Didacticism in Children's Literature
Children's literature isn't just written to entertain kids—it's written to teach them. And we don't mean just teaching them their ABCs or 123s; children's literature also help children learn right from wrong. And wrong from evil. Notice how the bad guy in children's literature almost always gets punished at the end? Yeah, there's a reason for that.
But of course, literature also teaches kids to…read. Check out our video on how Dr. Seuss changed the way we read for more on that matter.
Chew on This
People who do bad things are often punished in children's literature. Kids will definitely avoid doing wrong after they see how the witch and her daughter are punished in "Brother and Sister," a fairytale from the Grimms' Fairytales. Delve into this excerpt (Quote #1).
Edmund, one of the child protagonists in C.S. Lewis' The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, isn't quite sure what's right from wrong. But by the end of the story, he'll figure it out. Check out this quotation (Quote #2) from the book.