CHILDREN'S BOOKS: THEN & NOW by Laura Backes, Children's Book Insider
One piece of advice that threads its way through all the
how-to books on writing: If you want to write books for children,
you need to read books for children, especially books published
within the last 10 years. Why? You remember the favorites from
your childhood, and you still read them to your own kids. But the
mistake many writers make is looking at classics too closely;
they think the plot is what has survived the generations, rather
than the theme or characters. It's the subtle, timeless elements
of books from 30-40 years ago that started the change in
children's literature that we see today.
One of the main differences between modern children's books
and those from two generations ago (especially picture books) is
that the child's perspective is now emphasized. Two books that
broke ground in this area were The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss
(Random House, 1957) and Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice
Sendak (Harper & Row, 1963). Both books emphasize having fun
while the parent is absent. And not just quiet fun, but wild,
destructive, messy fun. In neither book is the child punished for
his actions; in fact, the parents never find out. This was a very
subversive idea for the time, and both books were banned in
certain school districts when first published. But the theme of
empowering the child and acknowledging his right to a private,
independent world made these books hits.
Slowly, publishers realized that children's books could be
about just having fun without any lesson or moral attached. The
"fun" was defined from the child's viewpoint; something
that is still evident in many books today. If you can see the
world as a child sees it, recognizing the child's intelligence
and eliminating the adult viewpoint, your book can also become a
perennial bestseller.
That doesn't mean that children's books today can't contain a
lesson. But because you are competing with television, computers
and video games, books (even nonfiction) must entertain first and
teach second. Any lesson must be subtle. Have your character
change or learn something about herself over the course of the
story, and your reader will learn as well. But if there's a hint
of preaching, the child will close the book in a second.
Children's books for all ages are more realistic today than
in the past. Gone is the overly rosy view of the world, or the
need to protect children from the harsher aspects of life. Books
on death, illness, divorce, peer pressure and drug and alcohol
abuse can be found on the shelves of schools and libraries. The
theory is that children are exposed to these things through
television and their own lives, and books are one way to help
children cope with and understand the world around them. What
publishers are looking for are books that are truthful, but also
offer hope and a way to deal with these problems. (If you're
shocked by the realistic nature of some children's books today,
take a look at the original versions of the Brothers Grimm fairy
tales. Many were, well, grim. We are so used to the sanitized
Walt Disney versions of these stories that we forget most did not
have happy endings before the era of Mickey Mouse.)
Reading recently-published books gives you a handle on what
publishers are looking for today. Reading classics from your own
childhood gives you a lesson on how to write a timeless story. In
most cases, you'll find common elements in the classics and
modern books. The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter, for
example, has not survived 94 years because it's the story of a
cute talking bunny, but because that bunny defied his mother's
rules and had an adventure in the forbidden territory of the
farmer's garden. Shocking, perhaps, but many books published this
year will undoubtedly have similar themes.
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