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Types of children’s literature

Candice Livingston and Molly Brown

Purpose of the chapter

The purpose of this section is to acquaint you as student, with the various types of
children’s literature that exist in the educational language curriculum. This is by no means
an easy feat, as the variety of children’s literature is vast and focussing on certain types
within the field of children’s literature always leaves one open to the neglect of another,
often just as important, feature. Saying that, this chapter serves to familiarise the language
student with elements of fantasy, folk and fairy tales, the history of fairy tales, how fairy
tales are analysed and why this is important when teaching children’s literature, fables and
other animal stories, myths and legends, rhymes and poetry, school stories, plays, religious
texts and, comics and graphic novels. Understand and discuss the educational value of
poetry and plays in the curriculum

1. Introduction

All literature begins with the art of storytelling and is a fundamental part of the ethos of
every culture on the planet. Everything from folk and fairy tales, myths and legends,
ballads and nursery rhymes – many of which date back to preliterate times – to examples in
the digital age such as e-books, graphic novels, and computer games may fall under the
umbrella of children’s literature.

Children’s literature can be defined as literature that addresses works that were specifically
directed at the young or that came to be regarded as children’s literature by being
appropriated by young readers, and those that were once read by children but are now
almost exclusively read by scholars.

Definition:

Children's literature as a concept is defined as ‘literature that is exclusively about children

or aimed at children’. It concerns literature that involves ideas, relationships and language

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that are often seen as simple and can teach the child a moral lesson. Children's literature
denotes ideas related to stories, poetry, rhymes, folk tales, and drama, exclusively created
for children as the target audience.

The purpose of this chapter is to discuss the different types of fantasy found within the
genre of children’s literature, so this is what we will be looking at firstly.

2. Types of children’s literature

The vastness and variety of the different types of children’s literature that is available to
study, makes a simple classification very difficult. For the sake of this text book, a very
general discussion of the most common types will be undertaken.

2.1. Fantasy

Recently a young teacher at a girls’ school in Gauteng noted that she found it absolutely
impossible to get her teenage learners interested in reading and wondered if there was any
advice to be given regarding how she could change this. It was suggested that she try
reading to them from popular works such as Stephanie Meyer’s twilight series (Meyer) or
the Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins. She looked appalled and said, “The girls all
carry those round at break, but surely books like that don’t count.”

This conversation raises two important questions for teachers:

 firstly are there really such things as books that “don’t count” when it comes to
reading and
 secondly why do so many learners who resist reading anything else, seem to enjoy
reading fantasy?

The work of critic Darko Suvin sees fantasy as a genre that relies on an imaginative
framework that offers an alternative to the global setting in which the reader and the writer
live. Within this broad framework, there are different sub-categories such as

 Science fiction, which is often seen as dealing with possible futures,

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 The gothic, which deals with frightening supernatural events in settings that have
medieval elements, or
 Magical realism, in which magical events take place within familiar environments.

Did you know?

Many things we take for granted in the modern world such as submarines, personal
computers, artificial satellites and laser weapons were imagined by science fiction writers
before being invented by scientists.

This would mean that fantasy is a word that can be applied to any story that deals with what
most readers would see as impossible or supernatural events and characters.

Did you know?

The fantasy renaissance in children’s literature was led by J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter
series, which appeared between 1997 and 2007, and Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials
trilogy, which was published between 1998 and 2001.

2.1.3 Why is fantasy so popular with young readers?

There are many possible reasons why fantasy is so popular with young readers and here is a
summary of three of the most important ones:

 Fantasy stimulates the imagination and critical thought.

 Fantasy provides a safe space for the exploration of disturbing issues.
 Fantasy encourages the development of optimism.

R. Carlsen indicates that interest in reading often peaks between the ages of twelve and
fourteen, since changes in the teenage brain seem to encourage young adults to question
authority and challenge received values. Reading about completely different societies or
environments encourages young readers to think critically about their own environment, but
also to tease out the full implications of radical social changes.

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Fantasy for children can explore crucial moral and psychological issues in an unthreatening
way because it deals with worlds that are slightly detached from the real one. In a sense,
this observation builds on Bruno Bettelheim’s ground-breaking work, ‘The Uses of
Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales’, in which he suggests that the
inner value of fairy tales rests in the fact that they allow the fledgling child to explore his or
her potentially terrifying desires and emotions at a safe distance from any context in which
their potentially destructive power is made obvious. “Hansel and Gretel” for instance is not
simply a story about a witch in a cottage made of sweets; it is a story about greed and the
importance of controlling yourself and recognising the needs of others. Similarly, the Harry
Potter series is not just a story about learning to be a wizard; it is a story about learning to
deal with evil embedded in you, about confronting death and about the importance of love.

