Picture Books

CMNS 320
2 Feb 2006
Ben Woo
The Children’s Book
Why do do children have a
literature of their own?
 Moral and spiritual
instruction
 Literacy and
education
 Entertainment and
pleasure
Why do do children have a
literature of their own?
 Preserving the
canon
 Bonding
 Therapy and
Socialization
A Brief History of the
Children’s Book
 First books
– “Mother Goose” adaptations of oral culture (sagas, ballads,
tall tales, and rhymes)
 1600: Reformation
– Alphabet books, nursery rhymes, folk tales
– Religious tracts
 1700: Schooling
– ‘the greats’/ texts books: literacy a disciplining of
consciousness and training for civility
– opening new vistas: history, geography broadens scope
A Brief History of the
Children’s Book
 1800: Children’s Literature
– Literature for its own sake: fantasy, imagination,
fairy tales, folk tales and adventure stories
– The canon of kid’s lit: Alice, Peter Pan, and Pooh
– Delights of the imaginary world (sprites and
animals; mystery and gentle humour)
A Brief History of the
Children’s Book
 1930 and on: Mass Market
– From children’s literature to children’s media and
popular culture
– Comics, cinema, radio, and television begin to
compete with children’s books as sources for
stories
The Genealogy of Narrative

 Stories in Oral Culture:

– Story-telling: Drama, play, myth, saga,
religion
– Role of Memory
– The art of conversation
– Voice and rhythm
The Genealogy of Narrative
 Books in modern culture
– The literacy agenda: reading and writing as
techniques of rationality
– Reading to Kids:
• The cultural agenda: knowledge, religion, civility and
appropriate stories
• The canon
– Reading for Pleasure:
• Autonomous zone of children’s literature
• Liberated imagination
The Genealogy of Narrative
 Rise of Mass Mediated Culture:
– Translation of folklore: Disney films and mass
popular culture
– Exposing the Secrets: blurring the boundaries
between adult and child access to knowledge
– Eroding the family sharing of stories
– Ideological: Sanitization/contamination of Folk
tales
– Commodification of culture: audiences rather than
children
Children’s Book Publishing in
Canada
 According to Statistics Canada:
– 66% of children’s books sold in Canada
are by Canadian authors
– Canadian publishers have a total of 6 565
children’s book titles in print
– In 2000-01, Canadian publishers sales of
children’s books (both their own titles and
ones licensed from foreign authors) totaled
$194 235 000
Characteristics of Children’s
Literature
 Visual
 Fantastic
 Fun with language
Pictures
Fairy Tales
Songs and Poems
Hey Kids, Comics!
William Hogarth
William Hogarth
William Hogarth
Rodolphe Töpffer
The Comic Book
Super-heroes
Two Moral Panics
 Literacy
 Delinquency
Dr. Frederic Wertham
“Wonder Woman … is
always a horror
type. She is
physically very
powerful, tortures
men, has her own
female following, is
the cruel, "phallic"
woman. While she is
a frightening figure
for boys, she is an
undesirable ideal for
girls, being the exact
opposite of what
girls are supposed
to want to be.”
“Only someone
ignorant of the
fundamentals of
psychiatry and of
the psychopathology
of sex can fail to
realize a subtle
atmosphere of
homoerotism which
pervades the
adventures of the
mature ‘Batman’ and
his young friend
‘Robin.’”
The Comics Code Authority
Crimes shall never be presented in such a way as to
create sympathy for the criminal, to promote distrust
of the forces of law and justice, or to inspire others
with a desire to imitate criminals.
Although slang and colloquialisms are
acceptable, excessive use should be
discouraged and wherever possible good
grammar shall be employed.
Respect for parents, the moral code, and for
honorable behavior shall be fostered. A
sympathetic understanding of the problems of
love is not a license for moral distortion.
The treatment of love-romance stories shall
emphasize the value of the home and the
sanctity of marriage.
Where have all the children
gone?
 Dwindling child audience
 Competition with television
 Increasingly, readers AND creators are
middle aged men who grew up reading
comics
Superman For All Seasons