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I must have been around
ten-years old when I was browsing in the bookshop one day. My eyes caught the
colourful image of a marionette on the front cover of a book. I opened the page
to the first chapter and read the following epigraph:
"Now it happened that Mr Cherry, the carpenter, found a piece of wood that laughed and cried like a child."
If there was ever an invitation to read a book, that epigraph was an open-armed welcome.
In 2018, my wife and I were visiting St Andrews on Scotland’s east coast. In the upstairs of the museum, there was a large room with a large dining table. It was all prepared with cutlery and other utensils. It was the Mad Hatters’ tea party. On the walls of the room were wonderful quotes from various children’s books; it was magical.
"You're mad, bonkers, completely off your head. But I will tell you a secret. All the best people are." Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
So, on a whim, I decided to add Children’s Literature (EA300) to my Open Degree. The module was fascinating, and it took me through a cross section of the most wonderful books written for children and young adults. For example, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D Taylor. Set in the 1930s Mississippi, it tells the story of Cassie Logan, a nine-year-old negotiating racism during the period. It is one of those books that every child should read as it teaches empathy.
Voices in the Park, a picture book where text and image complement each other to tell the story. It juxtaposed two children living different lives, but negotiating the nurture nature challenges in diverse ways. Once again, a clever piece of writing as it teaches children the wisdom of having a positive outlook in life.
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.” The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
But the course burst my bubble. There are very few children’s book. Adults write the majority, and for good or bad, adults have agendas.
I was also torn by what we feed children. Should children be exposed and limited to the wonder of innocence like Anne of Green Gables and Peter Rabbit or is there a place for books that deal with broken families, an alcoholic parent, aggressive adults, and the like? Such books have merit if they instruct children in these situations where they can orchestrate life’s problems in wisdom. What say you? I am curious.