ABOUT CHILDREN AND LITERATURE: TIIURSDAY'S CHILD HAS FAR TO GO

Mary C. Austin

There was once a boy named Milo who didn't know what to do with himself - not just sometimes, but always.

When he was in school he longed to De out, and when he was out he longed to be in. On the way he thought about coming home, and coming home he thought about going. Wherever he was he wished he were somewhere else, and when he got there he wondered why he'd bothered. Nothing really interested him - least of all things that should have ....

"And worst of all," he continued sadly, "there's nothing for me to do, nowhere I'd care to go, and hardly anything worth seeing." He punctuated this last thought with a deep sigh that a house sparrow singing nearby stopped and rushed home to be with his family.

The Phantom Toll Booth

What a pity that Milo had not learned to love reading for the pleasure and information it provides. What a tragedy that no one had succeeded in finding just the right book to keep him vitally attentive by making demands upon his curiosity, his imagination or his sense of humor. What a sad commentary that neither his parents nor his teachers had exposed Milo to a genuinely memorable literary experience, one that he could respond to, one that he could rejoice in, one that he might turn to again and again.

And yet, Milo or his counterpart is in our school every day. Why?

No single answer to this question will suffice. Perhaps Milo's parents did not enjoy reading and had failed to convey the pleasure that it could bring to Milo; perhaps his school overemphasized the decoding skills in its teaching of reading to the exclusion of reading for fun and recreation. In all probability, both home and school should assume the responsibility for Milo's unhappy plight.

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Because the impressions of childhood remain longest, both home and school must play a greater role in the development of lifelong reading interests and tastes.

Associations With Literature Begin Early For many children, more fortunate than Milo, experiences with literature begin at home with Mother Goose rhymes when parents or older siblings pat baby hands as they chant "Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker's man!" or count tiny toes with "This little pig went to market," reserving a special tweak for the smallest toe when the last little pig cries "Wee, wee, wee! I can't find my way home."

Gradually, young children discover that the rhythmical qualities of some of these old verses lend themselves to marching, galloping, running, skipping and hopping as they experiment with "The Grand Old Duke of York" or "Hippety hop to the barber shop." By the time they are able to listen attentively to the simple stories of Jack and Jill, Humpty Dumpty, and Little Miss Muffet, they will be ready to follow the continuity of picture stories in which text and illustrations are so well integrated that children, after hearing the tales a number of times, will join spontaneously in the refrains of "Cats here, cats there, /Cats and kittens everywhere, /Hundreds of cats, /Thousands of cats, /Millions and billions and trillions of cats," whenever it appears in Wanda Gag's delightful picture book, or shriek joyfully "A lovely, light, luscious, delectable cake" at appropriate places in The Duchess Bakes a Cake, by Virginia Kahl. Sooner or later, young children gain imaginative insights from these stories, and they will be ready to listen to others - if wise choices are made for the daily story hour.

Yes, the joy of literature begins with Mother Goose and the many beautifully illustrated picture books. It continues as children discover, year after year, books that are just right for them, characters with whom they can identify, adventurous plots that captivate their interests, and settings that carry them back into earlier periods of history or into the great unknown future.

Children of ten experience loneUness and fear, more so

than we care to admit. In books, they may read how others have handled and overcome such feelings as they imagine what it would be like to live as Julie did on the vast, trackless tundra in Julie of the Wolves, or as Karana did for eighteen years on her Island of the Blue Dolphins. From these stories, children may gain an inner reserve of strength and courage to be called forth when they encounter less harrowing experiences in real-life situations.

Literature brings much to children in the way of enjoyment, relaxation, relief from perplexing worries, and re-creation. It stimulates and stretches their imaginations, transporting them to other times and places. Literature supplies important information to .answer questions and to build a base of knowledge for understanding the past and the present, and it develops empathy with other people, so essential in a global society. We will discuss some of these purposes of literature, keeping in mind that most literature that children will remember in their later years will function first as a mirror in which they recognize aspects of their own experiences and then as a lamp that clarifies and enlarges their experiences.

Literature Offers Enjoyment: It Stbnulates the Imagination

"Books are gates to Lands of Pleasure," the poet writes, and it is well known that an adult as well as a child turns to books that combine the universal appeal of a truly good story with memorable characters. For the child, the story may be as fanciful as E.B.White's Charlotte's Web, The Borrowers by Mary Norton, the Newberry Medal­winning Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien, or another Newberry winner, A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeline L'Engle; or it may be as realistic as Beverly Cleary's Henry and Beezus, Judy Blume's Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret, Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, or John Donovan's 111 Get There. It Better Be Worth The Trip.

