Do you have a vision for the future of children’s literature? Who will be the drivers of change?

I wonder if Virtual Reality (VR) will play a role in children’s literature somehow. VR may sit on the video-gaming side of the fence, but what if you could retell classic stories by placing children in the book’s universe as the story is told? Would this still count as literature?

The increasing interest in graphic novels (Short, 2018, p. 290) reflect the visual culture of today’s child. I think graphic novels will become even more popular. And, perhaps, comic books!

Although there is a long way to go, I feel as though cultural diversity is starting to find its way into children’s literature. One of the books in The Little Big Book Club’s 2020 Preschool Reading Pack is called Kick with My Left Foot (Raising Literacy Australia, 2020). It is about a little boy learning to play footy in an outback indigenous community. In 2018, I read A Song Only I Can Hear by Barry Jonsberg, which touches on gender identity. I’m sure there are other examples.

References

Raising Literacy Australia. (2020). Kick with my left foot. Retrieved from https://www.thelittlebigbookclub.com.au/titles/kick-with-my-left-foot

Short, K. (2018). What’s trending in children’s literature and why it matters. Language Arts, 95(5), 287-298. Retrieved from https://ncte.org/resources/journals/language-arts/