In a way fantasy worlds can perhaps be thought of as maps of the mind, and the struggles
within them are often fought not between a hero and a villain, but between the conflicting
impulses of a single personality.

Contemporary realist fiction for adolescents often deals with disturbing issues such as child
abuse, drinking problems or prejudice of various kinds. Obviously these are issues that
need to be raised, but the novels that deal with them sometimes resemble adult fiction in
that they avoid making moral judgements and often have inconclusive or even tragic
endings. By contrast, the traditional narrative structures of fantasy often follow protagonists
who come of age by going through a cycle that involves them leaving home, having
adventures, triumphing over a terrifying and undeniably evil opponent and then returning
home to communities whose respect they have won. Clearly, real life is not always like
that, but it is also possible that teenagers, made vulnerable by their rapidly developing
minds and bodies, may not yet be able to deal with the knowledge that life offers no
guarantees of happy endings or that it may be entirely random and therefore without
purpose or meaning.

2.2 Folk and fairy tales

Folk tales have been defined as ‘stories of people that have been passed down from
generation to generation’ and are seen as a dominant part of every culture. Due to the fact

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that these stories were often passed down by word of mouth, they are also known as stories
from an oral tradition. Because of the cultural aspect inherent in folk tales, we are often
able to track similarities between folk tales from different cultures and thus the universal
nature of folk tales comes to the fore. These folk tales may vary from culture to culture but
are still so similar.

2.2.1 Types of folk tales

Folk tales can be divided into a variety of categories that make it easier to study. These are
cumulative tales, pourquoi tales, beast tales, trickster tales and noodlehead tales.

 Cumulative tales

In a cumulative tale, sometimes also called a chain tale, action or dialogue is repeated and
consequently builds up in progression as the tale progresses. With only the sparest of plots,
these tales often depend upon repetition and rhythm for their effect, and can require a
skilled storyteller to negotiate their tongue-twisting repetitions in performance. An example
of a contemporary cumulative tale is ‘There was an old woman who swallowed a fly’ or
‘This is the house that Jack built’ and these tales often feature a series of animals or
forces of nature each more powerful than the last. The device also often takes the form of a
cumulative song or nursery rhyme.

Pourquoi tales

Pourquoi means ‘why’ in French and these tales are also known as ‘why tales’. These tales
are used to describe ‘why’ things happen. In African folk tales, there are many of these
tales e.g. why the crocodile has a bumpy back, why the giraffe has a long neck. These
stories have evolved into modern retellings like the Tinga Tinga series.
http://www.tingatingatales.com/. The Tinga Tinga tales are based on African tales that
have been retold with an African feel and address the origins of specifically African
animals and answering the ‘why’ questions.

Did you know?

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A popular pourquoi tale by Verna Aardema is entitled ‘Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's
Ears: A West African Tale’ and can be seen on YouTube on the following link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9r9SjOUYN0

 Beast tales

The beast fable or epic is usually a shortened tale/poem in which animals talk and is often
recognised as a traditional repetition of symbolic writing. An allegory is a story which can
be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning and typically has a moral or lesson which needs
to be taught. These beast tales are a type of fable in which human behaviour is judged and
weighed for reflection by the animal kingdom. Watership Down
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1n8E3ntWUg), Animal farm
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wss6vvFOoeY ) and most fables are examples of
‘beast tales’.

 Trickster tales

Trickster tales form a strong subdivision of Folk Tales in which the wits of ordinary people
are tested by trolls, devils and fairies. There are also examples of ethnic heroes who are
seen as tricksters or wise fools and a trickster is usually a mischievous or dishonest figure
who typically makes up for a physical weakness with sneaky or devious humour. A popular
trickster figure in African literature is Anansi the spider and further information regarding
this trickster can be found at: http://myths.e2bn.org/mythsandlegends/origins11717-anansi-
brings-stories-to-the-world.html

 Noodlehead tales form another subcategory of folktales. These are tales of typical
fools or well-intended individuals who often lack common sense or who take words
too literally. Often there are whole villages or districts of them. A popular folk tale
regarding a noodlehead is that of ‘The emperor’s new clothes’ which was written
by Hans Christian Anderson.