Regardless of choice, we can be virtually certain that if the child feels a strong sense of excitement and pleasure, the book will contribute to his emotional and intellectual development. As Lillian Smith points outs, the child will be "a little more capable of enjoying new impressions and receiving new ideas, which will illuminate his next experience whatever it may be. He has gained something ~rmanent which can never be taken from him.''

Books, then, are invitations to experiences that might otherwise be unknown. With the Wilder family in the series The Little House in the Big Woods, the child stretches his imagination to an earlier period in our history as he lives with them through winter storms and prairie fires and becomes intimately acquainted with Indians and log cabins. With Captain Nemo in Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, he visits the strange underwater world, while in My Side of the Mountain, he eagerly

follows the progress of Sam Gridley who learns to survive by his own ingenuity in the Catskill Mountains.

Pleasure from literature, however, need not be confined to prose, for children can and do enjoy poetry so wholeheartedly that they repeat certain poems over and over, of ten with others and sometimes by themselves. The Mother Goose rhymes, which have retained their popularity for hundreds of years because young children derive great joy from their strong rhythm and rhyme, lead naturally to a variety of poems: limericks and nonsense verse, narrative poems and ballads, and lyrics. Later, after children have had rich experiences with conventional forms, they may gain pleasure in exploring some of the baffling intricacies of modern, experimental forms. It is hoped that along the way they have gained a thorough familiarity with the world of children's poetry not only as found within the collections of individual poets but also within a number of anthologies to which they can tum to find their favorites.

Unfortunately, many youngsters reach the upper elementary grades with what appears to be an irreversible aversion to poetry of any type. To rekindle their interest is not easy, but teachers try to remedy the situation by presenting poems which reflect lively action and have themes that children are known to enjoy (animals, holidays, humor, common experiences), by selecting well­loved verses of previous classes, by inviting class members to share their choices with their peers, and by starting where children are, perhaps with humorous lines and limericks. One fourth-grade class found Monica Shannon's "Only My Opinion" irresistible: "Is a caterpillar ticklish 7 I Well, it's always my belief I That he giggles, as he wiggles I Across a hairy leaf."

This group went on to discover the " fun" poems of Laura E. Richards and the sophisticated verses by Ogden Nash about "The Panther" and "The Centipede." They found 'The Reason for the Pelican" (John Ciardi) and "Cats and Bats and Things With Wings" (Conrad Aiken) to their liking. After these fourth-graders prepared a program of choral speaking for primary-grade children in their school, they began creating their own poems according to Mary O'Neill's poems about color. The writing of haiku followed with several children producing beautiful three-line poems - in this form of Japanese poetry which contains only seventeen syllables. Through their teacher, who liked poetry and enjoyed reading it to them, this group retrieved the rich legacy of poetry that they might never have experienced; they learned that poetry "is the safe-kept memory of a lovely thing," as Sara Teasdale once remarked.

Imagination is closely allied to literature, for literature stimulates its growth through its use of imagery, through the author's precise use of words to express meaning and feeling, and through suggested fuller and deeper levels of association. It has often been said that imagination is best

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quickened in childhood. When the mother of a seven-year­old once asked Albert Einstein what kinds of books to read to her son, Einstein is reported to have answered, "First read him fairy tales, and then read him more fairly tales." Nor was Einstein alone in this opinion. J.R.R. Tolkien also pays tribute to fairy-stories when he writes that they first taught him" the potency of words, and the wonder of things."

In our highly technological society, however, there are those who seriously question the use of fairy-stories with children, claiming they teach children to retreat into a world of "fantasy" instead of facing the problems of the real world. Despite the disfavor of these realists, others emphasize that fairy lands can give the real world a new dimension of depth, making children's destinies brighter not darker. They point to the survival of folk tales as evidence. Preserved by the common people to whom they belonged, they are an expression of needs known to all men in that they deal in elemental passions such as greed, cruelty, terror, pity and love. And so, folk tales have become the one form of literature which is most nearly universal. The supernatural element also has much to do with their appeal. Animals can talk, and people understand them effortlessly. Ghosts abound, as do devils, fairies, elves, pixies and brownies, without causing undue wonder in their human neighbors.

