature. Eventally, as people began to embrace childhood as a special part of life, they also embraced the imaginative concepts of fantasy and adventure. One book mentioned in the chapter, Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, helped introduce books about family life. I remember having such strong feelings about the March sisters, and recognizing each of their personalities. This timeless classic was originally meant to be a book for girls, and ultimately Alcott decided to write about family. I also took particular interest in the section of the chapter that discussed censorship. I've felt that many school districts are far too conservative when it comes to books -- sometimes banning a book because a single parent disapproves. Some of my favorites, The Chocolate War and The Giver, both have a history of being censored in schools. Children's literature seems to have also followed the plight of the child since its inception. As children's roles changed in society, so too did the books that enteretained and taught them. I enjoyed learning about the history of children's literature, and believe that I've been given a new perspective about how it has developed over the years -- to become the beloved art form that it is today.
This was an interesting chapter to read because I never really thought about the idea of children’s literature being a new concept. I was aware of the notion that children were deemed “small adults” for many years, and that childhood was quite different in the past, but never really considered that the reading materials were so lacking in their creativity and appeal for children. I also was aware that few had access to reading materials, and that the wealthy were the fortunate ones to have books, while the poor or commoners relied on the sharing of stories through storytelling. We have all learned through history that campfire stories, folktales, and storytelling was the first way to get information to the masses, but how informative this chapter was in telling me how things really changed and when. On page 49 we are told that the exciting development in children’s literature that occurred in the 17th century was the publishing of the collection by Charles Perrault. Tales of Mother Goose were retold to appeal to children and provide entertainment. The stories were “Cinderella”, “Sleeping Beauty”, “Puss in Boots”, “Little Red Riding Hood”, and “Blue Beard”. These are all stories that are familiar even today. I once did a storytelling for young children and we compared and contrasted the story of “Cinderella” from different parts of the world. It was interesting to see how the story changed and adapted to relate to the children of the certain areas. Censorship was discussed in the chapter and I am not surprised. Explained as “always exsist(ing) to some degree, the criteria for proposing books be banned seem to shift with social trends, censorship will always be with us. It still occurs today and far too often in my opinion. I feel fortunate that few titles are censored in our district and we have an open-minded community. I am also aware that the librarian at the school (my sister), has run into a few situations where she has had to convince individuals of the value of certain books. I liked learning about Randolph Caldecott and the history of his contributions in illustration. I believe that the illustrations can really make a book memorable. It seems that these early illustrations were very simple, yet engaging and creative. I often look at books with the Caldecott award more often than those without the award. I am visual person and I enjoy seeing the creativity of others. My daughter is artist and enjoys the illustrations as well.
Isn't it great that we have the chance now to let children be children and to enjoy it. They can enjoy such an array of different types of books and they can escape to any world they want to. I especially agree with you Annie that the Giver is a great book. I read it only a few years ago, but I can see why it is controvercial.
I can see how reading a certain book might give a child more information than they need -- I picked up "Forever" by Judy Blume in the sixth grade, and I had a whole lot of questions for my mom afterward -- but you can temper access without banning a book altogether.
Chapter 2, The History of Children's Literature, provides a lot of interesting insight into the history of how children's books became such a popular trade. Something that I learned in my Child Development and Psychology course was that childhood for the longest was not recognized as a stage of life and children were expected to automatically take on the role of an adult in society. That explains why in many illustrations from ages prior to the Victorian Age children are represented as little adults since they were treated as such. It was not until John Locke came forward with the idea that childhood was indeed a time that needed to be recognized that literature specifically for children began to be developed. Prior to this children had the same literature history as adults with stories being transmitted orally of myths, legends, and actual accounts of the adults in their lives. Then their was the horn books and then stories that had a heavy Puritan influence that emphasized moral and religious development. After John Locke the world of children's literature saw a huge increase especially after John Newberry successfully ran a company that targeted children specifically with books written with them in mind. In many ways children's literature reflect the values and the societal influences that have existed at the time. During the Puritan times for example the focus was on morals and religions and now in our more modern times the focus is on being a productive citizen and children are usually presented analyzing, criticizing, and confronting serious personal, moral, religious, and other pressing issues.
