CHILDREN AND FICTION

by Wallace Hildick ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 1971

In the same fluent prose that characterizes his stories (Louie's Lot, Manhattan Is Missing), Hildick talks about fiction for children -- what kinds of writing appeal, what techniques and strategies strengthen appreciation. This is no 600-page wonder, tracing juvenile literature through the ages or listing titles and plot summaries; rather it is a serious and successful attempt to develop standards in children's fiction by examining prose passages in many books (English and American) and contrasting the valuable with the mediocre and the fraudulent. His examples of good writing are accompanied by comments on the crucial words and phrases and tensions that make them work; he also looks at passages that fail and shows how a word or phrase can transform a merely competent work into a more satisfying one. Hildick is a teacher aware that many colleagues develop no criteria for children's books: he is further aware that books for children have various functions -- that primers (""unspeakably drab but indispensable"") help develop skills but that exposure to other books is essential for both learning to read and liking it. More important than his particular suggestions (concrete detail, appeal to curiosity, anticipation rather than total surprise, etc.) is the attitude behind them: teachers and student teachers should examine children's fiction from literary and social points of view and include, e.g., comic books in illustration lectures, TV stories and even some advertising in literature studies. Wholly reasonable -- a hearty union of cogent authority and common sense.

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1971

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: World

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1971

Categories: NONFICTION