Themes in Children's Literature

When analyzing children and children’s literature there are many corresponding theories that come to mind. One of the first theories that comes to mind when analyzing children’s literature is the morale of the story. In almost every child’s book it is more than likely that you are going to find the morale of the story. This is the author’s underlying message that he or she wants the child to get out of the book. The morale of a story is extremely popular in children’s books. The author is trying to teach a lesson while at the same time serving entertainment purposes for the child.

Obedience and training behavior for the future is another theme that occurs often in children’s literature. Authors are trying to demonstrate good behavior and what may come of bad behavior if a child disobeys his parent or guardian. Punishment is usually displayed however in the form of love. A parent’s punishment of a child usually is just because the parent loves and is trying to protect the child from repeating mistakes in the future. “Thus the transition from punishment to love that manifests itself in this tension over the nature of childhood literacy that underlies the nineteenth-century reconfiguration of the structure and role of family life in general.”

Family is also another important theme that is repeatedly shown in children’s literature. I believe family is an important theme in children’s literature because author’s find ways to show values that families should obtain to work better as a family. This goes with the quote I used in my last theme from Sanchez-Eppler. Children need to feel full of love and compassion from their family at all times otherwise I would not think of it as a safe environment.

Imagination is another big theme in children’s literature. Children’s literature, in my opinion, is to let the mind of a child run free. Exploring all possible directions a story could take and feeling comfortable enough to share with someone else what their thoughts on a story are. Imagination is an easy, fun way for a child to explore and think about all different kinds of things. Sanchez Eppler says, “…what is best about the literary- imaginative freedom.”

The last theory I would associate with children’s literature is socialization. Some children aren’t as into forming relationships and socializing with others when they are young. For example, when I was younger I had trouble forming relationships with people because of things that happened to me in the past. I found it hard to befriend a girl in my class in just a few days. Children’s literature does a good job in demonstrating relationships and the importance of socialization at a young age. In Sanchez-Eppler they mention that, “Socialization and idealization intertwine.”