2. Themes
1. Humour
- By two years many children begin to laugh in
response to songs, stories, make believe,
storytelling, dramatic actions and slapstick
routines.
- Humour has enormous positive benefits for
early literacy learning.
- It helps children to engage with stories and the
language that is used to create stories.
- This in turn helps them to listen to story reading
longer, and to want to read books for
themselves.
3. As well, the humour is usually more effective in books
when it is more than just cleverness with words;
illustrations can support clever word use in cartoons,
rhyme and verse.
Ultimately, the best examples of humour for children
rely on brilliant use of language to create the absurd,
the surprising, the unexpected and the outrageous.
4. This is the story of a young boy named
Marco who while walking down the street runs
into a horse and cart that suddenly appears to take
on some special qualities; it becomes
a chariot pulled by a zebra, then a
reindeer takes over, followed by a sled
pulled by an elephant etc. The images
have what became the characteristic
Seuss colour, sharp lines and simplicity
of language and structure.
Language that is rich, repetitive
and rhythmic.
5. 2. Gender differences
This particular theme is portrayed in the construction
of children’s literature during the 70’s and the 80’s.
Often, the “female” characters are portrayed as
princesses; soft, beautiful, meek, lovely, etc.
On the other hand, the “male” characters are
portrayed as princes, strong and heroic.
Some examples of such literary works are Cinderella,
Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs and Rapunzel.
Such stories are nice to read and they somehow
shaped the characters of young readers.
Young children are influenced by what they read and
they seem to take after the characters in the story.
6. What do you think of this theme? Is it
good for children?
Cinderella and the prince
lived happily ever
after…..
7. 3. Great Battle
Many children's stories feature a great battle.
The battle may be between forces of good and
evil, such as in the Harry Potter series.
In other examples, the battle is simply
between two entities who are after a common
boon such as the last book
of C.S. Lewis' The Chronicles of
Narnia series when men and beasts
fight for ownership of the land of Narnia.
8. 4. Long, Hard Journey
One theme that commonly appears in children's
literature is the hero embarking on a long, difficult
journey.
Sometimes the outcome of the journey is
responsible for the fate of the entire world, as in the
Lord of the Rings series by J.R.R. Tolkien.
Other times, the heroes seeks personal gain as do
the characters who travel together in The Wizard of
Oz.
The characters may escape from a difficult life as in
stories like James and the Giant Peach.
Stories about long and difficult journeys teach
children the importance of perseverance and
willpower when going after a goal.
9.
10. 5. Honesty & Deception
Stories featuring lessons about honesty are common.
Pinocchio is about a puppet who wants nothing more
than to be a real boy so that he will be loved by his
maker.
When Pinocchio lies, his nose grows. He faces
troubles throughout the story because of this trait.
The Boy Who Cried Wolf is another well-known story
which focuses on the dangers of deceptiveness. The
boy in the story lies so often that no one believes him
when he is telling the truth.
Deception becomes a tool used by evil characters or
"bad guys" to take advantage of the good. For
example, in Hansel and Gretel a witch tricks the
children into coming into her house so that she can
eat them.
