Textbook summary 1

Vanessa Saenz *LSSL 5393.01* February 5, 2017

Subversive Children’s Literature

Textbook Summary 1:

Historically Children’s literature has fallen into 5 Categories:

1. Religious and moralistic texts2. Primers, spellers and Alphabet

books3. Informative/Non-fiction volumes4. Didactic tomes that intoned

“correct” behavior5. Books to entertain

However, it wasn’t until the late 18th century that books that

could be viewed as “entertainment” were readily

available.

More often than not, these books still managed to fall into the previous four categories. Which is not surprising since children’s books are still seen as ideal instruments of instruction.

It was in the shadow of these often dry text, however, that the culture of subversive children’s literature

was able to blossom.

A good example of these early subversive texts is Dr. Heinrich

Hoffman’s Struwwellpeter.

Hoffmann created Struwwellpeter in the 1840s after being disappointed in the lack of variety in books for his children. His book, Entertaining Stories and Funny Pictures with

15 Nicely colored Panel for Children, consisted of 10 rhyming stories with roughish characters that “pay a big price-sometimes the ultimate price- for their bad behavior.” His believed that, “The child learns simply only through the eye and only understands that which it sees…” and therefore created stories that allowed them to understand the consequences of their choices.

Hoffmann’s Struwwellpeter was a major influence on Mark Twain, who brought it over to the United States and had it translated under the title, Slovenly Peter. Twain was so impacted by the work that similar themes can be found in his book The Adventures of Tom

Sawyer, which notoriously subverts and satirizes adult conventions.

Children, according to this book’s authors, are “the eternal battleground” because it’s upon them that adults place their hopes and dreams.” They are “blank tablet(s)” that adults view they must mold into “good citizens.” Authors of subversive literature aim to break this traditional view. Their task is not easy because there are “gatekeepers” who aim to preserve the tradition of molding “civilized adults.

But more often than not, these “gatekeepers” have a tendency to miss things. This happens because children’s books are not given as much scrutiny as those published for adults. As a result, creativity blooms and provides a “free space for unconventional ideas.”

Quite often, “unpopular opinions in the world of adults” can be found

in children’s literature.

Alison Lurie writes that “if we want to know what has been censored from mainstream culture in the past, we can always turn to classic children’s literature.”

The authors highlight Munro Leaf’s 1936 The Story of Ferdinand as an example of this uncensored view of history. The peaceful bull was a direct contrast to the pro-World War II sentiment that was prevalent across the world during this time. The book became an instant classic and favorite read but was criticized most notably by Adolf Hitler and Francisco Franco.

Doreen Cronin’s Click Clack Moo, Cows that Type is another subversive book that has been disparaged. Critics claimed that the book was anti-creationist “because it makes animals equal to people.”

Often, children feel that adults fail to listen to

them and they are merely pawns in an adult

world.

Subversive literature, the authors note, allows children to escape from this feeling. It also allows them to encounter heroes like Christopher Robin, Eloise and Max, the leader of all the Wild Things.

Roald Dahl

Dahl’s popularity amongst children is credited to his willingness to allow his young protagonist to make good choices while their adult counterparts make bad ones. Margaret Talbot also argued that adults objected to his books stemming from the “expectations that they should always be in charge.”

Jon Scieszka

Scieszka cites MAD Magazine as great influence in his life and his writing. He says that “MAD started me laughing, but then quickly got me questioning mindless authority.”

Without the magazine, Scieszka notes, he might

never have wondered what would happen if, “the wolf got

to tell his side of the story of the ‘Three Little Pigs’ fairy

tale. What might happen if…if…if?

Children and Mortality

The authors write that the “current crop of children’s book creators don’t have to abide by many of the old rules.” One particular unwritten rule that is being discarded is the death of the protagonist. They do, however, question if authors are doing this “just to shock the reader.”

Author Kara LaReau thinks that children want stories that are truthful and recognizes that it is “becoming more and more difficult to hide the complexities of our world from children” and that it “can be comforting…for them to see stories that reflect life’s adversities and show how we might find humor in them.”

Personal Reflection

If one is to believe the Merriam-Webster definition of the word subversive, authors who pen this sort of children’s literature seek to overthrow and destroy prior texts and expectations.

However what they do is much more. They do not blindly pen stories to in hopes of

thumbing their noses at authority, they write as LaReau noted to share reality with their readers. Scieszka recalled that MAD magazines subversive text made him question the reality around him. And therein lies the power of subversive literature:It allows young readers to think for themselves.