Children’s Literature- What do I really know?!

I’d like to think I know a little bit about Children’s Literature! I was an avid reader as a child, and continue this favourite pastime in my adult life – when time permits! Having children of my own, one of whom reads voraciously, has opened up a whole new world for me regarding children’s literature. It has been the titles that he reads, that has informed my own decisions (to some extent) as to what we should be considering for our school library’s collection.

But then, I have to sit back and think about what he loves to read, and whether this appeals to a wide readership. And it doesn’t! Whilst Rick Riordan, Branden Sanderson, Neal Shusterman and Julie Kagawa write fabulous novels that my son devours, this doesn’t appeal to all readers, of all reading abilities. So honestly, my knowledge of children’s literature is quite limited. I think about my own reading experiences as a child, and I was reading (for Year 9 English!!) Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities. My father, another avid reader, introduced me to Daphne Du Maurier as a young teen, and of course, Enid Blyton took up a great deal of bookshelf space on my bookshelves.

After engaging in some wide reading in this subject (and others!), I know that children’s literature should accommodate for the behavioural, cognitive and emotional reading levels and development of children. It was only when I started working in a library that I realized how incredibly popular graphic novels are – which was so new to me because my children don’t read (or enjoy) them. Or meeting some students who were reluctant readers and would only read one author. One of our Year 7 students loves Sarah Maas, but continues to read her series over and over, and is incredibly reluctant to try other authors. It took a great deal of encouragement and research, on my part, to find ‘read alike’ authors and suggest new titles that she may like to consider. So, whilst I may think I know a lot or at least enough about children’s literature, the truth is, I could know more. I will always be uncovering new titles and authors for students, and I need to listen to my students, my children and spend time reading reviews, subscribing to useful websites and develop my collegial network with other teacher librarians, teachers and librarians to inform my practice and knowledge of children’s literature.