Seeing the change that has occurred in children's literature as changes have occurred in society really confirms literature's role in helping people become better acquainted with their heritage. For example, in many older books written in the USA there are images of women, blacks, and Native Americans that today would be considered offensive and yet during those times they were accepted by the vast majority if not simply tolerated. Now, there are many books that show women and "people of color" in a positive light and highlight the vast contributions and history that each group possesses. It is important to help children take note of historical tidbits such as these of other cultures and the culture of their own country. It also serves to give us a educators insight into the happenings in the world around us since unlike times of old children's book have been showing the serious issues that many kids face such as drugs, poverty, and divorce. Many kids are likely to experience one if not all of these problems and our current selection of literature has kept pace so there is always a healthy inventory of books that can help kids identify and cope with their problems.
The Giver was among the most memorable books I ever read during my school tenure; not one of my favorites, but still one the most memorable nonetheless. Book censoring has always been very controversial and for good reason; many see the range of television and music options available in the media and wonder why they are not as censored as books are. In my opinion this comes down to the parents to decide what is appropriate for their child or not but, some of the reasons given for censoring books did seem pretty unreasonable to me. The Giver was on the books listed as being censored simply because it was deemed by someone as being "too depressing" and having profanity. Yet, I remember reading a book in the 10th grade called Go Ask Alice that was actually the diary of a teenage girl that was addicted to drugs that had loads of profanity and sexual activity in it. The book Bridge to Terabithia was listed for having "satanic" material among other reasons and yet I did not see Harry Potter or Bunnicula listed on the list. This is the issue I feel that a school can run into when they begin to censor books and while I in no way believe that children should be allowed to read any material that really could be inappropriate I just believe there should be a universal criteria set for schools to use. Book censoring as our unit brought out really just reflects the values of its time since once upon a time Gulliver's Travel was banned since it had overtones in it that were very critical of the government. That was before the idea of freedom to speech was really appreciated by the masses and now you can find a number of books, even those for children that direct criticism at the government. As times change so will our standards, lets just hope it is for the best and as of now it does not seem so.
I had learned in general psychology that John Locke was one of the main supporters of childrens literature so it was fun to read more about him because I already had some information to build on. Children's stories were common in the past they just weren't books. alot of the early childrens stories were just told by word of mouth.
It was interesting that children were viewed as small adults until recently. I wish they would have gone into more detail about the originals of these classic stories. I just love them. My kids love the version of Goldilocks and the Three Bears where the bears eat Goldilocks for being such a naughty little girl. They made the stories that were meant to be moral guides for children to be very boring and dreadful.
Sounds to me like Puritans should get a boat load of credit for children's lit. to be where it is today, okay maybe not children's lit., but definately the importance of children reading. With the state of Massachusetts requiring the heads of households to teach their children to read. We may not be where we are today if they did not think it important for the youngsters to know how to read.
Locke had a profound impact as well. While reading through the posts I noticed another classmate remebers mister Locke from general psycology. I guess we just take for granted now that children's minds are "blank pages". We know now that the are a sponge and absorb everything around them. Back then it was not a common to believe such ways. Stressing the development of one's mind as being just as important as one's physical development makes him a pioneer.
Linda, It's interesting to hear you talk about your experiences. I would be interested in hearing some of the different interpretations of Cinderella. This is my little girls favorite disney character
Benjamin, I don't know if you really want to know the different stories of Cinderella. My daughter studied those last year in high school. She said the evil step sisters cut off part of there feet to get them to fit it the slipper.
Wow a new concept!!! I thought children's literature was around for forever...but that just goes to show we are just now (the past couple of hundred years) starting to realize the importance of reading to children or letting them learn to read.
I learned a lot in this chapter. Another topic I never heard of was children once being regarded, or thought of, as "small adults". Those poor children. Without the understanding of the different stages of development a child goes through, I wonder how many of these "small adults" were abused?!? I am saddened by the lack of understanding these children had to endure, but I am grateful how far mankind has come.
Chapter two was eye opening for me. I know throughout history children's roles have changed numerous times. However I guess I never pictured the role of literature in children's live changing as well. It was interesting to find out at one time books were not inspirational or fun for children but they were educational tools for children to learn a specific trade. To know that children were referenced as "little adults", saddens me. I also found it surprising some cultures did not like the idea of their children reading due to the fantasy and creativity their children could derive from reading books. I found the list of banned books throughout literature to be insightful to how the role of teaching literature has changed as well. The references to Mark Twain's books and reasons why they were banned were fascinating. The historical books written regarding, racism of race and gender are used a teaching toys currently in schools. When the books were written they were just written regarding the accepted societal roles of the authors time. I particularly enjoyed references regarding Little Women. I always loved the character of Jo March. Reading this chapter book as a child I never thought about the positive image Jo's character provided for young woman. From reading chapter I not only learned a great deal about the history or children's literature but I found out how privileged I was as a child to be know literature as a exciting concept. I believe books can teach children numerous life lessons. This was only chapter two and I have already learned so much about the important role of children's literature. I hope to continue to learn throughout this course, because no more than ever I believe reading the importance of reading and teaching literature to youth today is vital.
