Five Major Objectives of Child Literature Program - Essay Example

? Children’s literature Introduction Children’s Literature refers to books and stories targeting young readers and listeners up tothe age of twelve. They not only focus on books written for children but also books written by children, books chosen by children and books chosen for children. Children’s literature gives children an opportunity to understand the diverse feelings and aspirations of individuals in their society due to the fact that it mirrors the society enabling the youngsters to understand their worlds better. There are five major objectives of a literature program. First and foremost, a literature program should aim towards enabling children realize the entertainment aspect of literature (Donna & Saundra, 2007, p.74). They should be able to understand that Literature is fun and they should always enjoy it. Sid Fleischman’s book “McBroom’s Wonderful One-Acre Farm” focuses on making children laugh and appreciate literature in general. The book contains a lot of humor as the author brings out the unusual fertility of McBroom’s farm and his exciting misadventures in a fascinating way. Secondly, Literature should be able to inform children on history of literature. When reading literature books children should also be able to understand what previously existed and acquire knowledge of life in the past. Daniel Defoe’s book “Robinson Crusoe” explains about a man who was trapped alone on island and through him the adventure genre of literature developed. This genre exists in Children’s Literature up to today. Books written in the past are relevant for they give accounts on how Children’s Literature has developed over time. Thirdly, Literature programs should enable children understand who they are and appreciate others as well as their cultures (Donna & Saundra, 2007, p.74). Children should appreciate diversity by reading or listening to stories relating to other children in different parts of world facing different challenges over different periods of time. Meindert Dejong’s book “The Wheel on the School” tells the story of a group of children in Holland in the 17th Century who, while on adventure place a wheel-wagon on the roof of a school house for storks to roost. Fourthly, Literature programs should enable children understand the basic components of literature that make up a good book. This should help them compare books, rate them and come up with excellent ones. J. R.R Tolkien’s book “The Fellowship of the Ring” is often described by most readers as the best fantasy collection written for children. Lastly, Literature programs should help children in giving an evaluation of books they read. They should trigger children’s imaginative powers. Lewis Carrol’s book “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” helps in developing imagination due to the fantasies which are well developed and written in the story. Children’s literature has developed due to the changing attitudes towards children. The early 1600’s children were viewed as young adults and most of the literatures, both oral and written were general. There was no specific literature directed to children (Donna & Saundra, 2007, p.45). They majorly focused on Puritanism which dwelled on religious teachings and societal norms. In the late 1600’s some writers started recognizing the importance of literature to children. For instance, Charles Perrault wrote “Mother Goose Rhymes”, a composition of some of the stories that had been passed to children through word of mouth. In the 1700’s people’s views about children started changing. Children were treated as per their age and not adults. Children’s interpretation of literature was recognized as different from that of adults hence need for their own literatures. More books were written and the interests of children were given priority. 1800’s saw the evolution of Children’s Literature and emphasis on Puritanism started dying. Stress was basically put on the cognitive and social development of the children. Children now had fun in reading the literatures as well as the chance to fantasize and make use of their creative and imaginative abilities. Such fantasy and entertainment stories include books such as “A Book of Nonsense” and “Alice in Wonderland.” In the 1900 to date more changes in views about children came up creating more improvements in the literature of children (Donna & Saundra, 2007, p.48). Children’s ability to relate stories to their day to day experiences were acknowledged. This saw an introduction to realism in stories, in that although fantasy and fiction were still maintained, known settings and characters were used. Some stories now appealed more to children under similar circumstances to characters in the story. Children started acknowledging reality, for example, the story “Little Women” that is majorly based on experiences of women in the middle class could appeal most to young girls in the same class. Even today, stories have been digitalized into movies not only for entertainment but also to help children relate the world they live in. Writers today have also noted the importance of using setting in Children’s stories. Setting refers to the circumstances that surround a story like time, place and environment. Settings can include houses, colonial era and many others. In Children’s Literature setting has four vital roles. It can be used to illustrate mood, symbolism, history, and lastly used as an antagonist. Settings have been used to create mood in Children’s Literature to make children’s stories more realistic hence easily understood and believed by children (Donna & Saundra, 2007, p.50). For example, it is more sensible for a Hyena or any other wild animal in a story to appear in forests than in schools because children know all wild animals are found in forests. Symbolism is also depicted by setting, for example, in most African ogre stories, ogres live in the forest. Therefore, forest as a setting is a symbol of danger and every time children would come across forest in their stories, they would detect danger or an evil act somewhere. There’s use of setting to depict symbolism in Frances Hodgson’s “The Secret Garden.” The garden door in this story is a symbol of healing. Setting also carries the historical element in a story. The historical aspect is helpful in avoiding confusing the child between the past and the time they are living. These elements must be clearly highlighted. For example, there is a big difference in the lifestyle of the people who live in the past and the life the children are living now (Barbara, 2005, p.33). Such differences include dressing styles, food and language among others. Even some events are no longer in existence, for example slave trade. Longfellow’s book, “The Slaves Dream” was written at the time slavery and wars were a common phenomenon. A child reading the book can tell, the setting is past since slavery no longer exists. Setting as an antagonist is normally used to develop plot of stories. For example, Lee Burton’s, “The Little House” has two settings: the city, as the major setting and the house. The house is the antagonist and the city being the protagonist. There are many types of settings. The most common to children is fantasy. Fantasy worlds are created worlds. When teaching children, a teacher should ask students to think of extra ordinary or things that do not exist in their world (Barbara, 2005, p.28). The teacher should give examples of such things and ask students to create stories about them. In conclusion, Children’s literature should be given priority and those having interest in this field including teachers should be well informed of the content, understand it in order for them to consider Children’s interests. References Donna, E. N. & Saundra, E. N. (2007).Through the Eyes of a Child: An Introduction to Children's Literature (p.40-80).Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Merrill/Prentice Hall.  Barbara, D. (2005). Children's literature: Discovery for a lifetime (p.25-38). Read More