CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENT LITERATURE

Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are
enjoyed by children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the
intended age of the reader.

Children's literature can be traced to stories and songs, part of a wider oral tradition, that adults
shared with children before publishing existed. The development of early children's literature, before
printing was invented, is difficult to trace.

Early children's literature consisted of spoken stories, songs, and poems that were used to educate,
instruct, and entertain children. It was only in the eighteenth century, with the development of the
concept of childhood, that a separate genre of children's literature began to emerge, with its own
divisions, expectations, and canon. The earliest of these books were educational books, books on
conduct, and simple ABCs—often decorated with animals, plants, and anthropomorphic letters.

Definition Of Terms

“Children”
All potential or actual young literates, from the instant they can with joy leaf through a picture book
or listen to a story read aloud, to the age of perhaps 14 or 15, may be called children. Thus “children”
includes “young people.” Two considerations blur the definition. Today’s young teenager is an
anomaly: his environment pushes him toward a precocious maturity. Thus, though he may read
children’s books, he also, and increasingly, reads adult books. Second, the child survives in many
adults.

“Literature”
In the term children’s literature, the more important word is literature. For the most part, the adjective
imaginative is to be felt as preceding it. It comprises that vast, expanding territory recognizably staked
out for a junior audience, which does not mean that it is not also intended for seniors. Adults
admittedly make up part of its population: children’s books are written, selected for publication, sold,
bought, reviewed, and often read aloud by grown-ups.

What makes a book a children’s book? A children’s book usually has these qualities:

■ A child protagonist and an issue that concerns children. A children’s book usually has a central
character that is the age of the intended audience. Children identify more easily with one of their own.
Even when the central character is not a child—as in “Cinderella,” for example—children need to feel
that the central issues of a story concern them in some way.

■ A straightforward story line, with a linear and limited time sequence in a confined setting. Books
for younger children usually focus on one or two main characters, cover short time sequences (they
are usually—but not always—told straight through from problem to solution, without flashbacks), and
most often are set in one place. When writing for older children, authors gradually take more license
with time sequences and may interweave more than one plot strand, as Louis Sachar does in Holes.

■ Language that is concrete and vivid and not overly complex. The words in children’s books—
especially in picture books—primarily name actors and actions. Books without pictures need to have
more verbal description to help children visualize characters and settings. They use dialogue to move
the story along. And they give glimpses of the characters’ motives. In all these cases, readers see more
of what characters do than of what they say, and certainly more of both than of what they think.

Qualities of Outstanding Children’s Literature

■ Good books expand awareness. Good books give children names for things in the world and for
their own experiences. Good books take children inside other people’s perspectives and let children
“walk two moons” in their shoes. They broaden children’s understanding of the world and their
capacity for empathy.

■ Good books provide an enjoyable read that doesn’t overtly teach or moralize. Many children’s
books turn out to be about something—to have themes, in fact—and it is often possible to derive a
lesson from them. But if a book seems too deliberately contrived in order to teach a lesson, children
(and critics) will not tolerate it.

■ Good books tell the truth. Outstanding children’s books usually deal with significant truths about
the human experience. Moreover, the characters in them are true to life, and the insights the books
imply are accurate, perhaps even wise.

■ Good books embody quality. The words are precisely chosen and often poetic in their sound and
imagery; the plot is convincing, the characters believable, and the description telling.

■ Good books have integrity. The genre, plot, language, characters, style, theme, and illustrations, if
any, all come together to make a satisfying whole.

■ Good books show originality. Excellent children’s books introduce readers to unique characters or
situations or show them the world from a unique viewpoint; they stretch the minds of readers, giving
them new ways to think about the world and new possibilities to consider.

Book Formats
Genre has to do with the content of a book—what it is about—but there are other ways to categorize
and compare books. One example is book format—the way a book is put together or the way it looks.
I have already used several terms that refer to format—for example, picture book. What is the
difference between a picture book and a storybook? And is there such a thing as a picture storybook?

