If we were to believe Neil Postman's vision of our future with
the proliferation of media and multimedia the impact on society
will mean that our children will no longer be children but small
adults. The barrier that was created by print and literacy in print will
disappear. Information is accessible by children regardless of skill in reading (Elwell, 2013). I disagree with this position. While children do
have access to many forms of information and entertainment
their understanding of it and ability to question
it, critically examine it and even relate it to their own worlds is
limited due to their intellectual development. There are groups that are actively working to
protect children from the influence of many of these forms of media. An example
of this is Common sense media with their parent advisory on movies, television
and books ("Common
Sense Media Top Picks," n.d.). Parents and teachers are aware of the access
children have to all media but are working to help them make choices about
selecting things they can relate to, that are age appropriate in terms of
learning, development and world
experiences.
I see the future of children's literature as being multimedia. Take
for example the Youtube video of B. J Noval reading from his book entitled The Book with no Pictures (Penguin
Kids, 2014). I found this video on
Facebook - a friend posted in her timeline. After I watched the video I ordered
the book. This book has no pictures but the entertainment value is that adults
have to read some of the nonsense it contains. The book plays with the idea of
text being read aloud and how text works. The characters become the person
reading the book and the people listening and enjoying it. The point is - you
still need the text in the first place. Who posted this video to Youtube? Not a
teacher, not a member of the audience but the publisher. Publishers are realizing that promotion of books comes through multi media and social media.
Some stories are now what are called born-digital. One example is InanimateAlice which
is being written and animated through the web over a period of time ("Inanimate Alice a digital
novel," n.d.). Children are invited
to read text and view the video and illustration online. This website was
awarded best website for teaching and learning in 2012 by American Association
of School Librarians ("Classroom
Resources," n.d.) What is interesting about this example is
that while it is an example of the media that Postman says will erode barriers
between adults and children it still follows the definition of children’s literature
in that it is created by adults for children (Winch,
2006, p. 398). The intended audience is
children. It has supporting teaching materials, badges for the readers, so many
multimedia expressions yet it requires children to read and view simultaneously.
This method of reading may be what Zipe is referring to when he writes
about young people reading texts much differently to their teachers (p. 42). Indeed there is quite a discussion continuing in many education
circles about multiple literacies and how students today read not only
print Zipes argument is that children
are being targeted as consumers in our modern society and what they bring to
their reading experiences include their consumerism and worldview as
viewers/readers of multimedia (p. 44). I
agree that children are influenced greatly by the world around them, the media
and their own experiences. I am interested to learn more about how we as
librarians and educators can assist the students we work with develop as readers of all forms
of text. The future
of children's literature is rich and challenging involving print and electronic
forms.
References
Boyd, B. (2012, October 29). E-Books and Beyond: The Future of
Children’s Literature. [Blog post]. Retrieved from Bill Boyd – The Literacy
Adviser website: http://literacyadviser.wordpress.com/2012/10/29/e-books-and-beyond-the-future-of-childrens-literature/
Classroom resources. (n.d.). Retrieved November 29, 2014, from http://www.teachersfirst.com/single.cfm?id=12641
Common sense media top picks. (n.d.). Retrieved November 29, 2014,
from https://www.commonsensemedia.org/
Elwell, F. (2013). Neil Postman on the Disappearance of Childhood.
Retrieved November 17, 2014, from Rogers State Univeristy website: http://www.faculty.rsu.edu/users/f/felwell/www/Theorists/Essays/Postman1.html
Inanimate Alice a digital novel. (n.d.). Retrieved November 23,
2014, from Inanimate Alice website: http://www.inanimatealice.com/index.html
Penguin Kids. (2014, September 30). The Book With No Pictures by B.J. Novak [Video file]. Retrieved
from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cREyQJO9EPs
Winch, G. (2006). Literacy:
Reading, writing, and children's literature (3rd ed.). South Melbourne:
Oxford University Press.
Zipes, J. (2009). Misreading children and the fate of the book. In
Relentless progress the reconfiguration
of children's literature, fairy tales, and storytelling (pp. 27-44). London:
Routledge.
