Influences on Children's Literature

What Influences Children’s Literature?

“The goodness of a book lies in the eye of the reader”

1.     Their background and experiences:

 “Each reader, in the process of experiencing a literacy work, brings meaning to and takes meaning away from that book.”

Every child has their own unique experience with the books they read. Their reactions with each book are based on their experiences that they have outside of the stories they read. Putting this into perspective shows that children and adults will have different understandings of the text because of their maturity level. With this being said, we should understand that some children’s books are made for adults and some adult books are made for children. Also, just because a story is about children, does not mean that it is a suitable story for kids. Every child goes through a different childhood and way of growing up. They may have similarities, but still view the events differently. This causes the children to view the text in a different way and be influenced differently by the text.

2.     Characteristics of different genres:

Typically, a narrative text will draw more emotion and connections with the characters, themes, and events in the story. If a child does not enjoy the genre they are reading, they may not have the greatest impact from the story.

3.     Assignment or choice?

Did the child choose the story or was it assigned to them? This will affect whether the child is enjoying their reading and how they feel about the book. If a child feels pressured to read a book and have a specific reaction from it then they will focus primarily on finding the answers they need and not on the text as a whole. While assignments are important in teaching children, it is also vital to make sure that they are given the ability to have their choice with other readings.