Future of children's books is funny


READ MORE

”The father sat there every day and night holding her hand and the teacher came in and read one of my stories, and she laughed and the father cried and I thought, you shouldn’t underestimate how important it is to give children a good time when they are reading. I’ve always remembered that, affirming the place of humour in children’s literature.”


Lifetime achievement award for children's author Paul Jennings, the master of the twist in a tale.

Lifetime achievement award for children’s author Paul Jennings, the master of the twist in a tale.
Credit:Simon Schluter


Spratt and Phommavanh performed before 5500 school children at last month’s Sydney Writers’ Festival, selling out four venues, including two Town Hall events. Of all the notable festival authors, it was Spratt’s tale of sibling rivalry, The Peski Kids: Mystery of the Squashed Cockroach, aimed at eight to 12-year-olds, which topped book sales.


Humour is the same for adults and children, Spratt says, though there is a moral responsibility to the audience to maintain taste standards while encouraging reading, and it’s prudent to remember that “kids don’t have all the references to popular culture”.


“Kids have only been on the planet for eight or nine years, they are not going to get all the references, so humour with kids has to be humour in a raw form. It has to physical or situational.”


Article source: https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/consecrated-virgins-need-not-be-virgins-vatican-20180717-p4zry2.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_world

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

World Cup Central: Dhoni, Akhtar, Botham in All Blacks all-time cricket XV

Non-surgical rhinoplasty is on the rise, but not everyone is convinced

Tens of thousands protest Trump's immigration laws in 700 cities