I did not know about the other version of Cinderella where the step sisters cut of their feet to fit into the glass slipper. This is very interesting to me. I would like to know where your daughter found the resource as well. Also how old is your daughter? Just curious what grade level the assignment was used in. I think it is a neat concept to be researched. There are many historical books that have been rewritten multiple times I would be interested in learning more about. That was another topic I enjoyed in Chapter two the references to the books like Cinderella that have been rewritten over time.
During this chapter I often thought back to when I was a child and just how much has changed in children's literature since then. The books available to day and insightful to a child's life. They are made to teach and entertain them. The beginning times of history the books were strictly to persuade them to be like the adults wanted them to. My favorite book as a child was Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea. I fell in love with them and read them several times. My 10 year old daughter loves to read Magis Treehouse and many other series. I am glad to see that times have changed and children are including as people too. It was nice to see through the chapter that olders milestones in children's literature are still being told and read. Such as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.
I also took English Literature and read alot about Mark Twain. It was amazing the mind set in those days to ban a book like that. We have really come a long way since then.
18 comments:
It was so interesting to discover in chapter two that children's literature is a relatively new concept. Apparently, children were once regarded as "small adults" who should enter adulthood as soon as possible. Apparently, they did not recognize childhood as an important part of life as we do now. I also found the discovery of the printing press, and the subsequent use of chapbooks to be very interesting. Hundreds of years ago, many attempted to censor what was in books for children -- trying to keep the material limited to items about manners, religion, and courtesy. It was also interesting to discover that John Locke was the first person to suggest taht children should have mental development that mirrored physical development -- thus becoming the first person to suggest that perhaps children should truly experience childhood. At this time, fairy tales, fables, nursery rhymes and poems for children started popping up. Illustrations of children's book began in 1658 with the Orbis Pictus -- painted world, a story acommpanied by drawings that illustrated things in the natural world. I was intrigued by the fact that many of the things that we take for granted today were considered milestone books for the times. Books that were sensitive to the needs of children, books that addressed gender roles, and adventure books all came into the genre at different times and meant different things to children's literature. Eventally, as people began to embrace childhood as a special part of life, they also embraced the imaginative concepts of fantasy and adventure. One book mentioned in the chapter, Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, helped introduce books about family life. I remember having such strong feelings about the March sisters, and recognizing each of their personalities. This timeless classic was originally meant to be a book for girls, and ultimately Alcott decided to write about family. I also took particular interest in the section of the chapter that discussed censorship. I've felt that many school districts are far too conservative when it comes to books -- sometimes banning a book because a single parent disapproves. Some of my favorites, The Chocolate War and The Giver, both have a history of being censored in schools. Children's literature seems to have also followed the plight of the child since its inception. As children's roles changed in society, so too did the books that enteretained and taught them. I enjoyed learning about the history of children's literature, and believe that I've been given a new perspective about how it has developed over the years -- to become the beloved art form that it is today.
This was an interesting chapter to read because I never really thought about the idea of children’s literature being a new concept. I was aware of the notion that children were deemed “small adults” for many years, and that childhood was quite different in the past, but never really considered that the reading materials were so lacking in their creativity and appeal for children. I also was aware that few had access to reading materials, and that the wealthy were the fortunate ones to have books, while the poor or commoners relied on the sharing of stories through storytelling. We have all learned through history that campfire stories, folktales, and storytelling was the first way to get information to the masses, but how informative this chapter was in telling me how things really changed and when.
On page 49 we are told that the exciting development in children’s literature that occurred in the 17th century was the publishing of the collection by Charles Perrault. Tales of Mother Goose were retold to appeal to children and provide entertainment. The stories were “Cinderella”, “Sleeping Beauty”, “Puss in Boots”, “Little Red Riding Hood”, and “Blue Beard”. These are all stories that are familiar even today. I once did a storytelling for young children and we compared and contrasted the story of “Cinderella” from different parts of the world. It was interesting to see how the story changed and adapted to relate to the children of the certain areas.
