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Writing for children is serious work. Thankfully, there are writers up to the task. In these essays, which originated as Children's Literature New England talks, "notable writers for children consider how literature, memory, and moral passion serve the writer." Gillian Cross (The Great American Elephant Chase) uses the story of Jack and the Beanstalk to explore the import--for author, reader, and ... More

Writing for children is serious work. Thankfully, there are writers up to the task. In these essays, which originated as Children's Literature New England talks, "notable writers for children consider how literature, memory, and moral passion serve the writer." Gillian Cross (The Great American Elephant Chase) uses the story of Jack and the Beanstalk to explore the import--for author, reader, and sometimes protagonist--of entering a fictional world. Maurice Sendak (Where the Wild Things Are) illuminates a current running through his books having to do with survival. "How do children survive under the best conditions with loving parents," he wonders, "or worse, with unloving parents--how do kids make out?" Susan Cooper (The Grey King) explores our motives for reading, as children and as adults. "More often than not," she determines, "[the child] is on a voyage of discovery, seeking out new worlds. Not us; we tend to look for the familiar." And Pat O'Shea (The Hounds of the Morrigan) tells us what children get from books. "As children read," she says, "they learn about the dangers of the world, but ultimately in a safe and strengthening way, a way that tells them that weak and vulnerable as they may be ... they and their own lives are of value, have importance, that they make a difference to the world and to the life around them." Other contributors include Ursula K. Le Guin, Gregory Maguire, Sarah Ellis, and Madeleine L'Engle. --Jane Steinberg

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