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Poverty in kids lit
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From: ksheth tds.net <ksheth_at_tds.net>
Date: Tue, 17 May 2011 08:55:38 -0500
This discussion is very revealing and interesting. Growing up in a middle class family in India I saw a lot of poverty and class differences around me. I also heard folk tales and stories about poor families so poverty was something that was very close to me and yet I was a little removed from it. Reading The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder gave me my first glimpse of hart times in children’s literature in this country.
My novel Boys Without Names is a contemporary book about a young boy who gets trapped into child labor. His family is poor and deep in debt. This kind of poverty is hard to imagine for children growing up here—one room dirt house, no furniture, and belongings that could be packed in a couple o f jute sacks. Many young readers assume this kind of poverty couldn’t be taking place now and that the book is a historical fiction. Readers are often surprised when I tell them that I did my research in India and the plight of Gopal’s family and other rural families is real.
What I learned researching my novel is that these struggling families are rich in close-knit communities and cultural ties that help them tremendousl y to fight against all odds. They have rituals, folk tales, and stories that are an integral part of their everyday lives. I tried to show that richness and humanity in my novel.
Kashmira Sheth
Kashmira Sheth ksheth_at_tds.net http://www.kashmirasheth.typepad.com/
Recent publications MG novel BOYS WITHOUT NAMES (HarperCollins, January, 2010) Picture Book MONSOON AFTERNOON (Peachtree Publisher, September, 2008)
Received on Tue 17 May 2011 08:55:38 AM CDT
Date: Tue, 17 May 2011 08:55:38 -0500
This discussion is very revealing and interesting. Growing up in a middle class family in India I saw a lot of poverty and class differences around me. I also heard folk tales and stories about poor families so poverty was something that was very close to me and yet I was a little removed from it. Reading The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder gave me my first glimpse of hart times in children’s literature in this country.
My novel Boys Without Names is a contemporary book about a young boy who gets trapped into child labor. His family is poor and deep in debt. This kind of poverty is hard to imagine for children growing up here—one room dirt house, no furniture, and belongings that could be packed in a couple o f jute sacks. Many young readers assume this kind of poverty couldn’t be taking place now and that the book is a historical fiction. Readers are often surprised when I tell them that I did my research in India and the plight of Gopal’s family and other rural families is real.
What I learned researching my novel is that these struggling families are rich in close-knit communities and cultural ties that help them tremendousl y to fight against all odds. They have rituals, folk tales, and stories that are an integral part of their everyday lives. I tried to show that richness and humanity in my novel.
Kashmira Sheth
Kashmira Sheth ksheth_at_tds.net http://www.kashmirasheth.typepad.com/
Recent publications MG novel BOYS WITHOUT NAMES (HarperCollins, January, 2010) Picture Book MONSOON AFTERNOON (Peachtree Publisher, September, 2008)
Received on Tue 17 May 2011 08:55:38 AM CDT
