Good to see that Pooh Bear tops the list of children's favourite books as voted for by adults in a recent
poll.
I did a small survey about children's reading as part of my Playwork course, its rather out of date now, but thought I would share it all the same. It must have been written about 20 years ago! How time flies.
The original was created on a Archimedes, so when transferring to PC charts have disappeared and I am not sure where original is, I also don't know how the formatting will display, but will have a go and see.
Children
and Literature
Introduction
In today's society children have many forms of entertainment. Most children watch television and videos,
play computer games, listen to music or play with expensive, technical
toys. ”Books have to compete with all
these other very attractive forms of entertainment as well as older more
traditional forms of play, For [our] children‘s attention and interest.• (Bradman 1986).
This
assignment aims to explore the world of children‘s books and assess their contemporary influence. Looking at the
role of literature in children‘s lives, the relationship with play and some of
the psychology of reading, which books are popular and an analysis of their
appeal.
Methodology
A small
survey of children‘s reading habits was carried out using a questionnaire (see
Appendix 1). Other information was
gathered through background reading, visits to bookshops and libraries, also
leaflets from book publishers.
Books
became popular in the 18th Century when literacy levels increased, reading was
mostly an upper to middle class pursuit.
The first children‘s picture book was published in 1647, the first book
of nursery rhymes in 1744, but books were expensive and many booksellers hired
them out.
The
first children‘s books were educational and combined learning of letters with
learning religion. In the 17th century
the first children's story books were written, but they were very serious and
frightening, for example a book written by James Janeway, called A Token for
Children, this was an account of the holy and exemplary lives and the deaths of
young children, such books would never make the bookshops now. In the mid 19th century stories such as Alice in Wonderland
and Wind in the Willows appeared, followed by Winnie the Pooh and Mary Poppins
in the early 20th century.
Children‘s
choice of books is now huge and choosing a book in the library or bookshop can
be a time consuming task. Despite all
the press reports that children do not read, it seems that most children do
still read for pleasure, the rise in production of children‘s books is proof of
this. It is probably true that children
in contemporary society may not spend as long reading as their predecessors, they
have many other forms of entertainment.
Books
can be read for pleasure and relaxation or to find out information about
something of interest, many children find great comfort in books. ”Books will [also] become familiar friends in
their own right if they are part of life from the start.• (Body 1990).
Apart from the pleasure gained from books a child who reads or is read
to enhances their development. ”The
child is exposed through reading, to the possibility of development of the
following: the thought processes, the imagination, the intellect, vocabulary,
language, social and emotional stimulation, knowledge, manual and visual
perception.• (Marshall 1988).
Books are now available to help discuss traumatic events, such as
hospital admission, death or abuse, ”These stories can help children to express
fears and feelings when a sympathetic adult reads them aloud.• (Morris 1994). Books are available for children of all ages
and provide a wealth of experiences.
”Even books
for the very young can broaden a child‘s experience and introduce her to things
she has never encountered before and might not otherwise meet.• (Bradman 1986).
Learning
to read is a very important skill as the ability to read is needed for most
activities in everyday life. Reading is
recognised by the National Curriculum and the Curriculum document states all
children should have opportunity for ”The development of the ability to read,
understand and respond to all types of writing, as well as the development of
information retrieval strategies for the purposes of study. (Cooling - see Appendix 2). The Curriculum also recommends that children
should be able to read without assistance by the age of 7. (see Appendix 3). Reading should be encouraged from an early
age, but as with all areas of child development some children are ready earlier
and progress quicker than others.
”Learning
is a relatively permanent change in behaviour as a result of experience.• (Hardy & Heyes 1979). Before a child is ready to read they should
be able to, match pictures, match shapes, recognise the first letters of her
name, and show an interest in learning letters or words. Although children do not learn to read when
they are babies, early introduction to books lays the foundations for
reading. From a very early age babies listen to words and
rhythms as people speak to them and recite nursery rhymes. At 9 - 12 months babies will look at picture
books, at 15 months they will look at a picture book with interest and at 2 to
3 years they will identify pictures.
