Read! That was a really touching essay, and I think you poke quite handily at a big issue with children's "literature" these days: Death is disguised as change, but it is present — as it should be.
This is the problem with the sanitation of stories and fairy tales, the Disneyization I guess- the more children are kept apart from tragedy, big or small in whatever form, the more bland and shallow the world gets and the less able they are to adapt. Bad things happen, it's okay to grieve, even if just over leaving a stuffed animal behind, and kids need to know that. A good children's story will deal with those issues and that's why, I'd think, those good stories are still touching and truthful for adults.
Now I want to go read these again, plus the Velveteen Rabbit which I think falls into the same category.
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dancing_serpent
Re: I hope you do!
Date: 2010-02-05 09:45 am (UTC)This is the problem with the sanitation of stories and fairy tales, the Disneyization I guess- the more children are kept apart from tragedy, big or small in whatever form, the more bland and shallow the world gets and the less able they are to adapt. Bad things happen, it's okay to grieve, even if just over leaving a stuffed animal behind, and kids need to know that. A good children's story will deal with those issues and that's why, I'd think, those good stories are still touching and truthful for adults.
Now I want to go read these again, plus the Velveteen Rabbit which I think falls into the same category.