Examples can be found on http://www.eldrbarry.net/roos/books/nood.htm

2.2.2 Fairy tales

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Fairies stories or as they are more commonly known, fairy tales, are short stories, set in the
distant past, depicting events that would not be possible in the real world. Traditional fairy
tales are a subcategory of folk tales which include fables and legends. They were
characterized by magical occurrences, where hero/heroines are mortal. Magical creatures
like dwarfs, giants, witches and ogres make up the dramatis personae.

Although fairy tales and the oral traditions that existed before then have evolved through
the centuries from culture to culture, the ‘Golden age’ of folk and fairy tales spanned a
century from 1812 to 1912. It was during the 19th century that European scholars like the
Charles Perault, Hans Christian Anderson and the Brothers Grimm, who began
collecting and cataloguing folk tales from various cultures around the world, writing them
down and publishing them so that these stories would not die out.

2.2.2.1 Charles Perrault

Charles Perrault was a Frenchman who wrote prolifically in the 17th century, incorporating
traditional French culture and transforming several popular folk tales into moralistic tales
that would appeal to children and adults alike. This was considered the first ‘modern’
approach to literature. He also transformed fairy tales like ‘Little Red Riding Hood’, ‘Little
Tom Thumb’ and ‘Puss in boots’ in order to address social and political issues of the time.
His fairy tales and folk motifs still speak to the modern age even though they are
considered ‘classical’ by today’s standards.

2.2.2.2 Hans Christian Anderson

Hans Christian Andersen (1805 –1875) was a Danish writer and is often thought to be the
father of the contemporary fairy tale. He published four collections of fairy tales and was
able to write in a colloquial manner that brought fairy tales into everyday life. He was one
of the first writers to do away with the traditional opening of ‘Once upon a time’.

Andersen's fairy tales, which include ‘The princess and the pea’
(http://hca.gilead.org.il/princess.html), ‘Thumbelina’ (http://hca.gilead.org.il/li_tiny.html)
and ‘The emperor’s new clothes’, have become culturally embedded in the West's

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collective consciousness even though they are firmly rooted in his own Danish cultural
heritage. These fairy tales are readily accessible to children, but also present lessons of
virtue and resilience in the face of adversity for adult readers.

2.2.2.3 Brothers Grimm

The Brothers Grimm, Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm Grimm (1786–1859), were German
researchers, polyglots, lexicographers and novelists who specialized in collecting and
publishing folklore during the 19th century. Their world renowned book ‘Kinder- und
Hausmarchen (Children’s and Household Tales) was the foundation on which the study of
German literature and culture was based and they were among the best-known storytellers
of folk tales popularizing stories such as "Cinderella", "The Frog Prince", "The Goose-Girl"
,"Hansel and Gretel", "Rapunzel", "Sleeping Beauty", and "Snow White".

Folklore morphology or classification was the next step in the evolution of the study of
fairy tales. Once the fairy tales had been collected and in many instances, rewritten,
scholars began to collaborate on how these fairy tales and folk stories could be analysed
and classified.

2.2.3 Analysis of Fairy tales

Folklorist morphology owes its existence to two theorists, Vladimer Propp and his ground-
breaking work entitled ‘Morphology of the folktale’ which was rooted in the influences of
Russian formalism, and Antii Arne and the Aarne-Thompson Classification and their
analysis of tale types provide us with two distinct types of structural analysis tools when it
comes to analysing fantasy/folklore, and in particular, fairy tales.

Did you know?

The Cinderella tale is one of the oldest classified fairy tales. Tuan Ch’êng-shih wrote the
story of Yeh-hsien around 856-860 AD, and this is the oldest known Cinderella tale
recorded in China. In modern times, the tale has even entered the arena of science fiction
with the introduction of Marissa Meyer’s ‘Cinder’. Cinderella stories cross culture and
time barriers, but always has five succinct elements:

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1) A young girl is ill-treated.

2) She is forced to do menial service at home or abroad.

3) She meets a prince or a prince becomes aware of her beauty.

4) She is identified by her shoe.

5) She marries the prince.

http://www.bustle.com/#/articles/40344-14-insane-book-banning-stories-that-remind-us-
how-uncool-the-establishment-can-be-man

http://www.goodreads.com/genres/cinderella

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2.3 Fables and animal stories

Fables are short stories which illustrate a particular moral and teach a lesson to children.
The theme and characters appeal to children and the stories are often humorous and
entertaining for kids of all ages. Fables can also be described as tales or yarns which have a
message in their narrative such as a parable might have. Fables can often pass into our
culture as myths and legends and used to teach about morals to children and is in essence, a
short story with a moral and is usually a saterisation of human weaknesses using animals
(Gamble, 2013: 148). Morals of these stories include ‘one good turn deserves another’ and
‘a friend in need is a friend indeed’.

