The Invisible Child

Paterson, Katherine. "In Search of Wonder." In The Invisible Child: On Reading and Writing Books for Children. New York: Dutton Children's Books, 2001.

"I fed upon wonder as a child, and when I'm deprived of it, my inner life feels as sterile as a barren landscape and my outer life feels as bombarded with junk as a suburban mall."

Katherine Paterson's opening chapter is taken from a lecture on wonder that reads like a sermon without duty to any particular religion; it is a taxonomy of the different flavours of wonder - curiosity, wonder at the extraordinary, wonder at the ordinary - and an exploration of the role wonder plays in our lives, with a gentle nod towards the mystery at the core of wonder. And the bent of this talk it that children's literature, the stuff that really shines, is rich with it. Is, in fact, defined by it.

I appreciated the differentiation between the wonder at the extraordinary - the new invention, the unbelievable message in Charlotte's Web, the thrill of faster, louder, more exciting - which pales with familiarity, and the wonder at the ordinary which continues to expand and unfold with careful attention paid to even the most familiar object. Look no further than Frances Hodgson Burnett's The Secret Garden for that heightened sense of magic and wonder in what is so easily ignored.

Paterson uses the image of the spider web to talk about wonder, and visits it from different angles - from Charlotte's Web to the poetry of A.R. Ammon. I love the idea of the web as precisely patterned in the centre to reflect the species of the maker-spider, and moving out in increasing chaos towards a complete freedom to hang itself from whatever is available. Is that what children's literature aims to do? Hang itself, so improbably at times, from whatever is available while starting from a tightly woven core of wonder as individual as the maker.

This is a beautiful talk about a topic essential to any consideration of children's literature. If you haven't already - read it.

Paterson, Katherine. "Newberry Medal Acceptance Speech (1978) for Bridge to Terabithia. " In The Invisible Child: On Reading and Writing Books for Children. New York: Dutton Children's Books, 2001.

I didn't mean to start reading this speech, but suddenly I found I'd accidentally finished it and was surprised at how moved I was by the story of what this book was born out of and how it came into the world. I'm still shocked to hear that some critics find it devoid of hope simply because it deals with the unthinkable death of a child. But just as courage isn't the absence of fear but the willingness to face it, isn't hope something more than the absence of difficulty? Isn't it, in fact, something that depends of the presence of difficult circumstances for its very existence?

I was also fascinated to hear about the very substantial process of editing, to re-discover how involved a good editor can be in the act of creation. But I think what moved me the most was to hear how real the story was for the writer, and how difficult it was for her to write the difficult parts - to me this seems like the antipathy of condescension, the ultimate show of respect for the child reader.

Only Connect: Readings on Children's Literature

Egoff, Sheila, Gordon Stubbs, Ralph Ashley, and Wendy Sutton. Only Connect: Readings on Children's Literature. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1996.

I spent some time with the Fantasy Section (Part III) of this recent Canadian classic, enjoying some different but complementary points of view on the topic from some of the best in Children's fantasy writing.

As a writer, Jane Yolen underscores the importance of research to the creation of a believable fantasy world. This includes both factual information-finding about fantastical traditions and creatures (what are the difference between Eastern and Western dragons, for instance?), as well as a cultivation of close attention to the behaviour of things in the real world with the aim of giving credibility to fantastical things in a created world. I also found her discussion of "voice" fascinating - how the choosing a vatic/prophetic/oracular voice (Wizard of Earthsea) creates a different story than one told in the schoolboy voice (Narnia), or the voice of the fool (Alice in Wonderland, Phantom Tollbooth).

Perry Nodelman challenges the idea that fantasy worlds are essentailly (or exhaustively) symbolic representations of the everyday world. He suggests that we "do not enjoy fantasies because the psychological or moral meaning." Like Yolen, he also focuses on the role of the narrator (as well as control of tone) in establishing credibility within the story. Nodelman outlines the complex relationship between the writer, the narrator (who must accept matter-of-factly the strange nature of this world whether or not it is new), the ideal implied reader (who also is familiar with the fantasy world), and the real reader (who pretends to be familiar with the unfamiliar, but who also is aware of being different). I am intrigued by this sentence: "We experience the pleasure of its otherness by pretending to not be different from it." The complex series of relationships, he suggests, is part of what contributes to the reader finding pleasure in a "conciousness of otherness."

I also liked Nodelman's assertion that the narrator "should be focused on the story, not on the world in which it occurs nor on its meaning." For me, as a sometimes-fantasy-lover, this is a big factor in whether I enjoy a fantasy or not. I don't have a lot of patience for endless description of a world or its rules if it doesn't contribute to the story. Nodelman's point helps me clarify my particular taste within this genre. I don't think, however, that this is true for all fantasy readers - I know many people who adore the very part of fantasy novels that bore me.