There is beauty in these stories, beauty that can be heard as well as imagined. Originally an oral form, the best of them retain a musical prose that delights the storyteUer. Often, rhythm and repetition are their essential ingredients. The two older brothers must attempt the task before the younger succeeds. There must be three rides up the glass hilL The wolf must be refused entrance three times. As well as creating suspense, the repetition pleases the ear and of ten lends the force of poetry to a prose tale.

Folk tales, then, are fine basic entertainment. But what of their underlying messages, the background morality with which they imbue the reader? They have been called to account more than once for a frequently questionable ethical code. What did the giant ever do to Jack that Jack felt free to rob him of his prized possessions? Rumplestiltskin fairly performed his part of the bargain, so did he not deserve the baby to keep him company in his old age?

First we must assume certain premises, which children naturally do. Giants - substitute ogre, troll or goblin - are made to be overcome. They need not demonstrate their wickedness in the story; they are wicked by definition. To approach them with goodwill as if they were friendly neighbors is unthinkable folly, and a folk hero knows that to fall into their hands means death. They are the black in a black-and-white world, and so are not objects of pity. It is the rare child who is upset by the big bad wolf's warm fate.

In recent years, many beautifully illustrated books have skillfully retold these old tales. One can safely say that no

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child should have to grow up without having enjoyed at least some of the folklore classics, if adults, in their wisdom, have made them readily available for storytelling and reading.

Books Supply Important Information

Years ago, there were few books for growing children who wanted to read about true things: people, science, history and "how-to-do-it.'' Today, both fiction and non-fiction await young readers on almost every subject from dinosaurs to solar energy!

In 1977, when thousands were viewing Egyptian artifacts from Tutankhamen's tomb, curious young people wanted to learn about this ancient civilization. Because scientists have shared their knowledge of ages past, children could become armchair-archeologists and discover that Egypt had developed the most advanced culture of its time. The land of the Nile; the inventions of paper, writing and a calendar; the Pharoahs and Pyramids; the splendid art and architecture, and the superior military strategy of the Egyptians which led to their eventual domination over the Assyrians and Romans - all provide writers with fascinating material.

Librarians and teachers quickly located accurate references from among a multiplicity of titles. For younger pupils, they offered The First Book of Andent Egypt, by the historian, Charles A. Robinson, Jr., which gave a brief account of the impressive kingdom of tombs and temples. For older students, Pharoahs of Egypt by Hawkes and Bothmer gave a dramatic history from pre-dynastic to Roman days, with emphasis upon the reigns of three pharoahs and their unique roles in religious, political and cultural life. They used the Horizon book, Daily Life in Ancient Egypt by Lionel Casson, to present a detailed panorama of social life and customs up to the fourth century, B.C.

Adults found that books on specific subjects at several levels of reading ability were few in number. Therefore, a volume dealing with an important single subject of ancient Egypt was most welcome. The Art of Ancient Egypt, by Shirley Glubock, gave an introduction to Egyptian life and customs through photographs of the art of its people. Interpretive texts on each object's history, the techniques used in its manufacture and its description accompanied all the book's pictures and color reproductions.

Although the above is just one example of the ways in which literature can be used to supply important information, most elementary school classrooms of the 70s use a wide variety of materials to replace the single textbooks of the past, thus opening almost unlimited possibilities for the use of children's literature in each area of the curriculum. Children from schools where the curriculum is integrated with the resources of a well­planned school lil>rary and a trained staff usually show the

results of such enrichment in their later academic work at higher levels of education.

literature Develops Empathy

Jn any community, rural or global, people must learn to understand points-of-view other than their own and to live in harmony with those about them. literature develops empathy, that imaginative projection of one's own consciousness into another's being, by helping young and old alike to relate more fully to other people and events. Empathy allows listeners and readers to identify with storybook characters, to feel their emotions and to experience their problems - to "walk in their shoes," as it were. By viewing the world as a character views it, and forgetting their own identities and perspectives temporarily, children reach out from themselves as they seek to understand others better.

Very young children soon learn to identify with storybook characters as they see their own behavior mirrored in a disobedient Peter Rabbit who enters Mr. MacGregor's garden contrary to his mother's instructions and finds himself in great trouble before his narrow escape, or in an irresponsible Young Tugboat who gets into serious difficulty before he decides to reform then and forevermore. They recognize familiar feelings of jealousy in Robert, a little black boy, who resents having to share both his toys and his mother with Stevie, whose mother works during the week; but when" crybaby" moves away, children sympathize readily with Robert who misses Stevie.