2.3.1 Aesop

Aesop (620–564 BCE) was an Ancient Greek fable writer or story teller who was attributed
with a number of fables which we know today as ‘Aesop's Fables’. He was a slave who
wrote his stories to entertain his masters. Although the details of his life remains uncertain
and no writings by him survive, there are several tales, of animals who speak and solve
complicated problems, in many different languages, which are credited to him and
influence the storytelling practice that continues to this day. Famous fables include the
story of “The tortoise and the hare’ and ‘The fox and the grapes’.

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2.3.2 Animal stories

According to the Oxford Companion to Children’s Literature animal stories were available
to children from the earliest days in the form of fables. The earliest forms of animal stories
are bestiaries, which were popular in medieval Europe and depicted real and imaginary
animals used to promote Christian dogma and morals. Talking beasts were also part of
fairy stories and religious books. The 18th century saw the introduction of full length
narratives in which talking animals played the main role. A noted example of this is The life
and perambulation of a mouse (1783) and The history of Pompey the Little: or the life and
adventures of a lap dog (1751). In 1805, Mother Hubbard was introduced to the reading
public and a nursery rhyme became a political satire of an old woman and the antics of her
dog. Black Beauty: the autobiography of a horse (1877) became one of the best-selling
children’s books of all time.

2.3 Myths and legends

Myths are as old as human history in addition to being used to explain how things came
into existence and are usually associated with Greek, Roman and Norse mythologies. A
mythological story is usually an example of the origins of life and death and often explains
the basic functions of nature. Most often, myths are linked to religious stories. Most
religions, for example, have a creation myth which explains how the earth was created.
Myths grew out of the human need to understand the world and explain their own
existence. Many myths are similar to pourquoi folk tales because they explain nature and
why they exist in the form that they do. Myths are different from other children’s literature
as the characters are simple and the action is rooted in a different world from that of the
child.

Legends are usually based on fact and set in history and share stories of valiant deeds of
historical figures, usually saints, kings or heroes. People in legends often did exist but their
lives and deeds have been embellished in retellings.

Did you know?

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A classic example of a medieval legend that has remained popular in contemporary culture
is that of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.

http://brasilpnl.com.br/ec/book01/level_02/King_Arthur.pdf

2.4 Rhymes and poetry

Rhymes or chants are very often accompanied by games when they are performed by
children on the playground. It is often found that these chants are passed down from
generation to generation, which slight variations. Counting-out rhymes are verses used in
games that involve one player (catcher or chaser) who is chosen for a special role. The
rhyme (e.g. eeny meeny miney mo) is repeated and the last child on the last syllable falls
out. Some of the most famous rhymes learnt by children and experimented on are limericks.
Limericks were popularized by Edward Lear in 1872.

2.5.1 Poems

Poetry is one of the genres in children’s literature that has been used to entertain and teach
children for centuries. Nursery rhymes, ballads, limericks all make up the staple of
children’s reading, ‘Mother Hubbard’ (1806). As with fairy tales, the 19th century was the
golden age of children’s poetry and saw the spread of anthologies aimed at children.
Further anthologies of poetry for children (1809) were written by Charles and Mary Lamb.
The twentieth century saw respected authors and poets adding to their opus by writing
poems for children. This includes the likes of T.S Eliot’s ‘Old Possum’s Book of Practical
Cats’ and Ogden Nash’s ‘Parents Keep Out’.

Post world war 2 poetry for children saw the subject matter of children’s poetry firmly
rooted in the everyday experiences of the child – the school yard, the playground, the home
– and are written for a wider cultural audience. Rhyming poetry has also seen a shift to the
‘mischievous’ with the likes of Roald Dahl (Revolting rhymes) and Julia Donaldson (The
Gruffalo) writing for younger children. Another perennial favourite is Dr Seuss (Theodore
Geisel), whose picture/comic books transcend time and are still popular (Hahn, 2015).

