tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post9158646347636472456..comments2024-03-27T23:53:59.771-04:00Comments on SleuthSayers: Dark Tales for ChildrenLeigh Lundinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921276795499571578noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-56288642864768646672022-03-25T07:27:09.733-04:002022-03-25T07:27:09.733-04:00Thanks for this. Really enjoyed it. I wonder if we...Thanks for this. Really enjoyed it. I wonder if we can make the argument that the children in many of these books are almost always better behaved than the adults, who are the ones who behave like brats. Oh well, maybe not. Roald Dahl gave us kids who behave like brats in "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory."Joseph D'Agnesehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06718912272076700465noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-36421653375405159702022-03-24T18:19:43.465-04:002022-03-24T18:19:43.465-04:00Anonymous, I know there is some pretty dark litera...Anonymous, I know there is some pretty dark literature for kids out there - but as I said, so is Dickens. Look at Smike in Nicholas Nickleby, verbally and physically abused, almost starved to death at the Squeers' school; Jo the crossing sweeper, all on his own at a very young age, and is betrayed to his enemies by Harold Skimpole (a parasitic mooch), who simply doesn't want to catch what Jo has - and Jo dies. And many more. A lot of children die in Dickens, and at least some of the bad guys (like Harold Skimpole) live on.<br /><br />Leigh, that's a wild painting - I feel sorry for the dragon, too. I'm glad to know I wasn't the only one who thought that adults were another species! Eve Fisherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03015761600962360110noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-9913109366224096272022-03-24T14:32:14.123-04:002022-03-24T14:32:14.123-04:00Eve, I was absolutely convinced of a conspiracy th...Eve, I was absolutely convinced of a conspiracy that children never grew up, that adults were always adults in a static world. And it’s true; I may have grown bigger, but I can’t claim I’ve grown up.<br /><br />Our parents warned us not to be alone (and later, not to work for) the local drive-in theatre owner. Boys weren't safe. While parents weren’t explicit in their instruction, we figured out the risk.<br /><br />A painting of St. George killing an unusually snaky dragon hung in a bedroom in my grandmother’s house. I felt sorry for the dragon. Still do.<br />https://th.bing.com/th/id/OIP.MYfr1y2_arORNYrfM1MqTQHaLuLeigh Lundinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07921276795499571578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-58347731284603135062022-03-24T10:59:40.752-04:002022-03-24T10:59:40.752-04:00A great deal of literature aimed at kids right now...A great deal of literature aimed at kids right now is very dark. You must not have read very much literature aimed at 8 to 12 year old kids lately if you think it's tame. Go read the opening page of "The War that Saved My Life." From that opening scene, it only gets worse for the first few chapters- horrible verbal and physical abuse of a child and neglect resulting in permanent crippling of the main character. If that's not dark I don't know what is. Or check out The Long Way Down which is targeted to middle school kids. Or The Stars Beneath Our Feet. The bad guys aren't always killed, captured, or punished in kids books any more which makes them even darker to me.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-73558260474295652262022-03-24T10:46:18.169-04:002022-03-24T10:46:18.169-04:00I know. They haunt us, don't they?I know. They haunt us, don't they?Eve Fisherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03015761600962360110noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-64335221611744141542022-03-24T08:30:07.850-04:002022-03-24T08:30:07.850-04:00A provocative post. Surprising how much of our lit...A provocative post. Surprising how much of our literature is in fact grounded in the old fairy tales and children's stories. Janice Lawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03406971307368250281noreply@blogger.com