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# 1 Reading as a child and as an adult

Figure 2 Child and adult readers

Reading a book for pleasure, or reading it to someone else, is very different from reading a book in order to evaluate it academically. The purpose of the following activity is to encourage you to start thinking critically about children’s literature. Bear in mind that when a book is an old favourite, this can be particularly difficult: it’s hard to separate your own personal memories of it, and the circumstances in which you first read it, from a dispassionate critique of the writing style, analysis of the ways it depicts children and childhood, or consideration of its place in the history of children’s literature.

## Activity 1 How adults experience children’s literature

Allow about 30 minutes

Think of any children’s book in any language that you’ve read. You may have read the book as a child, or have experienced it with a child more recently, or you may have read it for the first time as an adult. Then reflect on the following questions, writing notes for each:

1. What is the main storyline in the work you’ve chosen? (make this very brief)

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2. In what ways do you think reading your chosen book as an adult might differ from reading it as a child? (you don’t have to reread the book!)

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3. What is it about your book that makes it a children’s book? The subject matter? The level of the language and choice of particular words? The pictures? The format?

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4. How are children portrayed in your book, and what assumptions are made in it about childhood? Is childhood seen as happy and carefree, for example, or as more problematic?

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5. Can you think of any themes in the book that are repeated in other children’s books you know of? Does it rely, for example, on fantasy? On a child going on a journey or undertaking a quest? On a child operating without parents or protectors?

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### Discussion

Below are two example responses from this activity. Of course, there is no ‘right’ answer to this activity. You may well have very different responses, as different books will inevitably provoke different reactions. In considering your own different responses, you are developing an ability to mediate between different standpoints and perspectives.

## Example answer #1: The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me by Roald Dahl (1985)

1. A boy called Billy sees a sweet shop for sale which is then taken over by the ladderless window-cleaning company. Intrigued by this, he waits around to meet the new owners and discovers a giraffe, a pelican and a monkey with extraordinary powers. They are hired to clean the all the windows at the Duke of Hampshire’s estate, where they discover a robbery and foil it. The Duke and Duchess are so pleased they invite the animals to live and work on their estate, and turn the shop back into a sweet shop for Billy to run.
2. As a child I remember thinking this book was magical and funny. I liked that I wasn’t given one of Roald Dahl’s more popular books as a gift, and it always felt special to me, like it was my secret. As an adult, I recently reread this book to my three year old and was shocked that it wasn’t anything like I remembered it. I picked up on social class differences, misogyny, stereotypes and outdated views. I felt a little shocked and wondered if it was the right sort of book to be reading to my daughter.
3. It has pictures and a small boy as a protagonist. It was originally published as a book for children by an author considered to be a children’s writer. The writing and structure is simple. There are sections of rhyming throughout. (Some of the language is outdated now.)
4. The boy has a mother but this is only mentioned in brief on the first page and his parents are never seen, even when at the end he is running a sweet shop! The boy appears incredibly grown up and capable for his age, almost like a mini adult, helping manage and run businesses. There is no background information for him or any mention of school. He is polite, helpful and good.
5. Child operating without parents – finding another family of sorts which raises questions for me as an adult reader. The fantastical elements in it – talking animals with almost magical abilities – are like a lot of children’s books and programmes (can’t think of any off the top of my head that combine the two but I know they exist!)

## Example answer #2: novelisation of Disney’s Hercules (1997)

1. Hercules goes on a journey of transformation, finds love and a place of belonging. The end.
2. I was mostly looking at the illustrations (scenes from the movie) and re-reading the most ‘romantic’/’climactic’ parts of the story.
3. The scenes taken from the film, the simple language and dialogue and the simple relationship dynamics of good, evil, love and happy ending indicates it to me as a children’s book. The hero’s journey might also count as one, but a lot of epic novels/ancient tales also follow that pattern and they may not have been written necessarily with children in mind.
4. Oh no - no children!!! But baby Hercules was portrayed to be a happy baby who is literally shining with potential and a bright future; adolescent Hercules was going through a tough transitional time but is nonetheless portrayed with a supportive family even if his environment/peers didn’t connect with him (relatable feelings!) Overall, it seems like a more simplistic representation of youth, but with enough angst to let the reader connect and empathise with the character.
5. Themes of good vs evil, going on a quest, defeating the bad guy(s)/monsters, and returning to the ‘real world’ and being acknowledged for those deeds are quite common, and tend to be rooted in fantasy, or have some fantastical elements. Hercules starts off his journey with the consent and support of his adoptive parents, but Phil not only takes on a mentor role but also as a sort of parental figure so he’s not without guidance throughout his journey.

Interestingly, both writers comment on the child being separated from their parents (question 5) – a common feature in children’s books. The figure of the orphan is central to many children’s books, and the child who can go on adventures or undertake a quest without parental involvement is a feature that occurs again and again – for example, in both the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling and the His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman.

In the book that you chose, there are probably other figures or plot similarities that are repeated in other children’s books, such as time travel, relationships between children and animals, or the use of fantasy.

A key point of this activity was to encourage you to think and read critically, and consider the possible differences in how you may have read or experienced a story as a child and as an adult. While children may not notice covert messages around the way the world is portrayed, they still internalise these as part of their worldview. To take a rather extreme example, if a child today were to only read works by Lewis Carroll (Alice in Wonderland), Enid Blyton (the Famous Five series), and Mary Norton (The Borrowers), they would construe the world as white, middle-class and populated almost entirely by nuclear families (albeit including tiny ones in the form of the borrowers!) This is not to say that children today should not read these three authors, but rather that a greater range of authors and subject matter has much to offer – as this course aims to make clear.

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OpenLearn - Approaching language, literature and childhood
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