Monday 9 July 2012

Children's books reflect harsh reality - haven't they always?

There has been a bit of a brouhaha in the media recently. It started with an article in The Guardian (Friday 6th July) which was discussing some recent research undertaken by Professor Kathy Short where she stated that abandonment, alienation and homelessness are increasingly the themes covered in modern literature for children. Then this morning GP Taylor appeared on BBC Breakfast Time announcing that children's literature (including his own books) have become too frightening and there should be an age certification scheme. I have to be honest I disagree with both these on many levels.

OK let me start with the last point first, there has been a whole argument on this subject four years ago, which I am not going to retell in detail.  Basically it was highlighted by many authors how inappropriate age certification on books could be. If you are a struggling reader aged 14 do you want to be seen reading a book which has 7+ plastered across the back. In the same way should you be prevented from reading above your age if you are a confident reader. This is the time for booksellers and librarians to step in and use their expertise to guide potential readers. Luckily, Patrick Ness was there to rebut this idea and point out that it would be irresponsible 'for young adult novels to ignore the darker side of life.' As a writer I was slightly concerned when GP Taylor stated that he hadn't really read Vampire Labyrinth when he wrote it. I know when I edit and rewrite I am constantly reading my own book. I need to know it is working and to take a step back from it, reading it as a reader and not just as a writer. But maybe that is a personal thing.

Going back to Kathy Short's points about abandonment, alienation and homelessness being themes in modern children's literature. Firstly, I would suggest they are there because they reflect the world we live in. We live in a world, rightly or wrongly, where our children have access to a lot of images and ideas via the media including the internet that we probably wouldn't have seen as children.  But I would also contend that they are not new. What about Mary Lennox in Frances Hodgson Burnett's The Secret Garden (1910). You could argue to some extent she suffers from all three of these. Then there is Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (1976) by Mildred D Taylor, now there is an amazing but truly dark book at times. Or even William Golding's Lord of the Flies and numerous Roald Dahl books.  And these are just the few that came immediately to mind. Children's literature is often dark but invariably offers hope by the end.

As a writer these ideas can be plot devices allowing your characters the freedom to make their own decisions and solve the problems they are in without relying on an adult. The 'absent parent' can take many forms. For example, it can be the alcoholic parent who is there yet absent. It is what helps to make a good story and that's what children want. A good story that they can get lost in. They will be looking for characters to identify with; characters like them but also, and equally important, characters that are NOT like them. It is all part of the search for an identity.

Yes, there are lots of dark stories out there but there are also a lot of other 'lighter' stories which are not being mentioned (this is not meant as a derogatory term but just to infer the opposite to dark stories). Children and young adults will  read all sorts of stories. Some dark, some not. They will read what they need to read at any particular moment. And I would suggest that it is up to us as writers to continue to write good stories, well told whether they are dark or not.

Going back to my childhood, a bit of Paul McCartney




12 comments:

  1. Let’s not forget fairy tales, if you’re talking of 'abandonment', you don't have to look too far even the obvious tales like Hansel and Gretel it their biological parents who abandon the children in the woods.

    For 'alienation' we have Cinderella, with her step mother and step sisters alienating her plus to add insult to injury forcing her in to life of servitude.
    Then for ‘Homelessness’ we have The Little Match Girl freezing to death.

    Children’s Literature has always been about the heavy stuff, preparing kids for LIFE. It’s also interesting to note that in other cultures according to folklorist Maria Nikolajeva’s in Gramarye Journal by SCFF…

    …“In my [her] culture, there was no practice of retelling scary books into nice and cute ones, nor selecting only stories deemed suitable for children.”

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  2. It is, as ever, that old thing about balance. I wrote a similar blog post a few months back - except I'd focussed on the prevalance of dystopian fiction and the need to see the lighter side of life too. All people read what they feel the need to read at any particular time - sometimes that may be something heavier or darker, sometimes it will be something lighter. The book world needs to have space for both, just as art reflects life and we have both lightness and darkness in every day.
    As for age classification - no, that's just all wrong. It would mean that as a 13 year old I shouldn't have been reading Anna Karenina. Again, it comes back to balance and the need of the invidual. Generic "packaging" is just a cop out and an insult to the individual reader.

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    1. You are so right Nicky. Balance is vital that is why there should be a choice of books out there. It would be good if you could post a link to your post too if you wouldn't mind.

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  3. Abandonment has always been a rich seam for children's books because it taps into a child's deepest fear.

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  4. Couldn't agree more. I found it difficult to know where to stop history wise in the post. Wasn't it Philip Pullman who said that there were some issues that were too big for adult books but children's lit was the right place for them? In the same way that Melvin Burgess has suggested that teenagers can contend with anything as long as it is in context. It just irritates me that the media has picked up on this and sensationalised it all without really thinking about it.

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    1. Sorry this was in response to Sally's comment above but I was obviously typing at the same time as Candy and Nicky!

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  5. The recent media attention given to these 'dark books' is just proof of where our society is heading...wrapping up children in cotton wool and pretending these issues don't really happen is completely the wrong road to go down. And what better way to make children aware than by using stories.
    I fully believe that allowing children to explore the dark side of reality through books is integral to their development.
    And surely book sales like those of Melvin Burgess etc, are just proof that these are the sort of stories children want to read...who are we deny them of that!
    As you said, there are plenty of 'light' books out there too, I think this is just another example of how the media hype everything up and try to make a big deal out of nothing.
    As for the age certification, I completely agree. It is complete lunacy to certify a novel!
    Nice post btw :)

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    1. Thank you Emma,glad you liked it.The media has a lot to answer for as do some of these people undertaking this research.

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  6. I think there's a real sample bias in that research. Only certain books will get selected for those major prizes and they will tend to be more heavyweight and issues-led. They are also children's books selected by adults, which skews the whole sample. Children's fiction is a broad church of light and dark, but that research fails to acknowledge that.

    On age banding, I don't want to see it on the front of a book, but a little note inside the cover on the suggested emotional age of the reader would help me choose as a parent.

    Great blog, BTW.

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    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    2. Nick, I think your points are vital, particularly the fact you raised about the books being prize winning but judged only by adults. Where were the children in this research....the elephant in the room methinks. This research has serious issues and limitations. Thank you for highlighting them and so pleased you enjoyed the blog.

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