Post by Luna~Rose on Mar 4, 2016 23:26:44 GMT -6
Harry Potter V. Huckleberry Finn
Why the British Tell Better Children’s Stories
Their history informs fantastical myths and legends, while American tales tend to focus on moral realism.
www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2016/01/why-the-british-tell-better-childrens-stories/422859/?utm_source=SFFB
Interesting article examining the differences between English and American children's stories.
COLLEEN GILLARD / The Atlantic
Read the rest at the link.
Why the British Tell Better Children’s Stories
Their history informs fantastical myths and legends, while American tales tend to focus on moral realism.
www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2016/01/why-the-british-tell-better-childrens-stories/422859/?utm_source=SFFB
Interesting article examining the differences between English and American children's stories.
COLLEEN GILLARD / The Atlantic
The small island of Great Britain is an undisputed powerhouse of children’s bestsellers: The Wind in the Willows, Alice in Wonderland, Winnie-the-Pooh, Peter Pan, The Hobbit, James and the Giant Peach, Harry Potter, and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Significantly, all are fantasies. Meanwhile, the United States, also a major player in the field of children’s classics, deals much less in magic. Stories like Little House in the Big Woods, The Call of the Wild, Charlotte’s Web, The Yearling, Little Women, and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer are more notable for their realistic portraits of day-to-day life in the towns and farmlands on the growing frontier. If British children gathered in the glow of the kitchen hearth to hear stories about magic swords and talking bears, American children sat at their mother’s knee listening to tales larded with moral messages about a world where life was hard, obedience emphasized, and Christian morality valued. Each style has its virtues, but the British approach undoubtedly yields the kinds of stories that appeal to the furthest reaches of children’s imagination.
“American stories are rooted in realism; even our fantasies are rooted in realism,”
Read the rest at the link.