Children's books overstep evil

The children's books of today have taken on a new name for evil within the story. As kids, we feared Captain Hook from Peter Pan, the Queen of Hearts from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, the evil stepmother in Snow White, and the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz. However, a particular favorite children's book from my childhood was Madeline, which did not have any representations of evil-doers. This article lured me in through its analysis of how the modern day children's books have become drastically darker than my happy stories of Madeline. In the article, Maria Tatar uses Harry Potter and The Hunger Games as her prime examples, where both characters are constantly running away from death, fighting for their lives against wizards or children of their own age. I disagree that those two series should be considered on the same level of children's books with Peter Pan and the others, but children do know the plot lines of those modern day classics for kids. In the New York Times opinion piece "No More Adventures in Wonderland", Maria Tatar discusses the modern day change in the plots of children's books.

Maria Tatar gives examples that use logos to appeal to the audience in her opinion article. One example that really won me over was her use of The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, which won the Newbury Medal award. The book is about a hand in the dark with a knife that kills three members of the main character's family. Sounds pretty violent to me for a children's book. Though I did not read that book, Tatar's other main example was a series I have read, The Hunger Games. A great series in my opinion, but looking back now, I realize the enormity of the violence in the plot. Children are sent to fight other children like savages in Panem. Tatar's use of examples win the audience over to the understanding that the plots are growing more violent. However, Tatar is not trying to stop this trend. She proves this when she says, "No one is about to slam the brakes on these new engines of storytelling, nor should they," (Tatar). Maria Tatar does mourn for the loss of plots similar to those of the past and how those authors would write with dedication for the audience of the kids in her article "No More Adventures in Wonderland".

Source: Tatar, Maria. "No More Adventures in Wonderland." The New York Times 9 Oct. 2011, sec. Opinion: n. pag. The New York Times. Web. 9 Oct. 2011.