ABSTRACT
The stories selected have been writen mainly for children of primary school age – between five and eleven years – with some variation between them. The children who figure as characters in the stories are also of this age. Children display intense feelings about fictional characters – they are loved/hated and often identified with in a total way, whereas the sophisticated adult reader holds him or her-self at much greater distance. Writing for children, as it emerged, soon began to reflect this split between male and female worlds, between activity and sensibility. Children’s potential openness to their own inner states allows them to be especially ‘good readers’ for writing of this special kind. The effect of this change of conditions has been in some cases to shift the themes of writing for children from directly-experienced threats of death, to less severe experiences of loss or separation. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
