Abstract

Real Books for Real Children

Nearly all the books which have become children's classics are books which older people like to read--not because of implications above the heads of younger readers nor because they evoke childish memories, but because, like all great books, they were written selfishly, to please or satisfy their authors, not their readers. The recent and tremendous interest in children aroused by child psychology is partly responsible for the increasing number of books and writers for children. But this new study, frequently misunderstood or misinterpreted in its newness, has made many writers for children inclined to be too conscious of their audience, of the great gap between writer and reader, and of the whole enormous truth which has to be left untold or glossed over.