Once upon a time children's stories encouraged young readers to behave for their parents. Children's literature enjoys a history of fables, fairy tales and stories. What did you read?
Writers like Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss), Maurice Sendak (Where the Wild Things Are) and Shel Silverstein (Where the Sidewalk Ends) challenged what a children's book should deliver. These authors ignored the rules of behavior and brought a shock of subversion to the genre. They created scary, sily and yet sophisticated reading. Their books encouraged human behavior even if it deviated from acceptable.
Their editor Ursula Nordstrom of Harper & Row called the books, "good books for bad children." These books promoted absurdity causing children to laugh at the wrong things.
In 1957, The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss used only 233 different words of simplicity revealing one could achieve the sublime under absurd constraints. Reviewers applauded the move away from the dreary text of Dick and Jane.
Creative Write: Write about the books you read as a child. How did they affect your behavior, vocabulary, and future writing?
Once upon a time children's stories encouraged young readers to behave for their parents. Children's literature enjoys a history of fables, fairy tales and stories. What did you read?
Writers like Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss), Maurice Sendak (Where the Wild Things Are) and Shel Silverstein (Where the Sidewalk Ends) challenged what a children's book should deliver. These authors ignored the rules of behavior and brought a shock of subversion to the genre. They created scary, sily and yet sophisticated reading. Their books encouraged human behavior even if it deviated from acceptable.
Their editor Ursula Nordstrom of Harper & Row called the books, "good books for bad children." These books promoted absurdity causing children to laugh at the wrong things.
In 1957, The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss used only 233 different words of simplicity revealing one could achieve the sublime under absurd constraints. Reviewers applauded the move away from the dreary text of Dick and Jane.
Creative Write: Write about the books you read as a child. How did they affect your behavior, vocabulary, and future writing?
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