...and who will be the drivers of change?
Firstly, I must ask myself who the drivers of the
past format-innovations in children's literature were? Number
one must have been the children who were expressing an interest in early books
written for adults, perhaps because they saw the enjoyment that adults (Barone,
2011) were gaining from reading them; perhaps from a desire to copy adult
behaviour; and perhaps as a form of escaping from harsh circumstances.
Then there were adults who wanted to capitalize on the children's
take-up of print materials, using the media as a tool to assist in education
and in modifying children's behaviour.
There were also some who saw an opportunity to make some money, for
example selling Chapbooks and later Golden books to the mass market for
children’s literature. Of course, there were also those who were in it
for art's sake, from monks with their illuminated texts, through Caldecott and
Evans with illustrations and colour printing.
Authors of those earlier generations did
not have as much power as authors of our generation (McLean, 2013). The Internet and digital tools now enable authors
to create hybrid books with an endless variety of multimedia components
(Barone, 2011). They can exercise more
control over the creation and distribution of their creative works, bypassing
publishers, agents, editors, packers, and booksellers. The same suite of online tools, plus access
to choice of personal devices, has also empowered the consumer to pick and
choose according to their own convenience and preference with regard to areas
like ease of use, novelty and price. Many modern 'book' consumers are also
considering narrative quality, while others are simply basing their choices on
what their peers are reading and viewing. This level of choice requires
that the 'savvy' author will ensure that they keep up-to-date with customer
preference options and creatively tailor their product to meet the market.
‘Native’ to this Web
2.0 environment are the children who know they have UN legislated rights, and
who expect to get whatever they ask for, in a mode that suits them. Experience, with students who are keen to
work with online tools at every opportunity, suggests that the lines between
author and consumer are blurring.
Children are using tools to create their own ‘literature’, and reading
that created by their peers. These
children are ‘controlling, managing and running the show’ (Robinson,
2010). Using tools like Wattpad they are writing, editing,
commenting, discussing plots and sharing stories. Using tools like Scratch, they are creating animated
narratives. If not already doing so,
they will soon be blending their creations, to form new, fascinatingly rich
literatures involving multiple media (Madej, 2013), and continuous interactivity
with its content (Robinson, 2010).
At the same time, these
children’s significant adults will want the children to experience the classics
for didactic purposes, with some preferring digital formats, while others prefer
print. Entrepreneurial people will
continue to find ways to make money from the provision of children’s literature
in varying formats; and creative purists will continue to push the barriers in
exploring new techniques. Some parents are concerned about the amount of time that their children spend
online, and the possibility of ‘addiction’ to digital tools (Turkle as cited in
Madej, 2013, p.2). Educators are concerned about the quality of the ‘texts’
that the students are experiencing. So, it seems probable that Librarians, the
former ‘gatekeepers’ of the print world will find themselves increasing in
their role as facilitators of, and champions for, the children-as-drivers of
change in the world of children’s literature.
Barone, D. M. (2011). A brief history of
children's literature. In Children's
literature in the classroom: Engaging lifelong readers. New York: Guildford Press.
Madej, K. (2003). Towards digital narrative for
children: From education to entertainment, a historical perspective.
ACM Computers and Entertainment, 1(1). doi:10.1145/950566.950585