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http://www.gresswell.co.uk/the-gruffalo-and-the-gruffalo-s-child-books.html

2.6 School stories

School stories use the school setting as a framework for a series of tales in which a school
plays an important part. These stories have been written from as early as 1617, with the
publication of Pueriles Confabulatiunculae, a Latin school book which was translated into
English. 1749 saw the publication of Goody Two-Shoes, a series of tales in which school
played an important role. The first stories to be written about school life though, were
written by Dorothy Kilner. Charles and Mary Lamb and Harriet Marineau wrote school
narratives and introduced the idea of writing about boarding school. School stories also
evolved to begin condemning the conditions of rural day schools in America, with the
introduction of authors like Edward Eggleston and his novel The Hoosier School Boy
(1883). The 20th century saw the introduction of P.G. Woodhouse’s Mike (1909). By the
1940’s, the genre of school stories began to lose its popularity, but the likes of The secret
diary of Adrian Mole, Grange Hill and the Harry Potter series, a healthy tradition of
school based stories seems to be flourishing.

2.7 Plays

Many children’s stories or moral tales in the 18th century were written in the form of
dialogues but it wasn’t until the late 18th century that The theatre of education was

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published as a four volume collection of comedies for girls, intended to be performed and
used for moral instruction. Maria Edgeworth is seen as the first English writer who
composed plays chiefly for enjoyment. Pantomimes or Christmas theatrical entertainments
then entered the mainstream and provided children with Christmas entertainment. Children
also entertained themselves with toy theatres (characters mounted on cardboard and used
for miniature performances). Novels were also adapted for the stage in the 19th century and
the first notable example of this was Alice’s adventures in Wonderland (1865) and
Through the looking glass (1871). In 1904, J.M. Barrie wrote Peter Pan for the stage and
in 1918, A.A. Milne adapted Wind in the Willows as Toad of Toad Hall for the stage.
Recent children’s theatre in London and the UK has seen adaptations of books by Julia
Donaldson (The Gruffalo) and Roald Dahl (Matilda) as well as the young adult books by
Terry Pratchett (Nation).

Did you know?

The Carnegie Medal award winning author, Terry Pratchett, not only wrote works of
fantasy for adults, he also wrote many books which are classified as children’s literature.
The most famous of which is ‘The amazing Maurice and his educated rodents’, an
allegory based on the popular folk tale ‘The Pied Piper of Hamlin’.

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2.8 Religious texts

It is important to remember that before the mid-18th century the main purpose behind
children’s books what religious instruction. Hornbooks and the later version, the battledore
and primers (the original name for an elementary prayer book) were used to teach children
to read. In America and in Britain, the Puritans published countless books, which were
dominated by moral tales. The 20th century saw the rise of fairy tales that were imbued with
religious feeling. A noted example is C.S, Lewis’s stories of Narnia, with allegorical
representations of Aslan as the Messianic figure in the novels.

2.9 Comic books and Graphic novels

The term ‘graphic novel’ came into being in the 1960’s and is aimed at a slightly more
mature audience than comic books. It is the last step in the comic book’s evolution.
Graphic novels are skewed towards young adults and often make greater changes to the
traditional fairy tale mode. These novels are often just variations of fairy tales, with hybrid
texts that borrow from myths, legends and gothic stories. Although comic books have
often been seen as taboo in the classroom, graphic novels have been able to breach the
stigma and introduced text features which include changes, background information and
visual stability. An example of graphic novel that closely follows the original story on
which it is based is ‘The Hobbit’ adapted by Charles Dixon (1993) and illustrated by
David Wenzel.

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Student activities

5.1 Encourage learners to build a world of their own. They should consider its history,
geography, cultures, languages and social structures. When dealing with a fantasy text,
use material from it to provoke debate. Ask students to consider if boys and girls are
really equal at Hogwarts or if centaurs or house elves are properly treated.
5.2 Make students aware of how fantasy tropes are modified and renewed on a regular
basis. Read them the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur and then ask them if they can
see similarities between it and The Hunger Games.
5.3 Write your own cumulative tale and then create a digital story in which you depict the
progression of the story using art works (either from the internet or your own
drawings). Alternatively, use a popular cumulative tale like ‘there was an old woman
who swallowed a fly’ to do the same exercise. Watch the following YouTube clip to see
how other people have done this in the past.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0S4b5dQAOk
5.4 Read the story of ‘Van Hunks and the Devil’ and identify the cultural markers in the
story that make it uniquely South African.
5.5 Study the following Apache (North American Indian) creation myth which you will
find at the following web address (http://www.indians.org/welker/creation.htm) and
compare and contrast this myth with another cultural example (i.e. Egyptian or Viking).

5.6 Analyse the differences between a graphic novel based on a recognised book and
discuss how the graphic novel adds to or changes the understanding of the themes in the
novel. An accessible example would by ‘The Hobbit’ by J.R.R. Tolkien and the illustrated
graphic novel of the same name by Charles Dixon and Sean Deming with illustrations by
David Wenzel.

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