While in undergraduate school, I was enrolled in a children’s
literature course taught by a very serious scholar. On the first day of class
she informed us that any student she heard using the designation, “Kiddy Lit,” for
her favorite literature genre would be given the grade of "F" for the class. We were
believers.
When we were assigned to read, annotate, and create a card
file (200 minimum) of our favorite Kindergarten through sixth grade books for
children (and also to type the information as a document to submit for grading) I wondered
about this busy work. However, after spending many hours in the library and
reading hundreds of books written for children, I came to appreciate the
purpose of this assignment. During the many years I taught elementary school
and middle school literature, I used this file often to locate books for use in
units of study.
This time-consuming assignment also introduced me to the
fact that many children’s books contain messages for adults. The Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupery
is one such book, and a quote from this book came to mind this week while I was
reflecting on life, and hurts, and just “getting over stuff.”
The Little Prince:
“And now here is my secret,
a very simple secret.
It is only with the heart that one can
see rightly;
what is essential is invisible to the eye.”
These reflections also made me wonder about passages I
included in my novel and if these passages came from a deep place in my heart
rather than coming just from imagination.
Arthur Thomas in Child
of Desire:*
“A man’s pride is a daughter. That she is
exceptionally beautiful and smart is a gift. Never would a loving father
intentionally hurt his daughter. But a thoughtless and careless father might
cause hurt and live forever with regret. I will always love you! Papa.”
I know that only God sees my heart, but I sometimes wish for
an invisible connection between my heart and the hearts of others that might serve
to facilitate understanding.
* The second edition of Child of Desire is scheduled for
publication on Amazon during the month of March and will be available on Kindle.
My thought: even humorless pedants sometimes direct one along a profitable pathway. Not you, the kiddie lit professor. You do it with humor!
ReplyDeleteVanilla, I was introduced to Greek and Norse mythology in this class (good crossword puzzle information) and also to books that were not on my mom's long list of great books for kids, such as Johnny Tremain and Roller Skates. I hope that many of my students became life-long readers.
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