| Children's Literature |
Article Index for Children's Literature |
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Information AboutChildren's Literature |
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There is some debate as to what constitutes children's literature. In general, the term comprises both those books which are selected and read by children themselves, as well as those vetted as 'appropriate for children' by authorities, e.g. teachers, reviewers, scholars, parents, publishers, librarians, bookstores, and award committees. Some would have it that children's literature is 's '' The Amber Spyglass '', and Mark Haddon 's '' The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-time ''. The Nobel Prize for literature has also been given to authors who made great contributions to children's literature, such as Selma Lagerlöf and Isaac Bashevis Singer . Often no consensus is reached whether a given work is best categorized as adult or children's literature, and many books are multiply marketed in adult, children's, and Young Adult editions. Additionally, there is some debate whether non-fiction is ''literature'' (and a separate debate over whether non-fiction should be called ''non-fiction'' or ''informational''). While the ). Many Authors specialize in books for children. Other authors are more known for their writing for adults, but have also written books for children, such as Alexey Tolstoy 's ''The Adventures of Burratino'', and Carl Sandburg 's "Rootabaga Stories". In some cases, books intended for adults, such as Swift's '' Gulliver's Travels '' have been edited (or '' Bowdlerized '') somewhat, to make them more appropriate for children. An attempt to identify the characteristics shared by works called 'children's literature' leads to some good general guidelines that are generally accepted by experts in the field. No one rule is perfect, however, and for every identifying feature there are many exceptions, as well as many adult books that share the characteristic. (For further discussion, see Hunt 1991: 42-64, Lesnik-Oberstein 1996, Huck 2001: 4-5.) |
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