Fun with a purpose is a real help in educating children. It makes learning so much more attractive. Everyone has a good idea about what is fun and what isnt. The same cannot be as easily said about literature. How accomplished need writing be to qualify. With regard to children the question may be asked whether there is a category of writing that could be considered literature in the real sense of the word. Are children capable of engaging with an expression of language that meets literary requirements? The answer to that question is a resounding Yes! But how often is such an engagement actually offered to a child? Far too sporadically, I believe.
Titles like Alice in Wonderland, Peter Rabbit and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe come to mind when considering childrens literature. From books to be read and told these now have become movies and DVDs to be watched. From words that introduce a child to good language that stirs the imagination this fine literature has become a sequence of images and sound effects. It needs no Einstein to conclude that somewhere there is a loss for modern children and their development. How many children these days have the opportunity to...