From: Eliza T. Dresang <edresang>
Date: Thu, 29 May 1997 13:59:12 -0500

As one of the co-instigators of the term "radical change" in children's literature (with Kate McClelland), I've "watched" this discussion with interest. I should also identify myself as a long time admirer of Paul Fleishman's work--including as a member of the l982 Newbery Committee which selected Graven Images for an Honor Book. And yes, Steve Engelfried, I agree, first and foremost Paul Fleischman is a writer of good tales--but I think the stories in Graven Images and in the stories/story in Seedfolks are equally good tales. In fact, the very point is that "good" stories can be told in more traditional or newer forms and still be good stories.


First, to comment on interactive as part of the "root" or "radical" change that Kate and I propose is occurring in children's literature
(roots of course, have beginnings, so nothing is new--just more of it and it looks somewhat different as it grows; also, our roots are rhizomes from which other roots and branches are growing every which way). Although it is true that on the computer and in certain handheld books, children do become the author, that is only a speck in the spectrum of
"interactive" books to which we refer--and not the most interesting and most relevant. Interesting, Paul, that you used the phrase "as a reader I don't mind assembling the parts of the story," because that, in fact, is one of the very aspects to which we refer, i.e., literature which
"encourages the young person to make connections for him/herself." If
 Dateline Troy, Seedfolk, and Bull Run don't do that, then what does? Another aspect is "offer the possibility of reading interactively . . . in a variety of ways." Voila, Joyful Noise and I Am Phoenix-- as well as the readers' theater possibilities of your other books.


Added to "interactivity" are "community" and "access" as basic descriptors of this
"radical change." Books which bring children into community with one another outside of the book, with others inside of the book ( Seedfolks) belong in this group. And, books which bring new levels of access to young people belong, too. No, none of these are new--but added together and in number, they present a new "face" to children's literature.


Here are a couple of interesting stories for you, Paul, from my teaching (adults). Two summers ago I assigned a group of twenty some graduate students in a children's literature course Bull Run . Now, I have joined those "heretical young people" who like to read Bull Run in various sorts of ways--all North, all South, etc (which I know disturbs the music of the text). But I didn't share this with the students to whom I gave the assignment. What I did do is at the beginning of class after they had read the book to ask all those who read Bull Run in any manner other than the traditional front to back to raise their hand (I thought to myself there might be one or two odd characters like me). No, there were many--more than half the class. So then we did a "go around" for the students to tell how they read the story--as many ways as there are students. So adults, too, have joined the "point and click" approach to reading--and the icons in Bull Run help us to do just that. I think what you've done, Paul, is create a story that reads marvelously in a linear manner but opens the possibility for many other possible "assemblages" for those who want/need another approach. This is the interactive authoring which appeals to us.


The other story is also about Bull Run. A graduate student chose to study "the Civil War in children's literature." She went back to the Newbery books (great stories!) Rifles for Watie and Across Five Aprils from decades ago and read right through up to Bull Run . Her interesting (and again unanticipated conclusion) was that in your one short book she found all the perspectives that she encountered in hundreds of pages and multiple decades of reading. That, to me is access!! (She, by the way, is a practicing librarian who works with children daily). Kate and I see this as a real ability to present information/ideas in a new formats that are more accessible to youth--and adults.


The bottom line of all this is that adults did and to a large extent still do control literature for children. But there is a remarkable difference in this era of
"radical change," for adults such as you, Paul Fleischman, are getting at something that many (but for sure not all) adults writing for children have missed in the past: how to present the world in a way that allows them to interpret it for themselves, to access new ways of thinking and seeing (multiple perspectives Kate and I call it) and to form communities while doing so. Maybe you're the playright or the drama coach, but you let the children be the actors. We tie this to the electronic world because we feel that it has "freed up" the atmosphere for writers like you to be yourself--and for readers to approach writing in a more open manner.


It's ok if you don't see yourself as an agent of "radical change." Whatever it is, your writing is fresh and accessible and great for kids! Thanks for coming on line and talking with us in this community. Eliza Dresang



At 08:41 AM 5/28/97 00, Paul Fleischman wrote:











 arrived.






 a









 prefer

 suspect




















*

Eliza T. Dresang Phone: 904 644 5877 (w)

Associate Professor Phone: 904 224 1637 (h)

School of Information Studies FAX: 904 644 9763 (w)

Florida State University E-mail edresang at mailer.fsu.edu

Tallahassee, Florida 32306 48
Received on Thu 29 May 1997 01:59:12 PM CDT