Definitions of children’s literature can be assigned to three broad categories( intended audience; purpose; style/quality), the second of which includes threesub-categories (entertainment; entertainment and information; empathy).

Although, in terms of overall emphasis, the majority of definitions fall into one ofthese categories and sub-categories, some include aspects of more than one ofthem.The most commonly occurring contemporary definition of children’s literature isone that focuses on intended audience. For many writers, children’s literature issimply a body of texts that is intended for a particular readership, that is, children,children being defined loosely in terms of a range of socio-cultural and individualcharacteristics (see, for example, Galda&Cullinan, 2002; Hunt, 1996; Lesnik-Oberstein, 1999; McDowell, 1973; Weinreich& Bartlett, 2000).

Also commonare definitions of children’s literature that focus on purpose. That purpose issometimes seen in terms of both information and entertainment (see, for example,Norton, 1999; Tomlinson & Lynch-Brown, 1996/2002; Winch, Johnson, March,Ljungdahl& Holliday, 2004); sometimes, however, entertainment alone is thecritical definitional feature, the emphasis generally being on works belonging tothe narrative genre (see, for example, Ghosn, 2002; Hollindale, 1997). Less often,definitions that relate primarily to purpose focus on empathy, children’s literaturebeing classified as literature that is designed to help children to understand, andemphasize with, the world views and experiences of others, including otherchildren (see, for example, Huck, Helper, Hickman & Kiefer, 2001; Saxby, 1997;Tomlinson & Lynch-Brown, 1996/2002). Finally, there are those who believe thatchildren’s literature should be defined in terms of style and quality (see, forexample, Lukens, 1995).

Intended audience

Weinreich& Bartlett (2000, p. 127) do not define children’s literature explicitly.They claim, however, that in any account of children’s literature, “the child must. . . be regarded as a necessary condition which the author consciously orunconsciously relates to in the creative process”. For McDowell (1973) and Hunt(1996), the definition of children’s literature includes explicit reference tointended readership. For them, the term ‘children’s literature’ is applicable tobooks written for, and read by, that group referred to as ‘children’ by anyparticular society. It need not have any other specific characteristics or qualities.Furthermore, McDowell (1973, p. 17) notes that whether a particular text can begiven a value “depends upon the circumstances of use”. This approach todefining children’s literature excludes books that are read by, but not primarilyintended for, children. Even so, to define children’s literature in terms of intendedreadership alone is potentially problematic in that it allows for the inclusion of, forexample, textbooks which would not normally be considered to come within thedomain of children’s literature.

This is an issue that is not resolved by Lesnik-Oberstein (1996, p. 17) who defines ‘children’s literature’ as “a category of booksthe existence of which absolutely depends on supposed relationships with aparticular reading audience: children”. Even the inclusion of the word ‘books’ inthis definition is problematic: it excludes a range of written materials that are notproduced in book format.

Townsend (1971, p. 9) observes that “any line which is drawn to confine childrenand their books to their own special corner is an artificial one”, and therefore that“[the] only practical definition of a children’s book today—absurd as it sounds—is ‘a book which appears on the children’s list of a publisher”. Quite apart fromthe fact that, once again, the word ‘book’ appears in this definition, its usefulnessis questionable. This definition would exclude works that appear in electronicformat and are not listed in publisher’s catalogues. It would, however, includebooks designed for adults that have been adapted for children. In this respect, itcan be aligned with the views of Weinreich and Bartlett (2000, p. 37) whoincludes in his definition of children’s literature books originally written for adultshave been re-worked with children in mind.

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Purpose/functionEmphasis on entertainmentFor many writers, ‘children’s literature’ is not only a term that applies to writingthat is designed primarily to entertain, but also one that is restricted to narrativefiction. For Hollindale (1997, p. 30), for example, children’s literature is “a bodyof texts with certain common features of imaginative interest, which is activatedas children’s literature by a reading event: that of being read by a child”, “a child[being] someone who believes on good grounds that his or her condition ofchildhood is not yet over” (emphasis added).

Ghosn (2002, p. 172) explicitly confines children’s literature to fiction, defining itas “fiction written for children to read for pleasure, rather than for didacticpurposes” and explicitly excluding “‘basal readers’, or ‘reading scheme’ books,which are developed around controlled vocabulary and sentence structures”. Thisdefinition raises some critical issues. It is not only ‘basal readers’ and ‘readingscheme’ books that are “developed around controlled vocabulary and sentencestructures”. In excluding such material, Ghosn effectively excludes many verypopular books that have been written for children. Furthermore, it is unclear whatGhosn intends by the use of the word ‘didactic’ in this context. The word‘didactic’ can be applied to any material that is intended to convey informationand instruction, whether or not it is also designed to entertain. In explicitlyexcluding materials that are intended to teach as well as to entertain, includingmaterials that are developed around controlled vocabulary and sentence structures,Ghosn would effectively exclude from the category of children’s literature bookssuch as The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle (1969). He would also excludeall writing that does not belong to the category of narrative fiction.

Emphasis on information and entertainmentGalda and Cullinan (2002. p. 7) claim that literature “entertains and . . . informs”,that “[it] enables young people to explore and understand their world” and“enriches their lives and widens their horizons”. Thus, through literature, children“learn about people and places on the other side of the world as well as ones downthe street. They can travel back and forth in time to visit familiar places andpeople, to meet new friends, and to see new worlds. They can explore their ownfeelings, shape their own values, and imagine lives beyond the one they live”.

