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[CCBC-Net] Children on Their Own
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From: Monica Edinger <monicaedinger>
Date: Fri, 19 Aug 2005 10:49:30 -0400
On 8/17/05, Megan Schliesman <schliesman at education.wisc.edu> wrote:
> And, of course, why is this such a rich theme for children's and young adult authors to explore? What is it that resonates so deeply for child and young adult readers? Does it speak to their greatest fears? Their greatest fantasies? Both?
Like Norma Jean I was a Boxcar Children fan when young. I also loved playing variations of the game "running away." One of my favorite versions involved my dollhouse dolls and a wooden toy horse. I'd pack them up and away they'd ride. I loved all the details of running away
--- sleeping in the open, cooking, and so forth. There was something so wonderful about the lack of adults --- I was completely and utterly IN CHARGE! I had a perfectly lovely set of parents in the real world, but had no problem eliminating them for this game.
So I think reading orphans and abandonment stories was a virtual way for me to continue playing out this game I enjoyed so much. And further, I think it is highly connected to what I loved and many children still love about fairy tales. That is, children off on their own and then getting all and more they could possibly want. (I'm just back from this year's Children's Literature New England where we considered fairy tales so still have them on the brain.) There is that possibility that the protagonist is actually a prince or princess, that a relative will (after, of course, many adventures) come along to claim him or her. Or that she/he will prove to be prince/princess-like in a happy ending.
Of course, they don't need to be actual fairy tales or even literary fairy tales. Oliver Twist offers that sort of most satisfying wishfullment and many other stories do as well. Just the other day I read The Printer's Devil by Paul Bajoria which is a perfect example of these sorts of books --- an orphaned protagonist who is not what he seems. I know there are plenty of realistic books considering this topic very differently, but for me and many children still today it is not a sad and horrible topic, but an exciting one, a topic that opens up adventurous possibilities, magic, and more.
Monica
Date: Fri, 19 Aug 2005 10:49:30 -0400
On 8/17/05, Megan Schliesman <schliesman at education.wisc.edu> wrote:
> And, of course, why is this such a rich theme for children's and young adult authors to explore? What is it that resonates so deeply for child and young adult readers? Does it speak to their greatest fears? Their greatest fantasies? Both?
Like Norma Jean I was a Boxcar Children fan when young. I also loved playing variations of the game "running away." One of my favorite versions involved my dollhouse dolls and a wooden toy horse. I'd pack them up and away they'd ride. I loved all the details of running away
--- sleeping in the open, cooking, and so forth. There was something so wonderful about the lack of adults --- I was completely and utterly IN CHARGE! I had a perfectly lovely set of parents in the real world, but had no problem eliminating them for this game.
So I think reading orphans and abandonment stories was a virtual way for me to continue playing out this game I enjoyed so much. And further, I think it is highly connected to what I loved and many children still love about fairy tales. That is, children off on their own and then getting all and more they could possibly want. (I'm just back from this year's Children's Literature New England where we considered fairy tales so still have them on the brain.) There is that possibility that the protagonist is actually a prince or princess, that a relative will (after, of course, many adventures) come along to claim him or her. Or that she/he will prove to be prince/princess-like in a happy ending.
Of course, they don't need to be actual fairy tales or even literary fairy tales. Oliver Twist offers that sort of most satisfying wishfullment and many other stories do as well. Just the other day I read The Printer's Devil by Paul Bajoria which is a perfect example of these sorts of books --- an orphaned protagonist who is not what he seems. I know there are plenty of realistic books considering this topic very differently, but for me and many children still today it is not a sad and horrible topic, but an exciting one, a topic that opens up adventurous possibilities, magic, and more.
Monica
-- Monica Edinger The Dalton School New York NY edinger at dalton.org monicaedinger at gmail.comReceived on Fri 19 Aug 2005 09:49:30 AM CDT