Books help to lay the foundations of language, which a child needs to
have grasped before tackling reading for themselves. Most children begin to speak between 9 and 18
months, by the age of 2 can link two words together, progressing gradually to
longer sentences by the age of 3½.
”Early
or emergent reading is helped by encouraging children to understand that print
has a meaning.• (O‘Hagan & Smith
1993). This can be done by labelling
objects around the house and reading signs whilst outside. First books need to be simple with bold
pictures and little text. As the child
begins to appreciate language pictures can become more complicated and text
increased. Some children will be able to
recognise words by the time they start school, others may not, but if they have
been introduced to books at an early age and enjoy them, they should find the
task of learning to read easier. In
schools children are usually taught to read using a reading scheme, such as Say
the Sounds, Read with me or Key Words (see Appendix 4). ”Children at seven to nine still need help
and support in dealing with the technicalities of reading - coping with more
complex and demanding words, more sophisticated use of punctuation and so
on.• (Body 1990). Once a child has learned to read they will
never forget.
Children
will only read if books are made available to them. Most bookshops have a children‘s department,
often brightly decorated, with a selection of books for all ages, the larger
the shop the better the selection.
Libraries have been around for centuries, but catered mostly for the
gentry and clergymen. Many monasteries
had large libraries. ”Children‘s
libraries came onto the scene in 1878.
In 1882 The Library for Boys and Girls opened in Nottingham.• (Guardian Education 1995). ”During the Depression in the 1930‘s
libraries were in great demand. New
branches continued to open up all over the country. There were improvements to children‘s
libraries, including the introduction of story hours, play readings,
discussions and even film shows.•
(Guardian Education 1995). The
Public Libraries and Museum Act 1964 made public libraries a mandatory service
to be provided by local authorities.
Most children‘s libraries hold story telling sessions and have friendly
staff who are willing to give advice.
Schools have their own libraries which allow the children to borrow
books for pleasure as well as the books used in class reading sessions.
The appearance of a book is very important in influencing choice, if it
has a dull cover it will not be chosen.
Most children‘s books have brightly coloured covers
with eye catching pictures. If a child
sees a picture of something they are interested in they will probably want to
read the book to find out more.
Illustrations are also important in the presentation of a book. Illustrations are used to; decorate the
pages, enhance the text, interpret the text, increase visual perception,
provide visual information, and externalise pictorially fears that cannot be
expressed in words. ”It has been
suggested that 90% of what we learn is learned by sight and we tend to remember
what we have seen.• (Marshall 1988).
Children‘s
literature has an effect on their play, particularly imaginary play. Imaginary play occurs mostly between the ages
of 2 and 7, just the age when children are having stories read to them and
learning to read. ”Children‘s play
reflects their increasing experiences and imagination.• (Hardy & Heyes 1979). Many toys, such as Winnie the Pooh and Noddy
evolved in books, before they were television programmes and toys. On the other hand games, such as picture
lotto can encourage reading skills, as the words are written under the picture.
As
children get older they usually become interested in particular types of book,
for example ghost stories, animal stories or adventure to name but a few.
In the
survey carried out for this assignment children were asked about their favourite books ( for questionnaire see Appendix 1), the pie chart below summarises their
answers.
Chart
to show the favourite books of children aged 7 to 14, with Roald Dahl
favourites broken down into titles
(Abbreviations: George = George‘s Marvellous Medicine, James = James and the Giant Peach, Mr Fox = Fantastic Mr Fox, Twits = The Twits, Charlie = Charlie and the Chocolate
Factory, Witches = The Witches).
Although
this survey was quite small (25 children) it does appear to be quite representative of children‘s reading habits.
A recent survey of 4,000 children, conducted by The Library Association,
Roald Dahl was the most popular author with his books taking the top five
places. Roald Dahl is also in the top
six authors borrowed from public libraries.
