Formar Leitores para Ler o Mundo - Leitura Gulbenkian - Fundação ...

74
The literary quality of children’s literature and its relevance for readers
of all ages has been universally acknowledged. Children’s books appear
on, even dominate, general bestseller lists. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s
Stone was the first children’s book to hold the number one position on
the New York Times list of hardcover bestsellers, and each of the first three
books in the series held that position in turn. When their domination of
the top three spots resulted in the creation of a separate list for children’s
books, it was widely felt that children’s bestsellers had every right to
appear on the regular fiction list, especially since many readers were
adults. Children’s books have also become contenders for prestigious
mainstream literary awards. This began even before Harry Potter ushered
in the crossover phenomenon. In 1995, Dianne Hofmeyr’s Boike You Better
Believe It was awarded the M-Net Book Prize, the most important literary
prize in South Africa, beating out J.M. Coetzee’s Master of Petersburg (Nobel
Laureate Nadine Gordimer was also nominated, but withdrew). The judging
criteria include literary merit and strong narrative content as well as
accessibility to a broad reading public. 32 Hofmeyr told me she thinks her
novel won because it was timely and captured «what was happening in
the “new” South Africa just prior to Nelson Mandela coming to power». 33
The final volume in Pullman’s His Dark Materials achieved what the
third Harry Potter had failed, by one vote, to do two years earlier: The
Amber Spyglass overwhelmingly won the 2001 Whitbread Book of the Year
award, the British book world’s second highest honour after the Man
Booker Prize. It became the first children’s book winner since the award’s
inception to claim the overall prize, an achievement that for many had
previously been inconceivable. However, a few commentators had even
begun to speculate on the possibility of a children’s book winning the
prestigious Booker Prize. In 1999, one British journalist wrote: «The real
barrier to overcome is not one of the possibilities of the genre but the
judges’ reluctance to value something that could also be valued by a
child, believing that if a child could like it, it must be childish for an
adult to like it.» 34 Many critics and writers were comparing children’s literature
favourably with literary fiction, which had long neglected the
story and had become increasingly abstruse and tedious. 35 When Pullman
won the Carnegie Medal for the first volume of His Dark Materials in
1996, he attacked adult novelists in his acceptance speech, claiming that
many had lost the art of telling a good story. In 1999, the author reiterated:
«There are very few writers of what one might call the literary Booker
Prize short-list novel who are good at stories and who think stories are
important.» 36 Two years later, the third volume of His Dark Materials
became the first children’s book to be longlisted for the Booker Prize.
This nomination led one journalist to write in The Guardian: «Segregation
of genres may remain valid commercially and as a filter for parents. In
judging the best writing, it is now redundant.» 37 Even the literary establishment
seems finally to be acknowledging that books published for
children are literary works worthy of the attention and respect of adults.
The children’s books that fall into the crossover category address important
moral issues of our time and invite readers of all ages to reflect on
the challenging metaphysical and existential questions that concern all
human beings. Crossover fiction recognizes the continuity that connects
readers of all ages and acknowledges that different generations share
experiences, knowledge, desires, and concerns. It offers a shared reading
experience for all ages that brings the generations together in a better
understanding of our world.
NOTES
1 Hensher, P. (2003, June 19). «Harry Potter and the Art of Making Money», in The Independent, London.
2 See Nel, P. (2005). «Is There a Text in This Advertising Campaign? Literature, Marketing, and Harry
Potter», in The Lion and the Unicorn 29, no. 2: 236.
3 Walden, G. (2003, January 26). «A Child’s View, Again», in Daily Telegraph.
4 Bloom, H. (2003, September). «Dumbing Down American Readers», in The Boston Globe 24. See also his
article (2000, July 11) «Can 35 Million Book Buyers Be Wrong? Yes», in Wall Street Journal, A26.
5 Holden, A. (2000, June 25). «Why Harry Potter Doesn’t Cast a Spell over Me», in The Observer.
6 See Furedi, F. (2003, July 29). «The Children Who Won’t Grow Up», in Spiked.
7 Myerson, J. (2001, November 14). «Harry Potter and the Sad Grown-ups», in The Independent.
8 See, for example, Glistrup, E. (1997, August 31-September 5). «Children’s Literature in Denmark:
Trends and Currents in the 1990s», Copenhagen: paper presented at the 63rd International
Federation of Library Associations and Institutions Annual Conference; Tiberghien, M. (2000,
December 1-2). «Table Ronde», round table presented at the international conference on «Perspectives
Contemporaines du Roman pour la Jeunesse», Eaubonne, France: Institut International Charles
Perrault.
9 Mayer, A. (2006, March 14). «Sharing the Love: How Publishers are Re-branding Adult Fiction for
Younger Readers», CBC, http://www.cbc.ca/arts/books/youngadultfiction.html (accessed December 6,
2006).
10 Rees, J. (2003, November 17). «We’re All Reading Children’s Books», in Daily Telegraph.
11 Qtd. in Glistrup, «Children’s Literature in Denmark: Trends and Currents in the 1990s».
12 Langton, J. (1985, July 28). Review of Handles, by Jan Mark.
13 Leysen, A. (1997). «About Flemish and Dutch Literature», in A Companion to Dutch and Flemish Letters
(translated from the Dutch by David Colmer and Paul Vincent), N.p.: Stichting Frankfurter Buchmesse, 46.
14 Hunt, J. (2007, March-April). «Redefining the Young Adult Novel», in The Horn Book Magazine 83, vol.
2: 141-47.
15 It is widely believed that an increasing number of adolescents are turning to adult novels. In his
article «How Publishers are Re-branding Adult Fiction for Young Readers», Andre Mayer states that
«the fact that teenagers are picking up ostensibly grown-up fiction is hardly novel», but that «the difference
nowadays is that publishers and vendors are becoming more proactive with young bookworms».
16 Nissen J. (2000, March). «The Bookseller.»
17 FitzHerbert, C. (2002, January 23). «This Author Is Original and Also Dangerous», in The Daily
Telegraph.
18 Craig, A. (2004, February). «Mark Haddon», in Sunday Times.
19 Moeyaert, B. (2000, May 12-13). «Seven Small Stories», paper presented at the seminar «Coming
Home in Children’s Literature», London: Roehampton Institute.
20 Qtd. in Templeton, D. (2002, March 14-20). «Dark Days: Ghouls and Goblins, Mayhem and Murder –
It’s Just Kids’ Stuff», in North Bay Bohemian.
75