Something that all the best Mid Grade or Junior Fiction does, is portray an authentic child's experience of the world, whilst still couching the more difficult aspects in terms that a child can process. This is never more true than in the case of various types of abuse that children may unfortunately be subjected too. However, many adults find such portrayals difficult to access because they are 'cartoonish' and don't deal factually with what's happening. There is also the child censorship issue as to what it is appropriate to include in a children's book.
This week the dragons take a look at why difficult topics are presented the way they are in children's fiction. Why is it that children need that different portrayal that doesn't grip most adults in the same way? Why are portrayals of abuse and bullying so often paired with fantasy elements? How is it that some books contain a subtext accessible only for people who can look with a child's perspective? And why is it important that these unpleasant realities are reflected in children's literature at all? After all, isn't reading about escapism? On the slab this week Goodnight Mr Tom by Michelle Magorian, The Tulip Touch by Anne Fine, Telling the Sea by Pauline Fisk, the Harry Potter series (naturally) and many more.
Title Music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 163: Into the Woods - Mythical, Magical and Malicious Forests in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 162: Bring Out Your Dead - Sickness and Pandemics in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 161: That's not Historically Accurate - the Fallacy of Fantasy Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 160: The Kids are Alright - Why do we need a NA Genre as well as YA?
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 159: I See Dead People - Psychics, Mediums and Communing with the Dead
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 158: Dominion, Mastery and Emancipation - Portrayals of Slavery in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 157: Chosen Ones and Fated Champions - the Phenomenon of the Special Snowflake in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 155: All in Your Head - Portrayals of Mental Illness in Modern YA Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 154: Death and Sex Appeal - Assassins in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 153: A Pirate's Life for Me - Myths, Stories and Crime on the High Seas
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 152: The Universe in Motion - Expanding Series & Reader Opinion in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 151: Reading Like a Writer - How Critical Reading Informs the Writing Process
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 150: The Twilight Zone - When Fandoms are Attacked in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 149: 2018 - The Good, the Bad and the Utterly Bizarre
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 148: The Holly and the Ivy - The Root of the Carol
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 147: Trading Capes - When Villains become Heroes
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 146: The Hollywood Treatment - What the Movies Changed
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 145: Away with the Faeries - Girls versus Supernatural Queens
Dissecting Dragon: Episode 144: Private Eyes and Underworlds - Crime Meets Urban Fantasy
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