What is Children's Literature?

Children's literature has many facets. Children's literature is literature primarily written with children in mind. These are the type books that children, given a choice, would gravitate towards. Children's literature is also comprised of books that teachers, editors, librarians, and other professionals deem children friendly. Although some would argue that true children's literature must have been written with children in mind, who would refuse to categorize Huck Finn or Tom Sawyer as part of children's literature? These classics were written mostly for adults but easily became classics in children's literature.

Some books which are considered children's literature and were definitely written for children but were also picked up by adults who read them on a completely different level from children. They found adult themes that children never recognized.

For example, a child will read Alice in Wonderland as a funny story about a girl who falls down a rabbit hole and has some fun adventures. Adults will see themes and archetypes that a child would never recognize such as the drugs Alice takes or the Queen who is not exactly emotionally stable. Another example is the very old story of Red Riding Hood. Taken at face value by adults, this story may seem too scary and vicious for children because the wolf kills grandma and wants to kill Red Riding Hood. The innocent girl is a very common archetype in literature. One very common archetype is the mean stepmother. She appears throughout traditional literature in such stories as Cinderella and Snow White. Both stepmothers are cruel and even vicious. Although the stories end happily ever after, some adults might deem these stories not appropriate for their children. Given a chance, children will pick up these books and happily read them just as their parents did when they were younger.

There are some fairly recognizable characteristics of children's literature. Generally the protagonists or main characters are children rather than adults. Because children relate better to other children, a child protagonist is an obvious choice. Another factor is that most children's literature is marketed to children. In stores children's literature, with the exception of Harry Potter, is placed in the children's section and arranged by age groups. Because children have short attention spans, children's books are generally quite short. Again Harry Potter goes against this rule.

Most children's books do not deal with adult themes such as violence, war, sexual abuse, or death. Of course, there are some exceptions to this rule, but the authors try to craft the subject in a sensitive manner. Some children's books do deal with homosexuality. Although the authors try to broach the subject in a gentle manner, many adults firmly refuse to allow their children access to these books even if the couple is two penguins. Certainly that is the prerogative of the parents.

Children's literature often deals with the problems associated with growing up or the refusal to grow up. Think Peter Pan. Peter never wants to grow up but Wendy understands that growing up is a natural part of life. Many of the Lost Boys leave with Wendy and grow up. Peter decides to stay a boy forever. All children go through these stages. One minute they are grown up and the next minute they act like babies.

Children's literature for younger children always has fabulous illustrations because these children need simpler stories with illustrations which help to further the story. The language is simple because the younger child has not developed a large vocabulary. One of the greatest things about children's literature is that books seem to grow with the child. There is not one age group for all books. There are books meant for pre-school children and even the high school. The upper level books are called young adult fiction.

What is children's literature is very difficult to define. Children's literature can be books written solely for children up to books written for adults that appeal to children. There is no easy definition for children's literature because the subject is so broad. It doesn't really matter anyway; it's the reading that truly counts.

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