Children’s literature has always reflected broader societal and cultural concerns (Broomhall, McEwan & Tarbin, 2017) and contemporary texts are no exception. Modern commentary emphasises the impact of our digitised world, describing a distinct increase in multimodal and visual texts (Short, 2018). As such, I believe children’s literature will continue to adhere to contextual demands. For example, Short (2018) notes a distinct lack of authentic cultural expression within books but some of the texts and diverse views she mentions weren’t even present ten years ago. Therefore, demand for further diversity and the changes within our world will drive the future of literature and variety will become a distinct aspect of texts aimed at younger readers.

However, nostalgia is also an inherent aspect of society. Consider some of the children’s films that were produced this year: Christopher Robin (Burr, 2018) and Peter Rabbit (Gluck, 2018). These stories were memorable parts of childhoods and their appeal hasn’t waned. I think parents will still expose their children to the positive aspects of their earlier lives. The form these stories take may change but the new formats will encourage young people to explore the original texts.

References
Broomhall, S., McEwan, J. & Tarbin, S. (2017, March 30). Once upon a time: A brief history of children’s literature. In The Conversation.

Burr, K. (Producer), & Forster, M. (Director). (2018). Christopher Robin [Motion picture]. USA: Walt Disney Pictures.

Gluck, W. (Producer and director). (2018). Peter Rabbit [Motion picture]. Australia and USA: 2.0 Entertainment.

Short, K. (2018). What’s trending in children’s literature and why it matters. Language Arts, 95(5), 287-298.