Customer Reviews

Feeling Like a Kid: Childhood and Children's Literature

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This absolutely wonderful book illuminates the world of childhood like no other. Griswold examines dozens of childrens* stories and discovers certain qualities common to all of them--snugness,scariness, smallness, lightness, and aliveness. He shows us how these qualities are central to a childs perception of the world. Lucidly written, convincingly argued, profusely illustrated, this is a book that every parent who reads stories to his or her child should have. And its* a gorgeous book as well--an example of the bookmaking art at its best. *(the apostrophe doesn*t seem to work on this computer--Im not illiterate)

For anyone looking for a short book to accompany a college course in children's lit, this book is it. It is simply written, not marred by abstruse critical jargon, and discusses a host of interesting things worth covering in an undergraduate course. And Johns Hopkins did a beautiful job with the book itself. It's a little work of art, the kind of thing students will keep.

Griswold's treatment of the books is disappointingly shallow. He makes a number of undeniably true observations about what children like, how they behave, what they seek out, etc - and then notes that various well-known books satisfy those desires. E.g., children like to feel snug, like to enclose themselves in small spaces - and guess what? that's exactly what you find in various children's books. Griswold doesn't devote much time to asking "why?" or to explaining the significance of any of these desires. The book is enjoyable but by the time you're done reading the author's very superficial discussion, your reaction is, "well, I could have told you all that off the top of my head."

The book is in the condition the seller described it as, and I got it without much wait, which I really appreciate. This is a beautiful book about being small, and has been a great resource as a teacher, artist, and young person.

Wonderful book explaining five facets of children's literature with examples from popular works. Great introduction into children's writing.