Picture Books
Picture Books Norton (2010) explained that most children’s books are illustrated, but not all illustrated
children’s books are picture books. What makes a picture book distinctive is that it conveys its
message through a series of pictures with only a small amount of text (or none at all). The illustrations
are as important as—or more important than—the text in conveying the message. Books that have no
text at all are called wordless or textless books. Picture books for young children, including wordless
books, which deals with early childhood books such as concept books and pattern books. Picture
storybooks are picture books with a plot, with the text and illustrations equally conveying the story
line. “In a picture storybook, pictures must help to tell the story, showing the action and expressions
of the characters, the changing settings, and the development of the plot”

Easy to Read Books

Illustrated Books
As children grow from infancy to adolescence, they will notice that the books targeted for them have
increasingly fewer illustrations. Books for very young children are primarily illustrations with little or
no text (picture books). As children develop, books made for them have illustrations that convey part
of the message, but the text is needed for the complete story line (picture storybooks). As they begin
to read independently, their books have illustrations that add to the story, but there are fewer of them,
and the text itself could stand alone. These books are called illustrated books.

Graphic Novels
Graphic novels are not new, especially for adults. However, in recent years, they have become
enormously popular with children and adolescents. The definition of graphic novels is still evolving,
but as a literature format, I define them as novels whose stories are told through a combination of
illustrations and text. They are longer than picture books (about 64 to 128 pages), and instead of full-
page illustrations, the story is most often presented in illustrated panels similar to comic books. Most
graphic novels are illustrated with the same artistic quality of modern picture books, and some fans
of this format even consider them a unique art form. Though many graphic novels are fantasy, they
can be found in all genres of literature, and the tone can be humorous or serious.

Chapter Books
As children approach adolescence, the books targeted for them become longer and have even fewer
illustrations. Sometimes the only illustration is the picture on the book jacket or cover. This format is
commonly referred to as the juvenile novel or junior novel.
Hardcover Books
Hardcover books are durable, and the high-quality paper ensures the best color reproduction of
illustrations. This is the best format for books that are going to be read repeatedly, such as picture
books. However, hardcover books are expensive, and a major loss occurs if classroom copies become
misplaced or “permanently borrowed.” Also, from a teacher’s practical point of view, they are heavy
to carry and take up a lot of shelf space.

Paperback Books
Most books are first issued in hardcover and later are issued in paperback to reach a new market of
buyers looking for less costly books. Usually the pages of softcover books are made of somewhat
lower-quality paper. Instead of being sewn, the pages are glued together and then glued to a stiff
paper cover. Quality paperback books can be identified because they have a spine. That is, when you
place them on the shelf, you can see the back edge of the book where the title and names of author,
illustrator, and publisher are printed. Paperback editions can have their shelf life extended with Mylar
book tape that holds the binding together. Paperback is probably the best format for juvenile novels
and chapter books that children may read only once.

Merchandise Books
Merchandise books are found in drugstores and large discount chain stores. They are much less likely
to be found in libraries or bookstores. These books are called merchandise books in the publishing
trade because their primary purpose is to sell something—movie tickets, dolls and toys, backpacks,
admission to theme parks, and countless other things.

Series Books
Have you ever read a book that was so good you felt disappointed when you were finished because
you wanted to know what would happen next to the characters? That is why authors write sequels.
When a sequel to a sequel is written, it makes a trilogy. If the author writes a fourth related book, it
becomes a series.

eBooks
Newest on the scene are ebooks (electronic books). They can be downloaded from a variety of sources
such as Project Gutenberg and an Internet bookstore. Reading an ebook on a computer screen might
be hard on the eyes, and a computer limits portability—even a laptop. Printing a book out would take
time and money for ink and paper, and it would be bulky compared to a paperback edition. However,
a number of lightweight reading devices can hold hundreds of books and permit thousands of page
views before the batteries run out. The best ebook readers provide sharp text, readable from nearly
any angle and in dim light (just like the printed page). Most ebooks can be purchased and downloaded
in less than a minute, anywhere there is cell phone reception!