”Children of all ages seem to love Roald Dahl.• (Bradman 1986). This was apparent with the young children
mentioning Roald Dahl as much as the older children. Some of the older girls had progressed onto
teenage fiction. ”The appeal lies in the
fact that the teenage novel has characters of a similar chronological age to
the reader, in situations that both conceptually speak‘ to the minds and hearts of the teenager.• (Marshall
1988).
”Dahl‘s
stories seem objectionable to many adult readers, who find them a mixture of
the glutinous and the cruel, but have an enormous and enthusiastic following
among children themselves.• (Carpenter
& Pritchard 1984). The first reason
that Dahl‘s books appeal to children, is that they all involve children, (with
the exception of The Twits) usually as the main character, which makes it easy
to relate to. Roald Dahl‘s stories are
interesting, move quite quickly and have a humourous content, these factors hold
the interest of the child. ”In any novel
, it is always the story itself that must initially appeal to readers, thereby
arousing curiosity about what is going to happen next that can only be
satisfied by getting to the end of the book.•
(Tucker 1981).
Following
the survey I decided to read the three favourite Roald Dahl books; Charlie and
the Chocolate Factory, The Twits and The Witches.
Charlie
and the Chocolate Factory centres on Charlie Buckett, a child from a very poor
family who are starving. Charlie wins a
ticket to visit Willy Wonkas Chocolate factory along with four spoilt
children. The other children are very
greedy and naughty and all meet with accidents whilst touring the factory. Charlie who is well behaved through out is
rewarded for his good behaviour when Willy Wonka invites Charlie and his family
to live in the factory and take over the running of the factory when he becomes
too old. ”The book proved to be a world
best seller, but has attracted averse criticism for the supposed racism in the
portrayal of the Oompa Loompas [pigmy people who work in the factory] and for
the depiction of Charlies geriatric grandparents.• (Carpenter & Pritchard 1984). The story is a moral tale, where the poor child
who has nothing is rewarded for his good and generous behaviour. In 1964 Enid Blyton wrote ”Children‘s writers
have definite responsibilities towards their young public. For this reason they should be certain their
stories have sound morals - children like them.
Right should always be right, and wrong should be wrong, the hero should
be rewarded and the villain punished.•
Children enjoy the story because it is set in a sweet factory, they can
relate to the characters and it is funny.
The
Twits is a book a short stories about a husband and wife who play childish
tricks on each other. The couple are
very ugly and are nasty to the birds and Muggle Wump monkeys. In the end the birds and the monkeys get
their own back. Children find this book
extremely funny and can describe the tricks blow by blow. This book is written on a child's level, for a child's sense of humour. Again there is a
moral content. The short stories cater
for the child's attention span.
The
Witches is a story about a boy who goes to live with his grandmother after the
death of his parents. His grandmother
tells him many tales about witches who hunt down and harm children. He actually finds himself in a conference
room with all the witches in England, who give him a potion that turns him into
a mouse. Eventually, with the help of
his grandmother, he gets hold of some of
the potion and slips it into the witches‘ food and turns them all into mice. The mice are then all killed. This story appeals as most children enjoy
stories about witches. Again it is funny
to a child's sense of humour. The moral
content is obvious in the fact that the boy becomes the hero and eliminates the villains.
Although
Roald Dahl‘s books follow a similar format children never tire of them. He feeds their desire for fantasy and
develops their imagination.
Conclusion
Literature
plays a very valuable role in children‘s lives.
”Children‘s literature is undeniably the first literary experience,
where the readers experiences of what literature is, are laid down. Books in childhood initiate children into
literature.• (Meek 1990). The reports that children's reading is being
killed by television and computers do not seem to be true, though time spent
reading may have been reduced.
Children
in contemporary society have a wider choice of books than ever before, with the
market still growing. Whilst many areas
are suffering the effects of the recession, children‘s book publishing is
booming.
What are your favourite children's books? Or another favourite topic of mine Children's TV. Growing up in the 1970's was a cool time for Kids TV, well I think so anyway.
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