Tamora Pierce (and oh, how I love her) calls fantasy "a literature of possibilities" and of empowerment. She points out what seems to me to be an identifying feature of fantasy stories: the fact that "in fantasy, those normally perceived of as unimportant are vital players." I also liked that she didn't dismiss the very real value of escapism.

Chet Rayne had a very different approach to fantasy, looking at how children's imiginative and fantastical writing - more so than science fact books - helps create the "habits of mind" so crucial for scientific exploration and inquiry. Rayne see fantasy as part of the literature that supports creativity, voracious observation, and and understanding of rules and variation in rules. How lovely to think about scientific theory as a kind of fantasy - that which we cannot often see, sometimes cannot prove, and which has its own set of internal logic and rules.

Oh for a pile of good books and a deck near the ocean in the sun and a breeze off the water and a good sunhat and comfortable chair and a week without any responsibilities. Or a month, or... I can just about taste it.

Roots and Wings

York, Stacey. Roots and Wings: Affirming culture in early childhood programs. St. Paul, Minnesota: Redleaf Press, 2003.

In the first few chapters of this book, York looks at the increasingly diverse nature of classrooms in North America and looks at the nature of prejudice and racism. She relates the different stages of the process of forming prejudices to the developmental tasks children undertake at different ages. The book is presented in textbook format, with an general overview of the research in each area and descriptions of particularily relevant or interesting studies. It covers the topics of prejudice, racism, culturally responsive care, bilingual and multicultural education, culture and communtiy while providing suggestions for the creation of culturally relevant and anti-bias classrooms and activities. I like the language of "anti-bias" as a way of talking about respect and positive interactions across difference.

Chapter 8: A Culturally relevant, Anit-bias Classroom suggests materials for each of the different areas of a preschool classroom. In the "book/quiet area" there are some general guidelines and specific title suggestions for books that contribute to each of a variety of goals including: books that connect children to their home culture; culturally relevant concept books; books that teach cultural practices and holidays; bilingual/dialects; main character is a child of color; diversity; cross-cultural and cross-racial friendships; bias and standing up for oneself and others. I also liked the questions suggested for use in evaluation of children's books, including some which focused entirely on the illustration style which is sometimes overlooked. I appreciated the explicitness of some of the questions and examples. For example: "Are people of color used as animals or objects (like Native Americans in alphabet books and counting books?)" Even though this seems obviously objectionable, I think it's much more useful to articulate exactly why it's problematic rather than assuming people will just know.

The Grammar of Fantasy

Rodari, Gianni. The grammar of fantasy: An introduction to the art of inventing stories. New York: Teachers and Writers Collaborative, 1996. [Original published in Italian, 1976. Translated and with an introduction by Jack Zipes].

"There is always one child who will ask a question and it will be exactly like this: "What do you have to do to invent a story?" This question deserves an honest answer."

I would love this book for the title, even if were not such a precise description of the contents. What a treat for me that it is so exactly about what it promises - the practical linguistic process of creating new stories and hands-on ways to use these ideas when working with children. Or: the honest answer to the child's question about how to invent a new story. And the answer is honest, drawing from the author's own experience as a prolific and celebrated writer of children's literature, as well as his experience helping facilitate the nuts-and-bolts of imagination with young students over many years.

The book is a collection of transcripts of short talks by the author done for teachers at the schools in Reggio Emilia, a small town in Italy with a huge influence on current ideas about early childhood education North America. Most of the 41 chapters are only a few pages long, and focus on a specific technique or function of language or part of the story-making or story-telling process. Writing in 1976, he has a very grounded understanding of the fractured fairy tale and the very specific dynamics of how and when to approach this process of deconstructing and re-imagining familiar fairy tales with children. On this topic, I especially liked: Chapter 12 - Popular Folk Tales as Raw Material; Chapter 13 - Making Mistakes in the Story; and Chapter 14 - Little Red Riding Hood in a Helicopter. Teachers will love the very specific pragmatic details about how to bring projects of the imagination into the classroom, but those with a more philosophical interest in the nature of language, story and imagination will also be satisfied with the depth of understanding and the quality of the writing itself. This is much more than an activity book - it is a grappling with pedagogy, with linguistic theory, with the writing process, with the role of story, and with the process of creation. It is a call for compassionate education and, above all, it is a championing of imagination both as a human right and as a practical process that can be supported in very concrete ways. Real examples of stories created by preschool and school age children are recorded and thoughtfully considered, but the techniques could easily be used by writers on any age.

I can only assume from the prices on Amazon.com that the book is out of print, and I find that tragic. So let's hope the libraries have been doing a good job along the way. Because this is a book worth reading.

