Genre in Children's Literature

Children's Literature is more popular today than ever before. Even tough some would disagree, Harry Potter and his wonderful menagerie of friends, wizards, witches, and mythical characters have put children's literature in the forefront as never before. The New York Times newspaper had to change its Bestseller List because authors complained that J. K. Rowling was taking all of the spaces on the list. Who would have thought an obscure author could write a children's book that would take over the world?

Many people think that children's literature is all alike and tend to group all of the books together, but just like adult literature, children's literature is grouped into genre types.

One of the most recognizable genre divisions is the picture book. As the name implies, these children's books feature large pictures that move the story along. Picture books are great for very young books even babies. Parents love to read picture books to their children. Small children have very short attention spans, so the pictures along with very little actual dialogue or exposition easily keep kid's interest. After the parent and child have read the book often enough, the child will be able to speak some of the words and talk about the pictures.

Picture story books are a little different. These books still feature beautiful illustrations but the books actually tell a story that children can follow. The stories are quite simple but usually fun and interesting. After a few readings, the child will know the story by heart and can tell if the parent leaves out even a few words.

Traditional literature has been passed down from age to age for centuries. Traditional literature includes fables, myths, legends and folk tales. Most of these stories started in the oral tradition and were told over and over by story tellers. Eventually, these stories were written down so that children as well as adults can enjoy them. The most famous of the folk tales were written down by the Brothers Grimm. These have become the fairy tales that we all know and love. Many of the tales in the Brothers Grimm have been sanitized so as not to frighten children too much. These beloved stories will last forever because they resonate with people of all cultures.

Non-fiction books are another genre. These include non-fiction, informational books, and biographies. These very important books help children to learn about famous people, different historical events, and fun information like animals and dinosaurs. These books work well when integrated into academic classes.

Modern fantasy fiction is one of the most popular genres in children's literature today. Because of the Harry Potter books, children's authors are writing fantasy books that also peak the interest of the Harry Potter fanatics. Some really fascinating books about fantasy fiction appear on bookshelves every day.

Contemporary realistic fiction relates stories that help children to deal with the many problems they face today. Some of these books deal with divorce, adoption, death, love, and many other problems. Since these books are for children, authors make sure that they write about childhood problems in a very sensitive way.



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