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non-linear thinking in children
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From: fshapiro
Date: Fri, 30 Oct 1998 15:45:14 -0500
Greetings! My name is Farida Shapiro, and I am a children's librarian with The New York Public Library. This is my first posting to the list
(I have been lurking for about a month now).
In response to Deborah Churchman's query about non-linear thinking in children, I was reminded of the first time I read the Chronicles of Narnia (2nd grade). In the traditional order of the Narnia stories, there is some weaving back and forth in time: The Magician's Nephew, which actually occurs first chronologically, was written after a number of the other books. In the beginning, this was confusing,and I remember trying to make sense of the books using a linear perspective. At some point, understanding clicked into place, and I enjoyed the books even more because they did not follow a chronological set-up.
Now, the Narnia stories are published in chronological order, and this is how some children will always know them. (I know this was C. S. Lewis' wish.) Maybe this makes sense, depending upon how younger children grasp non-chronological orders. But for me,reading the Narnia stories in their original order paved the way for understanding and enjoying non-linear narratives later on.
Farida Shapiro The New York Public Library fshapiro at nypl.org
*My views do not necessarily reflect NYPL's views.*
Received on Fri 30 Oct 1998 02:45:14 PM CST
Date: Fri, 30 Oct 1998 15:45:14 -0500
Greetings! My name is Farida Shapiro, and I am a children's librarian with The New York Public Library. This is my first posting to the list
(I have been lurking for about a month now).
In response to Deborah Churchman's query about non-linear thinking in children, I was reminded of the first time I read the Chronicles of Narnia (2nd grade). In the traditional order of the Narnia stories, there is some weaving back and forth in time: The Magician's Nephew, which actually occurs first chronologically, was written after a number of the other books. In the beginning, this was confusing,and I remember trying to make sense of the books using a linear perspective. At some point, understanding clicked into place, and I enjoyed the books even more because they did not follow a chronological set-up.
Now, the Narnia stories are published in chronological order, and this is how some children will always know them. (I know this was C. S. Lewis' wish.) Maybe this makes sense, depending upon how younger children grasp non-chronological orders. But for me,reading the Narnia stories in their original order paved the way for understanding and enjoying non-linear narratives later on.
Farida Shapiro The New York Public Library fshapiro at nypl.org
*My views do not necessarily reflect NYPL's views.*
Received on Fri 30 Oct 1998 02:45:14 PM CST
