There isn’t one specific way to define children’s literature; it can be defined as the

body of written works and accompanying illustrations produced in order to entertain or

instruct young people. The genre encompasses a wide range of works, including

acknowledged classics of world literature, picture books and easy to read stories written

exclusively for children and fairy tales, lullabies, fables, folk songs and other primary orally

transmitted materials. It can also be defined as good quality trade books for children from

birth to adolescence, covering topics of relevance and interests to children of those ages,

through prose and poetry, fiction and non-fiction. Children’s literature is written and

produced for the information or entertainment of children and young adults. It includes

books, poems and plays, literary and artistic genres and physical formats. Another way

children’s literature can be defined is that the conjures images of baby books, predictable

plots and basic illustration. At its best children’s literature includes books the highest calibre,

representing complex plots or concepts in both word and art. It’s a collection of books written

for children, read by children and/or written about children but this definition may be too

simplistic for a not-so-simple genre.

Children’s literature is important because it provides students with opportunities to

respond to literature and giving children access to all varieties of literature is also extremely

important for their success. Educators, parents, and community members should help students

develop a love and passion for reading. Not only is reading literature important in developing

cognitive skills to be able to succeed in a school or work setting, but it is valuable for other

reasons as well. Although there are countless values in exposing children to literature, Donna

Norton (2010) identifies the value of literature for young people in her book Through the

Eyes of a Child. Children’s literature is important because it gives students appreciation about

their own cultural heritage as well as those of others; it helps students develop emotional

intelligence and creativity; it nurtures growth and development of the student’s personality
and social skills; and it transmits important literature and themes from one generation to the

next. The first value to note is that children’s literature provides students with the opportunity

to respond to literature and develop their own opinions about the topic. This strengthens the

cognitive developmental domain as it encourages deeper thought about literature. Quality

literature does not tell the reader everything he/she needs to know; it allows for some

difference in opinion. One reader may take something completely different away from the

piece of literature than the next reader, based on the two personal viewpoints and

experiences. Students can learn to evaluate and analyze literature, as well as summarize and

hypothesize about the topic. Norton says that for children, “wordless picture books are

excellent stimuli for oral and written language” (2010, p. 9). Students reading wordless books

like A Ball for Daisy (Raschka, 2011), The Yellow Umbrella (Liu, 1987), or The Red Book

(Lehmann, 2004) will be able to analyze the illustrations and develop their own dialogue for

the story. This strengthens students’ cognitive functions in being able to form opinions on

their own and to express themselves through language in summarizing the plot of a wordless

book.

Secondly, children’s literature provides an avenue for students to learn about their

own cultural heritage and the cultures of other people. It is crucial for children to learn these

values because, “developing positive attitudes toward our own culture and the cultures of

others is necessary for both social and personal development” (Norton, 2010, p. 3). In saying

this, however, when teaching students about the cultural heritage of others, one should be

very careful in selecting which books to recommend to young readers. There are many

stories, some folktales, which contain blatant stereotypes and inaccuracies about certain

cultural groups. Thirdly, children’s literature helps students develop emotional intelligence.

Stories have the power to promote emotional and moral development. Children’s literature

“contains numerous moments of crisis, when characters make moral decisions and
contemplate the reasons for their decisions,” an important skill for children to see modelled

(Norton, 2010, p. 34). The Scar (Moundlic, 2007) is an effective book to read with students in

order to teach them about responding to grief, as it is about a boy whose mother dies. This

requires a complex level of emotional intelligence, as many young children do not understand

death. The topic of death would be more appropriate for an older grade level, but it is an

important topic to discuss with students.

In children’s literature, there’s a lot of symbolism. Symbolism is often used in

literature to paint colourful scenes. It affords the writer artistic expression that supersedes

bland writing. Beyond that, symbolism also allows readers to visualize complex or difficult

subjects. And, if nothing else, it presents readers at the local book club with an opportunity to

pick apart various lines of text, searching for hidden meaning; authors use symbolism to

connect you to the story through something familiar. Symbolism can be an object, person,

situation, event or action that has a deeper meaning in the overall context beyond a surface

understanding. When used properly, it can enhance a piece of writing and provide further

insight to the reader. For example, the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling. J.K. Rowling is a

bit like Shakespeare. Each writer mastered numerous rhetorical devices, all in one work of

art. Entire theses have been written about Rowling's use of symbolism in her Harry Potter

series. Harry's scar is symbolic of his bravery, like a badge of honour. After all, he survives

major battle after major battle. But it's multi-faceted because one could argue it also stands

for emotional sensitivity, since it hurts when someone directs hate towards him.

