Courtney S’s Reviews > Children's Literature, Briefly > Status Update

"In addition to what is often a bland, impersonal writing style in textbooks, there are other weaknesses that make them poor tools with which to attempt to bring history alive for students. The poor writing is often borne of failed attempts to cover too much ground and, hence, effectively covering no ground at all."

"As much as some teachers and librarians believe the weaker of the series books are somehow bad for a reader’s literary health, if not their overall character, no evidence exists to indicate that those who have indulged in series books, even to extremes, will come to a bad end (Tunnell & Jacobs, 2005)."

"Series books are important to literacy development because of two characteristics: comfort and story. First, series are comfortable because they are familiar and predictable…Second, readers know that they are getting a real story with a clear problem and a satisfying solution."

About Contemporary Realistic Fiction:
"In this genre are the experiences in my world that I do not yet have—books dealing with specific regions, cultures, nationalities, minorities, and subgroups that provide an expanded understanding of 'my world.'"

"Quality fantasy stories do not employ fantastic elements casually. In fact, fantasy is probably the most difficult genre to write because an author must create a new set of physical laws and then conform unerringly to them. A tiny slip can destroy the credibility of a story."

"Through fairy tales and folktales, children may vicariously vent the frustrations of being a child controlled by an adult world because they subconsciously identify with the heroes of the stories, who are often the youngest, smallest, least powerful characters (Hansel and Gretel, Cinderella, Aladdin). They also are given a sense of hope about their ultimate abilities to succeed in the world."

"Bruno Bettelheim (1977) confirmed this position when he said that fairy stories are not only safe for children but also necessary, and that children deprived of a rich fantasy life (which traditional tales provide) are more
likely to seek a psychological escape through avenues such as black magic, drugs, and astrology."

"However simple and straightforward folk literature may seem, it is the mother of all literature. There are literally no character types, basic plots, or themes that have not been explored in the oral tradition..Folklore is a wonderful metaphor for human existence, and because of its rich imagery and dreamlike quality, it speaks to us deeply."

"The Hunger Games (2008) by Suzanne Collins is based
on the Theseus myth. In the Theseus myth, Crete was the evil empire that subjugated Greece and required the Greeks to sends tributes to go into the labyrinth to fight the Minotaur."

"Traditional tales, then, are stories of the human experience told in primary colors, the nuances of life stripped away to reveal the basic component parts: love, fear, greed, jealousy, mercy, and so on. Therefore, traditional stories from around the world are basically alike because fundamental human characteristics and motivations are universal."