The Observatory Role of Children
The broader definition of children’s literature is inclusive of literature “written and/or…about youth”, but typically does include youth as a youthful persona who uses simplistic language which children can readily identify with or others can read into from a child’s perspective. (Schneider, 23) Most times this persona allows the child to play an observatory role in the book by giving attention to small details, leaving a level of obscurity to some observations, and paying their primary attention to the world around them rather than their own thoughts and ideas. The books, Honey I Love and Other Poems by Eloise Greenfield, Yummy: The Last Days of a Shortside Shorty by G. Neri, and The Right Word: Roget and …show more content…
(Greenfield) She speaks of the different things and people that she loves. When describing Lessie and how she runs, she includes that she runs “past red houses and parked cars and bicycles and sleeping dogs and cartwheeling girls and wrestling boys and Mr. Taylor’s record store”. (Greenfield) This overly detailed scenario is typical of children telling stories since most times they do not filter out what is necessary to the point of their story. However, it is useful here in building the idea of a child persona in her observatory nature. Similarly, in Yummy: The Last Days of a Shortside Shorty, the persona is a boy who lives in the neighborhood and knows Yummy. One example of paying attention to small details is his description of the day the temperature of the day being “real hot that summer” and there being “nowhere to cool off”.(Neri, 18). Still the description of the day does not lend much to the story of Yummy. He segues from the summery day to talking about Yummy on the radio, with the focus is on the hot day and Yummy on the radio as a side note, whereas for the reader, Yummy should be the subject of the …show more content…
This is typical of children’s ignorance to see what is going on, but not analyze much. The persona of Honey I Love and Other Poems, gives the reader an insight to her life by listing all the things she loves using face value descriptions but does not go in depth to express herself in appreciating the small things in her life and its importance. Her lack of analysis is not because of a lack of feeling, but more than likely she does not recognize her loving all these little things as appreciating the smaller things in life as an important lesson
The broader definition of children’s literature is inclusive of literature “written and/or…about youth”, but typically does include youth as a youthful persona who uses simplistic language which children can readily identify with or others can read into from a child’s perspective. (Schneider, 23) Most times this persona allows the child to play an observatory role in the book by giving attention to small details, leaving a level of obscurity to some observations, and paying their primary attention to the world around them rather than their own thoughts and ideas. The books, Honey I Love and Other Poems by Eloise Greenfield, Yummy: The Last Days of a Shortside Shorty by G. Neri, and The Right Word: Roget and …show more content…
(Greenfield) She speaks of the different things and people that she loves. When describing Lessie and how she runs, she includes that she runs “past red houses and parked cars and bicycles and sleeping dogs and cartwheeling girls and wrestling boys and Mr. Taylor’s record store”. (Greenfield) This overly detailed scenario is typical of children telling stories since most times they do not filter out what is necessary to the point of their story. However, it is useful here in building the idea of a child persona in her observatory nature. Similarly, in Yummy: The Last Days of a Shortside Shorty, the persona is a boy who lives in the neighborhood and knows Yummy. One example of paying attention to small details is his description of the day the temperature of the day being “real hot that summer” and there being “nowhere to cool off”.(Neri, 18). Still the description of the day does not lend much to the story of Yummy. He segues from the summery day to talking about Yummy on the radio, with the focus is on the hot day and Yummy on the radio as a side note, whereas for the reader, Yummy should be the subject of the …show more content…
This is typical of children’s ignorance to see what is going on, but not analyze much. The persona of Honey I Love and Other Poems, gives the reader an insight to her life by listing all the things she loves using face value descriptions but does not go in depth to express herself in appreciating the small things in her life and its importance. Her lack of analysis is not because of a lack of feeling, but more than likely she does not recognize her loving all these little things as appreciating the smaller things in life as an important lesson