Older children may discover a kindred spirit in Manolo, who struggles with fear and the unreasonable expectations of adults, in Maia Wojciechowska's Shadow of a Bull, or in Dave Mitchell, whose growing maturity in New York City leads to an ultimate resolution of the conflict with his father. Both books are provocative, and along with others such as Be"ies Goodman, Mary Jane, Queenie Peavy, and the Planet of Junior Brown, should lead to informal discussions in which readers explain what they are thinking and feeling about the problems of growing up in today's world. In their formative years, particularly, youngsters need opportunties for interchange of ideas if they are to achieve wholesome social attitudes and desired cultural awareness.

Biographies of ten invite empathy because children know that the characters actually lived. Benjamin Franklin, Paul Revere, George Washington, John F. Kennedy, Abraham lincoln, Magellan, Martin Luther King, Jr., Kit Carson, Harriet Tubman, Amelia Earhart, Clara Barton, Maria Mitchell and Queen liliuokalani are but a few whose lives have become subjects of biographies for children. When related to the study of history, biography can be most meaningful. A symphony can be enjoyed without knowledge of its composer's personal life, and a

scientific law is valid despite the virtues of the man who discovered it; but history is people and cannot be divorced from the character of the persons who made it. Empathy with these individuals may span centuries to enrich the lives of readers of all ages.

Awareness and appreciation of cultural differences can be fostered through literature, especially through the many new books published for children which attempt to eliminate traditional, stereotyped characters, plots and themes by portraying ethnic groups in our societies in ways which build positive images of them. literature of the seventies, more than in the past, presents such differences in a manner that causes readers to regard the cultural diversity of our nation as a unique asset to be esteemed and treasured. Without undue moralizing, modern authors are helping children realize that they should accept others on the basis of individual worth, regardless of racial, religious and economic differences. Past injustices to minority groups are treated with frankness and objectivity; examples of man's inhumanity to man are exposed realistically, evoking an empathy and understanding rarely experienced before in books for children. Two recent publications serve as examples of excellent historical fiction for older students: The Slave Dancer and Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. The first, by Paula Fox, narrates a grim, unforgettable tale of a white boy kidnapped in New Orleans and carried by ship to the African coast where natives were loaded as merchandise for American buyers. Forced to play his fife to exercise the human cargo, Jessie learned about the terror and brutality of the sadistic slave traders before his incredible escape and return to his family. The second, by Mildred D. Taylor, depicts a loving Black southern family in the 1930s, as seen through the eyes of Cassie Logan. Although the burnings and incredible destruction by masked night riders which terrified and angered the Logans are outside the experiences of today's children, readers identify with them as they face adversity and survive. Readers will also understand and respect the principles by which these people lived, perhaps understanding and respecting themselves and others better. Undoubtedly, young people will look forward to Mildred Taylor's next two books in which the Logan children reach adolescence and adulthood and make their contributions to the Civil Rights movement of the fifties and sixties.

Conclusion

Most of us recall vividly A.A. Milne's popular book, Winnie-The-Pooh. We remember the time Pooh visited Rabbit's home, where he ate abundant bread and drank a great quantity of milk. When he started to leave, he discovered he could not get out of Rabbit's hole; he was, in fact, stuck. Christopher Robin came to the rescue, telling Pooh that he would have to stay there a week without

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meals. "But," he said, "we will read to you." Bear hied to sigh. and found he couldn't because he was stuck tight. A tear rolled down his eye, as he said, "Then would you read a Sustaining Book. such as would help and comfort a Wedged Bear in Great Tightness?"

Children often remind us of Pooh in his condition of "Great Tightness;" wanting a "Sustaining Book." Most of them want books that are helpful as well as those that "comfort" them. Too of ten in the past, they were "stuck" without such books because some literature lacked wisdom, humor, imagination and originality. They were without important messages and appealing prose; they failed to answer children's questions about themselves, their country and their world. Today's youth, on the other hand, are indeed fortunate to have books to choose from -both in quantity and quality.

Many adults leave the entire selection of books to the children themselves, but selection should not be left entirely to them. Children may know what they like when a limited fare is offered; they cannot be expected to know what other choices are available unless adults surround them with a great variety of the world's best literature.

