Children's Literature
Can anyone explain the sudden influx of children's literature? Largely, I think its because of the success of the Harry Potter series. But not every new children's book is trying to create a Potter clone, so its more than just wizard-envy at work.
I tend to think that it has more to do with the huge segment of potential readers that don't always want their books to be thought-provoking or challenging. I count myself in that group, in fact, thought-provoking and challenging are just about the last thing I look for in a book.
I buy and read books because I like good stories. Good stories don't require a book to be intellectually complex - they require solid characters and an interesting plot line. Too much of recent serious fiction seems to suffer from ... well ... taking itself too seriously.
Writing children's fiction seems to free up the stylistic concerns of some writers - Clive Barker comes to mind - to where they seem to focus more on the story and the character development than on lavish descriptions of every setting a character finds themselves in. They get less wordy and more to the point. The plot is kept moving thru action, dialogue and occasional narrative from the main character, not setting descriptions and character reflection. The story is set up to keep the interest of readers with shorter attention spans (whether is be kids or adults that don't want to spend a month reading a book in the evenings). But instead of the stories feeling stripped-down, the reader ends up with a novel chock full of action and diolague. Less is more.
It'll be interesting to see how the group of children's literature books to be released this fall from big-time authors will fare. I'd wager money that Clive Barker's offering of Abarat will be good - he's pulled off good children's lit previously with The Thief of Always. Carl Hiaassen's Hoot ought to be solid because he largely already writes in the style I've described. Michael Chabon's Summerland is the complete unknow. His novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay was wonderful, but it is written in exactly the opposite style that I think is necessary for this genre.
I tend to think that it has more to do with the huge segment of potential readers that don't always want their books to be thought-provoking or challenging. I count myself in that group, in fact, thought-provoking and challenging are just about the last thing I look for in a book.
I buy and read books because I like good stories. Good stories don't require a book to be intellectually complex - they require solid characters and an interesting plot line. Too much of recent serious fiction seems to suffer from ... well ... taking itself too seriously.
Writing children's fiction seems to free up the stylistic concerns of some writers - Clive Barker comes to mind - to where they seem to focus more on the story and the character development than on lavish descriptions of every setting a character finds themselves in. They get less wordy and more to the point. The plot is kept moving thru action, dialogue and occasional narrative from the main character, not setting descriptions and character reflection. The story is set up to keep the interest of readers with shorter attention spans (whether is be kids or adults that don't want to spend a month reading a book in the evenings). But instead of the stories feeling stripped-down, the reader ends up with a novel chock full of action and diolague. Less is more.
It'll be interesting to see how the group of children's literature books to be released this fall from big-time authors will fare. I'd wager money that Clive Barker's offering of Abarat will be good - he's pulled off good children's lit previously with The Thief of Always. Carl Hiaassen's Hoot ought to be solid because he largely already writes in the style I've described. Michael Chabon's Summerland is the complete unknow. His novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay was wonderful, but it is written in exactly the opposite style that I think is necessary for this genre.
# | September 11, 2002