children's media is cool... adults should grow up and read them...

i've been watching Nick Knacks, a retrospective detailing the rise of children's television (not just nickelodeon), by poparena and it's made me think about my own excursion into children's literature when i took up a class for writing for children.

writing for children is very tough not just because you have to get what the kids are into but also the fact you're tempted to be condescending. it's easy to talk down to kids in this genre of media. you subconsciously want children to be something they may not want to be: you think of them as mini-adults, infants, property, malleable objects that can be twisted and turned into what you want to be. in general, i think researching how kids react and express themselves has made me thought deeply about what stories for children should be. ( Read more... )