PSU Magazine Winter 2001

the world," she says. Perhaps the most prevalent tool authors use to empower children is to remove strong adults. They have to be dead, weak, dysfunctional, preoccupied, or imply absent in order for the child protagonist to have the opportunity to solve the book's problem. C hildren want the assurance that they can get through a tough situation if they have to. "We murder mothers," Howard laughs. "I hold the record: in one of my books I kill off three mothers in succession." ood children's literature treats its readers with intelli– gence, which dispels a myth about the genre: that somehow writing for children is easier than writing for adults. In many cases, it's harder. Smith, who in addition to writing books for children has spent 20 years as a zookeeper and research biolo– gist, calls children "as smart or smarter than we are. They just don't have quite as much information." "Children's books make adults uneasy not because they're imaginary, but because they're real. Telling kids not to read Harry Potter is like telling the tide not to come in," he says. If the use of language and real-life themes are examples of broken barriers in children's literature, Harry Potter has proven that length is too. At 734 pages, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire looks more like a dictionary than the typica l children's book. And kids can't seem to get enough of it. "A lot of adu lts have sold kids short, saying that they couldn't read longer books. Harry Potter has proven that they can," Gregorio says. A question on the minds of children's authors is, Will the popularity of Harry Potter carry over to other children's books? Some fear the evil goblins of marketing will dominate the scene, only producing books that have the greatest potential Conveying information must be done in context, allowing children to figure out facts and situations on their own without feeling that they've been lectured to. For Smith, an environmentalist whose themes deal with nature conserva– tion, doing the job right is a high calling. My Journey with the LEWI' AND CLARK Tnbc to be turned into movies, lunch– boxes, and action figures. Purists will be dismayed to know that, in December, How the Grinch Stole Christmas was number 6 on the New York Times list of children's best sellers - not the Dr. Seuss original, mind you, but a noveliza– tion of the screenplay of the movie. "This is important stuff. It's important because you're commu– nicating with people who haven't made up their minds yet," he says. B ecause the stakes in the battle for young minds are so high, and the reality that few-if any– taboos still exist in the genre, chil– dren's literature is a constant target among parents and religious groups. Harry Potter has been chal– lenged in schools throughout the Un ited States by groups who say it advocates witchcraft. Smith's books have been challenged because of language. His Thunder Cave has been targeted for con– ta ining "hell," "bastard," and a description of a lion "pissing." Smith says he doesn't include such word to condone coarse language, but to acknowledge that it exists and give kids yet another way to glimpse the real world. "To deny it and not discuss it in the open is wrong," he says. Kimmel has similar views on reasons why adults feel threatened by what their children read. O thers, such as Smith, Kim– mel, and Howard, say good will conquer all. Even cookie-cutter thrillers such as R.L. Stine's Goosebumps series, which h as spun off into TV shows and board games, is seen as successfully putting books in the hands of children. Sympathetic editors will continue to exist, and quality children's authors will continue to write. "Authors of children's litera– ture care about children," says Howard. "It's n ice if somebody buys our books, but the truth is most children's writers wou ld write whether they got paid or not." In the end, the success of children's literature will rest where it belongs: with the kids themselves. D Uohn Kirkland, a Portland freelance writer, wrote the article "Our Bodies, Our Cells ?" in the fall 2000 PSU Magazine.) WINTER 2001 PSU MAGAZINE 11