What Are Children Reading Nowadays?
My nephew and I are working on a children’s book, a really exciting project for me because I’m curious to know what children are reading nowadays. And even more curious to see how children are reasoning. Have they changed much from when I was a child? Or, when my children were at that impressionable age? I’m just curious to see.
In general I always thought children were better interpreters of the things going on around them than say, adults. And it’s not because they are smarter.
Children are refreshingly honest, which changes as they are taught ‘social skills’… so that they get along, or rather follow along with the masses in societies in which they live. Of course this slows us down, and I’m speaking of the pure physics of the matter…akin to something I observed participating in a few group activities held in separate parts of the country. In short, combining the results of all three activities, groups either soared together, or sunk together. Independent reasoning however, (speaking for myself) while never quite reaching the bar of soaring group decision-making, still yet (each time) realized as similar a high achievement as the soaring group. Very, very titillating find.
So now, with this new technology interlude mixed in the mix, Jack and Jill and Dick and Jane long since cleaned off bookshelves, and perhaps parents and educators with these busy lives nowadays rearing more independent thinkers, I’m anxious to see what characters my nephew will draw out for me.
Will he come at me with one of his favored Triassic dinosaurs? Or tease me with an assortment of yellow Burmese pythons? Or will he shake and rattle my nerves depicting a tale like the one an elementary school teacher of mine shared in class? – The Yellow Ribbon, a tale of a woman who wore a yellow ribbon tied around her neck, concluded by an uneasy ending when she unties the ribbon and her head falls off.
Children are refreshingly honest, which changes as they are taught ‘social skills’… so that they get along, or rather follow along with the masses in societies in which they live. Of course this slows us down, and I’m speaking of the pure physics of the matter…akin to something I observed participating in a few group activities held in separate parts of the country. In short, combining the results of all three activities, groups either soared together, or sunk together. Independent reasoning however, (speaking for myself) while never quite reaching the bar of soaring group decision-making, still yet (each time) realized as similar a high achievement as the soaring group. Very, very titillating find.
So now, with this new technology interlude mixed in the mix, Jack and Jill and Dick and Jane long since cleaned off bookshelves, and perhaps parents and educators with these busy lives nowadays rearing more independent thinkers, I’m anxious to see what characters my nephew will draw out for me.
Will he come at me with one of his favored Triassic dinosaurs? Or tease me with an assortment of yellow Burmese pythons? Or will he shake and rattle my nerves depicting a tale like the one an elementary school teacher of mine shared in class? – The Yellow Ribbon, a tale of a woman who wore a yellow ribbon tied around her neck, concluded by an uneasy ending when she unties the ribbon and her head falls off.
I’m sure he’s going to surprise me, and certainly inspire me. Clearly I’m headed for a challenge because he’s also an artist, full of imaginary ideas that are crisp, unadulterated, and speculative!
What a fun project! I'd like to have the gumption to write a children's book. I've had some ideas but they just wither on the vine. My 4 yr old likes any story we read. The kids at school do too-- some of them have never been read to and they crave stories.
ReplyDeleteActually Lesa you might be a good person to consult with too. I am so far behind being as though my children nearly as old as me. LOL.
ReplyDeleteBut I am really excited about this project. This is a child who LOVES the creatures most recoil from, and he has been loving them ever since he opened his eyes! But we'll seeee.