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[CCBC-Net] The Hidden Adult
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From: Nancy Silverrod <nsilverrod>
Date: Thu, 16 Jul 2009 13:02:44 -0700
A couple of books which pretty completely leave out the adult point of view in a totally delightful way are Ruth Krauss and Maurice Sendak's A Very Special House, and A Hole is to Dig. Both of these books focus completely on children's imaginations as they explore their daily worlds.
The Eloise books have adult characters, who do, at times try to impose an adult structure, if not viewpoint on Eloise. However, Eloise runs roughshod over adult expectations, and her actions, and imagined actions remain in the forefront to delight the reader, with fabulous illustrations to pore over again and again.
Nancy
Our heads are round so that thoughts can change direction. -Francis Picabia, painter and poet (1879-1953)
Our memories are card indexes consulted and then returned in disorder by authorities whom we do not control. -Cyril Connolly, critic and editor (1903-1974)
A closed mind is like a closed book: just a block of wood. -Chinese Proverb
-----Original Message----- From: ccbc-net-bounces at lists.education.wisc.edu [mailto:ccbc-net-bounces at lists.education.wisc.edu] On Behalf Of Megan Schliesman Sent: Thursday, July 16, 2009 7:50 AM To: ccbc-net, Subscribers of Subject: [CCBC-Net] The Hidden Adult
Today we turn to the CCBC-Net topic for the second half of July: Perry
Nodelman's newest book, "T/he Hidden Adult: Defining Children's
Literature"/ (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008).
In "The Hidden Adult," Nodelman explores the commonalities and shared
themes of children's literature, based on a comparison of six books for
children written between 1801 and 1993. An examination of the plots,
themes, and structures of "/The Purple Jar//,/" "/Alice in
Wonderland//,/" "/Dr. Doolittle/," "/Henry Huggins//,/" "/The Snowy
Day/," and "/Plain City"// /is the basis for Mr. Nodelman's observations
about the ways in which adult knowledge and experience are hidden in
books for young people.
Perry Nodelman has graciously agreed to join us for this discussion. We
know not everyone in the CCBC-Net community will have had a chance to
read "The Hidden Adult," but we hope everyone can get some sense of the
book through the CCBC-Net discussion in the coming days and will feel
free to ask him questions.
I cannot begun to convey the observations in "The Hidden Adult" in all
their complexities and detail. I will say that in the book, Perry
Nodelman argues that the six texts he so closely examines contain
characteristics that can be considered identifiers of children's
literature as a genre-a genre that is almost wholly unique in that it is
labeled in terms of its intended audience rather than in terms of those
who create it. Of those characteristics, the ones I find most
fascinating to contemplate are those that look at the tension inherent
in the adult writer/child audience relationship, looking at the meaning
that adult authors of children's literature convey in texts through
their child characters. He writes, ". . . the texts tend to offer two
different points of view, one childlike and one adult. . . . In being
different, and often opposite, the two points of view imply a conflict
between childlike and adult perceptions and values." He also writes,
"The texts tend to work to encourage child readers to replace whatever
sense they have of themselves and the meaning of their own behavior with
adult conceptions of those matters."
When I think of this adult "intent" in terms of the children's books I'm
surrounded by every day, I think about a continuum. At one end are the
books that are adult-centered, burdened by didacticism or adult
nostalgia. At the other are the books that I consider among the best
examples of the children's literature genre: convincingly creating a
child's understanding of events and experiences; in short, offering a
child-centered perspective on the world or some dimension of it. But the
suggestion in "The Hidden Adult" is that an adult agenda is an inherent
quality in the genre of children's literature.
I'm wondering what members of the CCBC-Net community think about this
idea. Does it influence your understanding of the genre as a whole, or
of some of the children's books you particularly admire?
Perry, I know your thinking about this and the other ideas you explore
in "The Hidden Adult" have developed over many years. I'm wondering if
there were specific texts--perhaps among the six you examine in the
book, or others you read along the way--that really helped bring this
idea of children's literature as a genre that in is part about conveying
adult ideas and values to child readers into focus.
Megan
Megan
Date: Thu, 16 Jul 2009 13:02:44 -0700
A couple of books which pretty completely leave out the adult point of view in a totally delightful way are Ruth Krauss and Maurice Sendak's A Very Special House, and A Hole is to Dig. Both of these books focus completely on children's imaginations as they explore their daily worlds.