Parents, teachers, and librarians have the never-ending responsibility, the joyous opportunity of recognizing and sharing with children those books which have enduring qualities, that will arouse deeper and more lasting pleasure, and will make their engagement with literature a lifelong process of rewarding experiences. "Thursday's child has far to go," but with books that delight the heart and inform the mind he will have memorable companions along the way.

References Smith, Lillian H. The Unreluctrmt Years, American Library Association,

1953. p.14. Tolkien, J.R.R. "On Fairy-Stories," in Hom Book 39, October 1963, 457.

Children's Literature

Aiken.Conrad, ed. Gib and Bats and Things with Wings, Athmeum.. 1965.

Armstrong, William H. Sounder, Harper, 1969. Blume, Judy. Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret, Bradbury, 1970. Burch, Robert D. Queenie Pewy, Viking. 1966. Casson, Lionel. Daily Life in Ancient Egypt, American Heritage, 1975. Oardi, John. The Reason for the Pelican. Lippincott, 1959. Cleary, Beverly. Henry 11nd Beezus, Morrow, 1952. Donovan, John. 111 Get There. It Better Be Worth The Trip, Harper,

1969. Fox, Paula. The Slmie D11ncer, Bradbury, 1973. Gag, Wanda. Millions of C111:1, Coward-McCann, 1928. George, Jean. Julie of the Wolves, Harper, 1972. --·My Side of the Mountain, Dutton, 1959. Gramatky, Hardie. Little Toot, Putnam, 1953. Hamilton, Virginia The PLinet of Junior Brown, MacmiUan, 1971.

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Hawkes, J. and B.V. Bothmer. Pharoahs of Egypt, American Heritage. 1965.

Huber, Miriam Blanton. "Only My Opinion," in Story 11nd Verse for Children, Macmillan, 1955, p.156.

Juster, Norton. The Phantom Toll Booth, Random House, 1961. Kahl, Virginia. The Duchess Bakes 11 C11ke, Scribner, 1955. L'Engle, Madeleine. A Wrinkle in Time, Fanar, Straus, 1962. Milne, A.A. Winnie-The-Pooh, Dutton, 1926. Musgrove, Margaret. Ashanti to Zulu: Afrie11n Traditions, Dial, 1976. Nash, Ogden, ed. The Moon is Shining Bright RS Day, Lippincott,

1953. NeviUe, Emily. Berries Goodm11n, Harper and Row, 1965. _.It's Like This, Git, Harper and Row, 1963. Norton, Mary. The Borrowers, Harcourt, 1953. O'Brien, Robert C. Mrs. Frisby 11nd the Rats of NIMH,

Athmeum, 1962. O'Dell, Scott lsl1md of the Blue Dolphins, Houghton Mifflin.

1960. O'NeiU, Mary. Hailstones and Halibut Bones, Doubleday, 1961. Potter, Beatrix. The Tale of Peter Rabbit, Wamt!, 1902. Robinson, Charles A .• Jr. The First Book of Ancient Egypt, Watts,

1961. Steptoe, John. Steuie, Harper, 1969. Sterling, Dorothy. M11ry Jane, Doubleday, 1959. Taylor, Mildred D. Roll of Thunder, He11r My Cry, Dial, 1976. Twain, Mark, pseud., (Samuel L. Clemens). The Adventures of Tom

Sawyer, Heritage Press, 1936; first published in 1876. Verne, Jules. Twet1ty-Thous1md Leagues Under the Se11, Scribner

Illustrated Classics. First published in 1870. White, E.B. Ch11rlotte's Web, Harper, 1952. Wilder, Laura Ingalls. Little House in the Big Woods, Harper, 1932. Wojciechowska, Maia. Shadow of 11 Bull, Athmeum, 1964.

M11ry C. Austin is Professor of Education 11nd Director, Reading 11nd LRnguage Arts Center, College of £due11tion, University of HQUJQii­Manoa. Formerly 11n elementary schoo! teacher, she has also been a Lecturer on £duc11tion at the Harwrd University Graduate School of Eduaition, where she conducted the Harvard-C11rnegie Studies on Reading, 11nd 11 Professor of £duc11tion, Case-Western Reserve University. Dr. Austiri's m11jor profession11l interests continue to be in the 11reRS of teacher edue11tion in readirig and children's literature.