Subversion of Authority In Children's Literature...

"Kids Will Be Kids."

This might just be the shortest entry I've written yet. I'm tired, I want to go to bed and I'm getting over being sick... Anyway, with that said I turn towards my focus for this post... Subversion of Authority in Children's Literature.

Basically, I liked how it was mentioned that Peter and Max are alike in that they both rebel against their mothers. I don't know why, maybe it's that I can relate... I don't claim to be a rebel, but I do call myself a little stubborn. Therefore I liked the discussion that we had on Monday. Futhermore, I think that children can relate too. Sooner or later a kid is going to get into trouble, no matter how good the child is. Peter and Max are no different, even though the books are vastly different. Max is both wolf and child. Peter on the other hand, is both a little boy and a rabbit. Both, lose it for a bit but at the end they kind of come back to reality and the parent wins. But yeah, I think that kids need to read things that they can relate too. If we want children to read, and to be literate then we should write things that appeal to them on a personal level.

So in response to the above statement, here's to Louise Fitzhugh's book, Harriet The Spy and to good ol' Louise herself. To explain, we learned in class that this was one of the first books where there was conflict between the mother and the child... And here's to Potter and Sendak and the many others who have written similar stories. Hats off!

-Amanda