The Eloise books have adult characters, who do, at times try to impose an adult structure, if not viewpoint on Eloise. However, Eloise runs roughshod over adult expectations, and her actions, and imagined actions remain in the forefront to delight the reader, with fabulous illustrations to pore over again and again.
Nancy
Our heads are round so that thoughts can change direction. -Francis Picabia, painter and poet (1879-1953)
Our memories are card indexes consulted and then returned in disorder by authorities whom we do not control. -Cyril Connolly, critic and editor (1903-1974)
A closed mind is like a closed book: just a block of wood. -Chinese Proverb
-----Original Message----- From: ccbc-net-bounces at lists.education.wisc.edu [mailto:ccbc-net-bounces at lists.education.wisc.edu] On Behalf Of Megan Schliesman Sent: Thursday, July 16, 2009 7:50 AM To: ccbc-net, Subscribers of Subject: [CCBC-Net] The Hidden Adult
Today we turn to the CCBC-Net topic for the second half of July: Perry
Nodelman's newest book, "T/he Hidden Adult: Defining Children's
Literature"/ (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008).
In "The Hidden Adult," Nodelman explores the commonalities and shared
themes of children's literature, based on a comparison of six books for
children written between 1801 and 1993. An examination of the plots,
themes, and structures of "/The Purple Jar//,/" "/Alice in
Wonderland//,/" "/Dr. Doolittle/," "/Henry Huggins//,/" "/The Snowy
Day/," and "/Plain City"// /is the basis for Mr. Nodelman's observations
about the ways in which adult knowledge and experience are hidden in
books for young people.
Perry Nodelman has graciously agreed to join us for this discussion. We
know not everyone in the CCBC-Net community will have had a chance to
read "The Hidden Adult," but we hope everyone can get some sense of the
book through the CCBC-Net discussion in the coming days and will feel
free to ask him questions.
I cannot begun to convey the observations in "The Hidden Adult" in all
their complexities and detail. I will say that in the book, Perry
Nodelman argues that the six texts he so closely examines contain
characteristics that can be considered identifiers of children's
literature as a genre-a genre that is almost wholly unique in that it is
labeled in terms of its intended audience rather than in terms of those
who create it. Of those characteristics, the ones I find most
fascinating to contemplate are those that look at the tension inherent
in the adult writer/child audience relationship, looking at the meaning
that adult authors of children's literature convey in texts through
their child characters. He writes, ". . . the texts tend to offer two
different points of view, one childlike and one adult. . . . In being
different, and often opposite, the two points of view imply a conflict
between childlike and adult perceptions and values." He also writes,
"The texts tend to work to encourage child readers to replace whatever
sense they have of themselves and the meaning of their own behavior with
adult conceptions of those matters."
When I think of this adult "intent" in terms of the children's books I'm
surrounded by every day, I think about a continuum. At one end are the
books that are adult-centered, burdened by didacticism or adult
nostalgia. At the other are the books that I consider among the best
examples of the children's literature genre: convincingly creating a
child's understanding of events and experiences; in short, offering a
child-centered perspective on the world or some dimension of it. But the
suggestion in "The Hidden Adult" is that an adult agenda is an inherent
quality in the genre of children's literature.
I'm wondering what members of the CCBC-Net community think about this
idea. Does it influence your understanding of the genre as a whole, or
of some of the children's books you particularly admire?
Perry, I know your thinking about this and the other ideas you explore
in "The Hidden Adult" have developed over many years. I'm wondering if
there were specific texts--perhaps among the six you examine in the
book, or others you read along the way--that really helped bring this
idea of children's literature as a genre that in is part about conveying
adult ideas and values to child readers into focus.
Megan
Megan
-- Megan Schliesman, Librarian Cooperative Children's Book Center School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison 600 N. Park Street, Room 4290 Madison, WI 53706 608/262-9503 schliesman at education.wisc.edu www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/ _______________________________________________ CCBC-Net mailing list CCBC-Net at lists.education.wisc.edu Visit this link to read archives or to unsubscribe... http://lists.education.wisc.edu/mailman/listinfo/ccbc-net Official SFPL use onlyReceived on Thu 16 Jul 2009 03:02:44 PM CDT
