Little Red
- Submitted by: duranval
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- Category: English: Creative Writing
- Date Submitted: 12/03/2015 08:01 PM
- Pages: 6
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Inappropriate Little Red Riding Hood
“Stories of imagination tend to upset those without one” (Terry Pratchett). Fairytales are all about imagination whether your eight years old or thirty. Although, throughout the years the appropriateness for storybooks has changed drastically; in the Little Red Riding Hood tale by Tomi Ungerer, you will quickly see that it is not your typical story you have heard in the classroom. There is a large level of inappropriateness especially if it is being read to impressionable minds, such as children.
Stories have evolved throughout the centuries. As discussed in class, the first books weren’t for children. They had no concept of childhood in the literature. There wasn’t any illustration for children to broaden their minds. As time went by John Locke realized that children needed different things than adults, which lead to amazing artwork for kids’ books. Just like in the older books, they still contained morals in them.
What makes a book appropriate for children? There needs to be a few characters that give the children something to care about; an effective way to create the characters is to ensure that they can relate to them. The language needs to be simple but meaningful for the audience. It must teach a lesson, but it shouldn’t be too mature for them. By mature I mean it should still keep their minds pure and innocent. Most children don’t enjoy reading right away, so it is important for the book to have illustrations. Having the illustrated artwork keeps them engaged and eager to keep on reading. In addition to this it will help them grow their imagination.
Some problems with children’s literature are that authors try to sexualize the characters making it inappropriate for them to read it. Sometimes they teach lessons that morally are not good to society. I will discuss my example using Tomi Ungerer’s version of Little Red Riding Hood.
This version was written in 1974, you would have figured that the tale would be...
“Stories of imagination tend to upset those without one” (Terry Pratchett). Fairytales are all about imagination whether your eight years old or thirty. Although, throughout the years the appropriateness for storybooks has changed drastically; in the Little Red Riding Hood tale by Tomi Ungerer, you will quickly see that it is not your typical story you have heard in the classroom. There is a large level of inappropriateness especially if it is being read to impressionable minds, such as children.
Stories have evolved throughout the centuries. As discussed in class, the first books weren’t for children. They had no concept of childhood in the literature. There wasn’t any illustration for children to broaden their minds. As time went by John Locke realized that children needed different things than adults, which lead to amazing artwork for kids’ books. Just like in the older books, they still contained morals in them.
What makes a book appropriate for children? There needs to be a few characters that give the children something to care about; an effective way to create the characters is to ensure that they can relate to them. The language needs to be simple but meaningful for the audience. It must teach a lesson, but it shouldn’t be too mature for them. By mature I mean it should still keep their minds pure and innocent. Most children don’t enjoy reading right away, so it is important for the book to have illustrations. Having the illustrated artwork keeps them engaged and eager to keep on reading. In addition to this it will help them grow their imagination.
Some problems with children’s literature are that authors try to sexualize the characters making it inappropriate for them to read it. Sometimes they teach lessons that morally are not good to society. I will discuss my example using Tomi Ungerer’s version of Little Red Riding Hood.
This version was written in 1974, you would have figured that the tale would be...