Censorship was discussed in the chapter and I am not surprised. Explained as “always exsist(ing) to some degree, the criteria for proposing books be banned seem to shift with social trends, censorship will always be with us. It still occurs today and far too often in my opinion. I feel fortunate that few titles are censored in our district and we have an open-minded community. I am also aware that the librarian at the school (my sister), has run into a few situations where she has had to convince individuals of the value of certain books.
I liked learning about Randolph Caldecott and the history of his contributions in illustration. I believe that the illustrations can really make a book memorable. It seems that these early illustrations were very simple, yet engaging and creative. I often look at books with the Caldecott award more often than those without the award. I am visual person and I enjoy seeing the creativity of others. My daughter is artist and enjoys the illustrations as well.
Isn't it great that we have the chance now to let children be children and to enjoy it. They can enjoy such an array of different types of books and they can escape to any world they want to.
I especially agree with you Annie that the Giver is a great book. I read it only a few years ago, but I can see why it is controvercial.
I can see how reading a certain book might give a child more information than they need -- I picked up "Forever" by Judy Blume in the sixth grade, and I had a whole lot of questions for my mom afterward -- but you can temper access without banning a book altogether.
Chapter 2, The History of Children's Literature, provides a lot of interesting insight into the history of how children's books became such a popular trade. Something that I learned in my Child Development and Psychology course was that childhood for the longest was not recognized as a stage of life and children were expected to automatically take on the role of an adult in society. That explains why in many illustrations from ages prior to the Victorian Age children are represented as little adults since they were treated as such. It was not until John Locke came forward with the idea that childhood was indeed a time that needed to be recognized that literature specifically for children began to be developed. Prior to this children had the same literature history as adults with stories being transmitted orally of myths, legends, and actual accounts of the adults in their lives. Then their was the horn books and then stories that had a heavy Puritan influence that emphasized moral and religious development. After John Locke the world of children's literature saw a huge increase especially after John Newberry successfully ran a company that targeted children specifically with books written with them in mind. In many ways children's literature reflect the values and the societal influences that have existed at the time. During the Puritan times for example the focus was on morals and religions and now in our more modern times the focus is on being a productive citizen and children are usually presented analyzing, criticizing, and confronting serious personal, moral, religious, and other pressing issues.
Seeing the change that has occurred in children's literature as changes have occurred in society really confirms literature's role in helping people become better acquainted with their heritage. For example, in many older books written in the USA there are images of women, blacks, and Native Americans that today would be considered offensive and yet during those times they were accepted by the vast majority if not simply tolerated. Now, there are many books that show women and "people of color" in a positive light and highlight the vast contributions and history that each group possesses. It is important to help children take note of historical tidbits such as these of other cultures and the culture of their own country. It also serves to give us a educators insight into the happenings in the world around us since unlike times of old children's book have been showing the serious issues that many kids face such as drugs, poverty, and divorce. Many kids are likely to experience one if not all of these problems and our current selection of literature has kept pace so there is always a healthy inventory of books that can help kids identify and cope with their problems.
Anniem,
The Giver was among the most memorable books I ever read during my school tenure; not one of my favorites, but still one the most memorable nonetheless. Book censoring has always been very controversial and for good reason; many see the range of television and music options available in the media and wonder why they are not as censored as books are. In my opinion this comes down to the parents to decide what is appropriate for their child or not but, some of the reasons given for censoring books did seem pretty unreasonable to me. The Giver was on the books listed as being censored simply because it was deemed by someone as being "too depressing" and having profanity. Yet, I remember reading a book in the 10th grade called Go Ask Alice that was actually the diary of a teenage girl that was addicted to drugs that had loads of profanity and sexual activity in it. The book Bridge to Terabithia was listed for having "satanic" material among other reasons and yet I did not see Harry Potter or Bunnicula listed on the list. This is the issue I feel that a school can run into when they begin to censor books and while I in no way believe that children should be allowed to read any material that really could be inappropriate I just believe there should be a universal criteria set for schools to use. Book censoring as our unit brought out really just reflects the values of its time since once upon a time Gulliver's Travel was banned since it had overtones in it that were very critical of the government. That was before the idea of freedom to speech was really appreciated by the masses and now you can find a number of books, even those for children that direct criticism at the government. As times change so will our standards, lets just hope it is for the best and as of now it does not seem so.