Such an approach, would allow for the inclusion in the category of children’sliterature of both fiction and non-fiction. It would also allow for the inclusion ofworks which are designed to teach as well as to entertain.

Emphasis on empathyFor a number of writers, children’s literature is narrative, an importantcharacteristic of which is the provision of access to understanding throughempathy with the lives and experiences of others (see, for example, Hollindale,1997; Huck, Helper, Hickman & Kiefer, 1997; Saxby, 1997). For Saxby (1997, p.14), “the raw material of literature is experience - life”. Hollindale (1997, p. 62)notes that the experiences recorded need not be fictional but might, for example,be based on the author’s memory of his or her childhood.

For Huck et al. (1997, p.5), children’s literature is “the imaginative shaping of life and thought into theforms and structures of language”. It is socially and culturally conditioned andfocuses on the lives and experiences of children, thus enabling young people tobroaden their world view through the imaginative apprehension of newexperiences. Through vicarious experience, Huck et al. claim, children’s literatureencourages the development of empathy. Thus, for example, The Upstairs Roomby Johanna Reiss (1987) which describes the lives of two Jewish girls who hidfrom German soldiers in the cramped upstairs room of a farmhouse for two years,provides children with an opportunity to understand and empathize withexperiences with which they are themselves unfamiliar. In common with manyother writers for whom the development of empathy through vicarious experienceis a critical characteristic of children’s literature, Huck et al. restrict children’sliterature to the narrative genre.

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Emphasis on style and qualityIn a definition that is reminiscent of the canonical approach to adult literatureoften associated with F. R. Leavis (see, for example, The Great Tradition (1948)),Lukens (1995, p. 7) refers to children’s literature as involving “a significant truthexpressed in appropriate elements and memorable language”, the ideas being“expressed in poetic form, [and] the truths of theme and character [being]explored through the elements of fiction, and the style of the artist”. There is,however, no serious attempt to define what is meant in this context by ‘significanttruth’, ‘appropriate elements’, ‘memorable language’, ‘poetic form’ or ‘style ofthe artist’.

A contextually relevant definition of children’s literatureWhat all of the approaches to definition to which reference has been made have incommon is that they all emphasize the fact that children’s literature is written forchildren and, therefore, with the needs and interests of children in mind. Even so,children’s literature can be defined in many different ways. For the purposes ofthis study, an inclusive definition that focuses on intended readership is the mostuseful. Thus, ‘children’s literature’ is defined here as any material that is writtenfor, and read by, that group referred to as ‘children’ by any particular society. Thisleaves open for the moment the issue of what constitutes ‘good’ or ‘effective’children’s literature. This is, however, an issue of considerable importance andone that will be addressed later in relation to context of use.

Children’s literature: Genre and text-typeThe words ‘genre’ and ‘text-type’ can be used in two very different ways. In linewith traditional usage (particularly in literary contexts), a number of academicresearchers use the word ‘genre’ to refer to socially constructed categories thatdescribe written and oral texts such as, for example, novels, short stories, poems,lectures, and academic articles. Here, these are described as text-types, the termgenre being reserved for the classification of texts according to primarycommunicative purposes such as instructing, explaining, arguing, describing,classifying and recounting. Texts may be mono-generic or multi-generic. Thus,for example, a text belonging to a particular text-type such as a short story, mayinclude a variety of different genres such as description, classification,explanation and recount (see, for example, Houia-Roberts, 2003).

Drawing upon the work of Halliday (1985), Martin (1985), Martin and Rothery(1986), Christie (1989), Painter (1985), Kress (1982; 1985) and others, and alsoupon the expertise of experienced teachers, Derewianka (1991/1994) outlines sixgenres (recount, instruction, exposition/argument, narrative, report andexplanation), associating each with structural elements and typical linguisticfeatures and arguing that it is important that young learners should be introducedto all of these genres.

As indicated above, a number of writers define children’s literature as narrativefiction whose primary purpose is entertainment. This, however, restricts children’sliterature to one particular text-type (story) and one particular genre (narrative). Inseeking to include different text-types within the scope of children’s literature,Tomlinson and Lynch-Brown (1996/2002, p. 2) define children’s literature as“good quality trade books written especially for children from birth toadolescence, covering topics of relevance and interest to children . . . throughprose and poetry, fiction and nonfiction.” Leaving aside for the moment thequestion of what is meant here by ‘good quality’, a definition such as this wouldinclude, in terms of text-types, “novels, poetry, drama, biographies andautobiographies, and essays” as well as “writings in fields such as philosophy,history, and science” (Winch et al., 2004, p. 328), presumably including topicbasedbooks belonging primarily to the information genre. However, since ‘tradebooks’ are books published for children and young adults that are not textbooks orpart of a basal reading series (Glaister, Huston, Rodermond& Fowler, 2003),some works that I would wish to include here as works of children’s literature (see2.2.4 above) are excluded from this definition.

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According to Winch et al. (2004, p. 339), children’s literature can play animportant role in cognitive and linguistic development, providing “a locus for theactivation of . . . speaking and listening skills, giving them purpose and direction”,and a place “where children encounter in a non-threatening way a diversity ofpossible perspectives on philosophical issues, worldviews, social ideas, andcultural practices”. If any of these essentially pedagogic functions are to berealized, teachers need to understand the organizational and linguisticcharacteristics of different genres and text-types in making selections anddeciding on appropriate methodologies.

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The Role of Children’s Literature in the Teaching of English toYoung Learners in

TaiwanA thesissubmitted in partial fulfillment

of the requirements for the DegreeofDoctor of Philosophyat the

University of WaikatoJUI-FANG YU CHANG