Onomatopoeia, which the formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named

(e.g. cuckoo, sizzle), is also another common literary device that is used by the author in

children’s literature. For sound and imagery, onomatopoeia can help make or break a poem.

It utilizes your setting and even controls the imagination of your reader. An onomatopoeia is
used to increase the senses or describe a situation without the use of further words. They may

also be used to add humour or other emotions to the poem.

My favourite experience when it comes to children’s literature occurred when I was

twelve years old; I was in my first form and term in secondary school, for literature, the

teacher read for us or sometimes she would have students read for us. The first book she ever

read for us was ‘A Brighter Sun’. She shared a love for reading, it enhanced her language arts

instructions and exposed us to new authors, genres and themes Reading aloud allowed her to

model reading strategies. She asked questions, shared her thoughts and let us share our

thoughts, and make connections between the text and other texts, as well as cross-curricular

content. The suspense facilitated excitement around reading and engagement in the content

for the entire instructional block. Modelling reading strategies also conveyed her expectations

for how us, students, should approach our independent reading. While reading aloud, she

demonstrated how to think critically and often about reading and making connections. She

encouraged also me to think about what pictures form in my mind while reading.

Literature for children leads to personal fulfilment and academic gains. It separates

the values into personal and academic is an intellectual distinction. When I read A Brighter

Sun for my literature class, I learnt a lot about Trinidad’s culture. From this book you learn of

the many prejudices in the beautiful island, be it race or class. The struggle of the poor is

magnified by their colour. Tiger is an ambitious boy and you feel for him while reading, until

he becomes one of the men, beating his pregnant wife and getting drunk nights on end. Set in

Trinidad and Tobago during the Second World War, this novel aims both at painting a

general picture of the economic, social and political facts of life of the time and period while

also telling a smaller more intimate story about a handful of its residents in a forgotten village

not far from Port of Spain. The jump from general to particular is ongoing and is not always

handled smoothly. The narrative that follows Tiger and Urmilla -a young Indian couple- and
Rita and Joe- their creole neighbours- is stopped in its tracks often to make room for

statements about policy, building projects and rationing. I found the clear difference in tone,

intent and narrative voice in these transitions a bit jarring. The part that focuses on the more

insular narrative, however, I found very compelling.

When I re-read A Brighter Sun for leisure, my own enjoyment, it was much more

exciting and relaxing. There is something magical about reading about a place you currently

reside at and I think that is what I loved most about this book. Historically, a lot is happening

and Sam Selvon, the author of ‘A Brighter Sun’, used that to tell a story and show us how

these things impacted our main character. It gave me an in-depth look into live in Trinidad

and Tobago during the 1930s. It even had a memorable character because, up to this day I

still remember Tiger. The story of his struggles as a "man" and trying to make a living as well

as understand life and what it means to him as he understands himself. I wasn’t focused on

reading to remember and memorize but just for enjoyment and relaxation and to learn more

about Trinidad, only because it was something I wanted to do, not because of an examination.

I also learnt about the struggles of a young woman. I got an in-depth look of the different

situations Urmilla faced as a young woman living in Trinidad. Things that she faced, women

in our communities face up to this day.

Bauer, S. (2002). Selma. La Jolla, CA: Kane Miller Book Publishers, Inc.

Norton, D., & Norton, S. (2010). Through the eyes of a child: An introduction to

children’s literature (8th ed.). Boston, MA: Prentice-Hall.

Raschka, C. (2011). A ball for Daisy. NY: Schwartz & Wade Books.

Liu, J. S. (1987). The yellow umbrella. La Jolla, CA: Kane Miller Book Pub.