| Classification Essay, Research Paper
Mary Meeker
E 101
9:00am
Classification
Children?s Literature
Children?s Literature is classified in two major categtories, realistic and fantasy. Realistic
focuses on the area of human activities and historical events, while fantasy has many more subcategories
like eccentric and enchantment.
Some educational institutions firmly believe in teaching with only realistic stories. They feel that
a young mind under the age of five will not be able to decipher the difference between realitity and
fantasy. The school worries the child will have a sense of being invincible when reading supernatural
stories. For example, Wylie Coyote always jumps right back after falling off a cliff or being squashed by
an anvil. Violence and disrepect are other areas that concern educators when dealing with fantasy.
Realistic childhood literature can be a useful tool. It can easliy teach a child a story of times
gone by. Consider, Little House on the Prairie, it is a story a young girl can relate to and associate with.
Laura Ingalls and the other characters teach us to appreciate the lifestyle in which we live now and give
us a history lesson of the past. Realistic stories will always use human characters as the communicating
figure in the story.
Fantasy is the main type of children?s literature today. Theodore Seuss Geisel, also known as
Dr. Seuss, began writing his most popular book after an article in Life magazine in May 1954. The
article stated most American first graders were having trouble reading. The children were quoted as
saying that books were boring. Mr. Geisel?s publisher sent him a letter asking him to use a list of 400
words, which most first graders should know. Dr. Seuss was able to use 220 of those words in his
best selling book, ?Cat in the Hat.? His stories are wildly imaginitive creations, and he
used words that are funny and whimsical. His unreal worlds include a moral and social
tale that unfolds with ease at the excitement of the reading child.
Fantasy in literature offers new and stimualting visual adventures. Like Seuss, many authors
appeal to the openness of youthful artistic expression. These types of stories spark our imagination and
challenge our own perceptions. Reading a child?s fantasy book is a great oppurtunty for an adult to
rekindle the spirit and dreams of youth. Give your mind a chance to dream of an outlandish creature and
who knows what else is possible.
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