Hiding the Lessons in Children's Books
In a recent review of a book for older children, the reviewer drew attention to the need to draw young people into reading though providing amusement and entertainment.
'I enjoyed reading the stories in this book. They are just plain old fun without any lessons to learn or educational merit. While those types of books certainly have their place, I think it's great for kids to just sit back and enjoy reading. The characters have fun personalities, there is plenty of action, and lots of humor. Children will get a kick out of the silly things the characters say and do, like taking a bath in a full suit of armour and sleeping a whole week through.'
Books with a lesson to impart are certainly important in education and children meet many such books in school. They are books that are read under instruction from teachers and parents but not usually the first choice of the children themselves. When free to read for their own pleasure they choose the books that are 'just plain old fun.' But this should not imply a low standard of writing or presentation; the reviewer of the book in question wrote 'It is also well written and I did not notice any grammatical errors.'
The question then arises: can such a book be entirely devoid of educational merit? Surely, every hour of reading good writing in grammatically correct language is an hour's progress towards reading fluency and the portals of all learning! This is what every child needs and for which every parent yearns. At this stage of development, reading fluency is of paramount importance. If the incentive to read is nothing more than a desire for amusement, the outcome is rewarding enough.
Yet every story has more to teach, as was well known to the ancients who used narration as the essential means of instruction. To understand a joke is said to be to see known facts in a new and unexpected relationship. Laughing at how different characters react to varying situations can enhance the understanding of human nature. Through the conduct of good guys and bad guys the young reader is asked to make moral judgements and assign ethical values. But all this is absorbed unconsciously. It is hidden in the writing, concealed in 'plenty of action and lots of humour.' The attainment of reading fluency is the holy grail of early education, and this and much more can be helped forward by books that are 'just plain old fun.'
Saint George, Rusty Knight, and Monster Tamer is a series of nine self-contained historical short stories which introduces George, a hapless knight who has an unusual skill for monster taming, and which, with wit and delightful aplomb takes the young reader on an adventurous journey though some significant moments in history.
Historical Novel Society, February 2016
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