This document discusses several issues that arise in children's literature, including censorship, exposing children to inappropriate content, violence, sexuality, sexism, racism, changing family structures, and death. It notes debates over violent scenes in traditional stories like Hansel and Gretel and nursery rhymes. Sexism is a concern in how gender roles are portrayed. Racism and regionalism can promote stereotypes. Guidelines are provided for literature teachers to evaluate books, including ensuring characters are not stereotyped and solutions presented are fair and balanced.

1. ISSUES IN CHILDREN’S
LITERATURE
To clip the magical
wings:
Jovy D. Elimanao-Mihm, MAEd (English)

2. General Issues
• Creation of a “censors” group that
monitors ideas and values
contained in stories (and other
materials) for children
• Pressures on teachers, librarians,
parents, religious leaders to use
only the “right” books for children

3. THE SPECIFIC ISSUES

4. THE LOSS OF INNOCENCE
• Teachers’ taste of the “forbidden
fruit” of knowledge
• Tremendous pressure on exposing
kids to the “right” materials
• Teacher factors: background,
beliefs, personal experiences (or
lack of it), and one’s philosophy

5. THE ISSUE OF VIOLENCE
• Wake of parents’ concern over
violence in the popular media
• Imported Japanese children’s show
• Internationally, debates on gruesome
scenes in traditional literatures
• Should traditional literature be
rewritten to a “safer” version?

6. THE ISSUE OF VIOLENCE
• These issues where directed to
–Hansel and Gretel
–Cinderella
–Nursery rhymes like Jack & Jill and
Rock – a – bye Baby

7. THE ISSUE OF VIOLENCE
• Rock – a – bye Baby
• Rock-a-bye baby, in the treetop
When the wind blows, the cradle will
rock
When the bough breaks, the cradle will
fall
And down will come baby, cradle and all

8. THE ISSUE OF VIOLENCE
• Jack and Jill
• Jack and Jill went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water.
Jack fell down and broke his crown,
And Jill came tumbling after.
Up Jack got, and home did trot,
As fast as he could caper,
He went to bed to mend his head
With vinegar and brown paper.

9. THE ISSUE OF SEXUALITY
• Bombarded with jingles and
commercials that glorify sex
• More prevalent in adolescents
• “Guardians of morality” overdoing
their stand
• Teachers are left to decide which
they find offensive and otherwise

10. THE ISSUE OF SEXUALITY
• Maurice Sendak’s “In the Night
Kitchen”

11. THE ISSUE OF SEXISM
• Problems with depicting men as
powerful
• Women are pictured as domesticated
• Feminists view: Men are endowed
with attributes of power: strength,
force, intelligence, & dominance while
women are playing a minor role like
pleasing the masculine

12. THE ISSUE OF SEXISM
• Sexism: sensitivity to gender roles –
men and women should be treated
equally
• Even writing the masculine
pronouns and the rootword, man.
• Demand for “politically correct fairy
tales”

13. THE ISSUE OF SEXISM
• The Night When the Mother was Away

14. THE ISSUE OF RACISM
• Common in pluralistic societies like the
US
• In the Philippines, it is regionalism, a
type of ethnocentrism
• Black or dark skinned people labeled
as lazy, noisy, illiterate
• Hispanics and Asians are fatalistic,
superstitious, or emotional

15. THE ISSUE OF RACISM
• Regionalistic views
–Ilocanos are stingy
–Ilonggas as flirtatious
–Kapampangan as bossy
–Bulakeñas are pretty
–Bicolanos love chili
–Warays, Caviteños and Batangueños are
capable of fighting to death

16. THE CHANGING IMAGE OF THE
FAMILY
• From nuclear to extended families
or vice versa
• More common dysfunctional family
• Single parenthood
–Domestic violence and attendant’s ills
–Abandonment
–Separation

17. DEATH, AGING & THE HANDICAPPED
• Also referred to as the “other
shadows in the landscape”
• In the US, life and youth are glorified
while death and aging is a taboo
• In the Philippines, death is considered
a part of life cycle, so it was no big deal

18. DEATH, AGING & THE HANDICAPPED
• The mentally retarded or the
handicapped helps develop
empathy and compassion

19. GUIDELINES FOR THE
LITERATURE TEACHER

20. GUIDELINES FOR THE LITERATURE
TEACHER
1. Evaluate as children’s literature:
well-written, good plot, good
characterization, readable
A. The book should be judge for its
overall effect
B. Children must find the book
acceptable in terms of readability

21. GUIDELINES FOR THE LITERATURE
TEACHER
2. Characters must not be stereotyped
A. They must be people in their own
right, not manipulated to prove a point
B. Readers should be lead to think of the
characters as individuals rather than
Jews, Negroes, or Warays, Tagalogs,
etc.

22. GUIDELINES FOR THE LITERATURE
TEACHER
3. Situations must be natural and be a
balanced sample of what might
occur
4. Solutions of problems must be fair
and possible
5. Books must contribute to
understanding and must not
highlight or aggravate a problem
needlessly

23. GUIDELINES FOR THE LITERATURE
TEACHER
6. Illustration must be acceptable
and true both artistically and
culturally
7. Remember that one side can err
just as much as the other