What Is The Value Of Children’s Literature In The

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What is The Value of Children’s Literature in the Twenty First Century? The term children’s literature seems a very complex one. However, on the surface it would seem to be all the writing and reading materials that are meant for children. According to Encyclopedia Wikipedia, “Children’s literature is for readers and listeners up to age twelve. It is often defined in four ways: Books written by children; books written for children; books chosen for children; or, books chosen by children.” This is a comprehensive definition of what children’s literature is, because it encompasses everything as it relates to literature for, of, and about children. If we look for instance, at books written by children, we can see how important an aspect of children’s literature this is. Books written by children These kinds of books will not fail to stimulate, arouse and maintain children’s interest. Why? Well – a fundamental reason is that children who read these can better relate to the stories as they are experiences of their age group. Added to this, they will be motivated to write too because their role models are about the same age as they are. Some examples of books written by children are: The Young Visitors by Daisy Ashford (aged nine), the juvenilia by Jane Austen. Ann Frank wrote a novel and many short stories in addition to her diary. Barbara Newhall Follett wrote four books, beginning with a novel called The House Without Windows at the age of nine. When the manuscript was destroyed by fire she rewrote it from memory. Added to the above are two school children, Pamela Whitlock and Katherine Hall – The Far Distant Oxus – 1937; Pamela Brown wrote The Swish of the Curtain in 1941 when she was seventeen and Dorothy Straight’s How the World Began. Books written for children It should be noted that the most common definition of children’s literature is those books
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