The Pleasures of Children's Literature

* Nodelman, Perry. "Picture Books." In The Pleasures of Children's Literature. New York: Longman Publishers USA, 1996.

This chapter begins by challenging the often unexamined premise that picture books exist because children need or prefer pictures. Nodelman notes that making sense of pictures is not an automatic function of seeing them, and actually requires its own (culturally specific) learning process. He also points out that research shows infants prefer the sound of a parent's voice to a visual image, which also makes those assumptions problematic. I like that he concludes this particular discussion by switching the focus from figuring out why picture books exist as a form (or the "correct" form for young children), to understanding that form in all its complex variations and possibilities: "... more important, some of the most pleasurable experiences offered by children's literature are in picture books. If children may be said to like and need picture books, I believe it's mainly because they need and ought to have the many pleasure these books can provide." His approach leaves a little room for mystery and the shining love of story and literature that so often gets ignored in discussions (and oh so necessary grant proposals!) of how picture books can help support literacy, early literacy and other "skills" or "competencies."

The chapter goes on to describe the ways in which pictures provide information needed to make sense of stories, and shows (with illustrated examples) how stylistic choices create different overall effects in mood, suspense, meaning, narrative, or focus. Nodelman offers precise language with which to critically examine picture books and to appreciate the many complex layers of relationship between the text and illustrations.

Thank god someone assigned this reading - I'm so glad to have found it and a little sheepish about not having read it before as I think it's one of the classics. I look forward to the rest of the book. [Note: Cover is for newer edition. I assume it's still great.]

Learning the language of picture books

Horning, Kathleen, T. "Picture Books." In From Cover to Cover: Evaluating and Reveiwing Children's Books. New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1997.

For anyone wishing to write about picture books, Kathleen Horning's chapter on this subject provides an excellent basic introduction to the elements of picture book text and illustrations, the relationship between the two, and the vocabulary used to descibe the different aspects of each one. For text, she discusses the importance of structure, patterned language, predictability and pacing, using excerpts from well-known picture books to demonstrate the successful use of each. On the topic of illustrations, she covers visual elements, composition, media and style. She provides titles and descriptions of picture books that exemplify these different aspects of illustration, but the reader will need to go to the books themselves for visuals since the book itself has no images. She also provides an sample discussion of Margaret Wise Brown's Goodnight Moon as a way of demonstrating how this vocabulary can be used to investigate the success with which specific elements of text and illustration in a picture book work together to create an intentional overall effect.

Horning, Kathleen, T. "Writing A Review." In From Cover to Cover: Evaluating and Reveiwing Children's Books. New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1997.

In her final chapter, Horning introduces the novice children's literature reivewer to the history, importance and major sources of literature reviews, focusing on the various strategies and ingredients that make for readable and useful reviews. She provides practical how-to advice, which is supported by numerous excerpts from the work of established reviewers. Her discussion of the balance between the descriptive, analytical and sociological elements of a review is especially useful.

Writing Your Best Picture Book Ever

Stinson, Kathy. Writing Your Best Picture Book Ever. Illus. Alan and Lea Daniel. Markham, ON: Pembroke Publishers Limited, 1994.

This fun illustrated how-to book is aimed at children, but is also an excellent resource for teachers planning a story-writing unit or adults interested in writing/evaluating picture books. It covers all the basic aspects of picture books like plot, character, title, pacing, tension, page breaks, and so on, while providing excellent examples of each in published picture books (mostly from the 80s and 90s). The advice is very clear and concrete with many examples, the language is accessible, and the tone is supportive and humorous. This book is full of advice that anyone interested in picture books can learn from: "Worrying about things like spelling, punctuation, vocabulary, and whether something is too silly or too sad as you work on your first draft will only get in the way of the free-wheeling, creative part of your brain."

VOYA - A great resource for teen lit

VOYA, the publication of Voice of Youth Advocates, is a great magazine featuring reviews of books and media (audio books and movies) for young adults. But it is also much more - Each issue offers offer teaching ideas, success stories, features on specific genres, subject guides, best-of lists, and regular columns like "YA Spaces of Your Dreams" and "Tag Team Technology". The reviews themselves are clear, concise, provide evaluation on the basis of both quality and polularity, and give information on genre and suggested age range. VOYA advocates for teen-centered library services, the right of teenagers to equal access and intellectual freedom, and opportunity for teens to participate in the decision-making process of the libraries and institutions that serve them. The content is both useful and thoughtful, the magazine-format of their publication makes for a pleasurable read, and the ads are limited to those pertinent to YA literature. An excellent resource for selecting books, keeping current on teen-centered library practices, and finding inspiration.

Available in print, in electronic databases through library subscriptions, or (highlights only) for free at the VOYA website.