Gregg
I had learned in general psychology that John Locke was one of the main supporters of childrens literature so it was fun to read more about him because I already had some information to build on. Children's stories were common in the past they just weren't books. alot of the early childrens stories were just told by word of mouth.
It was interesting that children were viewed as small adults until recently. I wish they would have gone into more detail about the originals of these classic stories. I just love them. My kids love the version of Goldilocks and the Three Bears where the bears eat Goldilocks for being such a naughty little girl. They made the stories that were meant to be moral guides for children to be very boring and dreadful.
Sounds to me like Puritans should get a boat load of credit for children's lit. to be where it is today, okay maybe not children's lit., but definately the importance of children reading. With the state of Massachusetts requiring the heads of households to teach their children to read. We may not be where we are today if they did not think it important for the youngsters to know how to read.
Locke had a profound impact as well. While reading through the posts I noticed another classmate remebers mister Locke from general psycology. I guess we just take for granted now that children's minds are "blank pages". We know now that the are a sponge and absorb everything around them. Back then it was not a common to believe such ways. Stressing the development of one's mind as being just as important as one's physical development makes him a pioneer.
Linda,
It's interesting to hear you talk about your experiences. I would be interested in hearing some of the different interpretations of Cinderella. This is my little girls favorite disney character
Benjamin,
I don't know if you really want to know the different stories of Cinderella. My daughter studied those last year in high school. She said the evil step sisters cut off part of there feet to get them to fit it the slipper.
wendyp,
Wow, I didn't know they cut off their feet. Ouch! Thank you for sharing that information. Do you know where she found it?
Wow a new concept!!! I thought children's literature was around for forever...but that just goes to show we are just now (the past couple of hundred years) starting to realize the importance of reading to children or letting them learn to read.
I learned a lot in this chapter. Another topic I never heard of was children once being regarded, or thought of, as "small adults". Those poor children. Without the understanding of the different stages of development a child goes through, I wonder how many of these "small adults" were abused?!? I am saddened by the lack of understanding these children had to endure, but I am grateful how far mankind has come.
Chapter two was eye opening for me. I know throughout history children's roles have changed numerous times. However I guess I never pictured the role of literature in children's live changing as well. It was interesting to find out at one time books were not inspirational or fun for children but they were educational tools for children to learn a specific trade. To know that children were referenced as "little adults", saddens me. I also found it surprising some cultures did not like the idea of their children reading due to the fantasy and creativity their children could derive from reading books. I found the list of banned books throughout literature to be insightful to how the role of teaching literature has changed as well. The references to Mark Twain's books and reasons why they were banned were fascinating. The historical books written regarding, racism of race and gender are used a teaching toys currently in schools. When the books were written they were just written regarding the accepted societal roles of the authors time. I particularly enjoyed references regarding Little Women. I always loved the character of Jo March. Reading this chapter book as a child I never thought about the positive image Jo's character provided for young woman.
From reading chapter I not only learned a great deal about the history or children's literature but I found out how privileged I was as a child to be know literature as a exciting concept. I believe books can teach children numerous life lessons. This was only chapter two and I have already learned so much about the important role of children's literature. I hope to continue to learn throughout this course, because no more than ever I believe reading the importance of reading and teaching literature to youth today is vital.
I did not know about the other version of Cinderella where the step sisters cut of their feet to fit into the glass slipper. This is very interesting to me. I would like to know where your daughter found the resource as well. Also how old is your daughter? Just curious what grade level the assignment was used in. I think it is a neat concept to be researched. There are many historical books that have been rewritten multiple times I would be interested in learning more about. That was another topic I enjoyed in Chapter two the references to the books like Cinderella that have been rewritten over time.
Hanna,
I have also learned about John Locke in other courses. It is nice to be able to use information from one and expand. Great feeling!
During this chapter I often thought back to when I was a child and just how much has changed in children's literature since then. The books available to day and insightful to a child's life. They are made to teach and entertain them. The beginning times of history the books were strictly to persuade them to be like the adults wanted them to. My favorite book as a child was Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea. I fell in love with them and read them several times. My 10 year old daughter loves to read Magis Treehouse and many other series. I am glad to see that times have changed and children are including as people too. It was nice to see through the chapter that olders milestones in children's literature are still being told and read. Such as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.
I also took English Literature and read alot about Mark Twain. It was amazing the mind set in those days to ban a book like that. We have really come a long way since then.
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