Engaging reads for children, from Books go Walkabout

Category: Young Adults

The 2018 Philippa Pearce Lecture- Peopling The Dark – Frances Hardinge

Frances Hardinge delivered the Philippa Pearce Lecture to a packed auditorium on April 18th at Homerton College, University of Cambridge.

Are books too scary?  Can we iron out the monsters? Should we face the monsters alone?

Some of the questions which Frances eloquently suggested to the audience, why do we think  children should not be given answers, but left with the monster lurking, when we just want them to be safe and not to think about scary things?

Frances’s novels, which include The Lie Tree, The Cuckoo Song and A Skinful of Shadows are full of shadows and half glimpsed faces, things which in the dark are scary. Adults tend to come in and put on the light and explain that there is nothing to be scared of, but when the light goes out, Frances explained that the scary monster is back.  Frances recalled how she had first read The Shadow Cage by Philippa Pearce and it had struck a deep chord.The Lie Tree

Children’s fiction has a wealth of unseen things, some are cowed and shrouded, faceless and use of nonsense words and vague descriptions, for example the Jabberwocky the work of Lewis Carroll. In Victorian children’s books, Frances explained that monsters would be used to impose sanctions, e.g. the monster will get you. Stormtroopers of fear and imagination, the use of cautionary tales.

In today’s world of books for children there is a wealth of material which brings in darkness and scariness, the fear and the imagination of children and young people, for example, Harry Potter and the dementors. We can try to iron out the monsters, we can offer daytime explanations but there remains some uncanny gravitas which no electric light bulb can help!

Frances also pointed out that all children’s authors are adult but maybe it is the inner-self that is still part of the childhood.

A thought-provoking lecture and Frances Hardinge gave an excellent informative journey through the materials on the dark side.

Francis Hardinge at Homerton College, Cambridge to deliver the 2018 Philipp Pearce Lecture

Sue Martin

Books Go Walkabout

 

Oh, Freedom !
by Francesco D’Adamo

The story had me hooked from the beginning, it’s an amazing story of freedom from slavery set in Alabama in May 1850.

Oh Freedom

See this book, buy from Amazon.co.uk

Due for release in June 2016 by Darf Publishers, written by Francesco D’Adamo and translated by Sian Williams.

Captain Archer and his intimidating guards with their fierce dogs, protect the land and prevent the slaves from leaving. Tommy is part of a family of slaves and meets Peg Leg Joe, who turned out not to be the devil but a spirit in disguise, who was to lead Tommy and his family away from slavery and into the promised land of freedom, Canada.

‘ Are you a Devil?’ he asked….

The man squatted on his heels, ‘No’, he replied. ‘Are you?’

‘No way!’ exclaimed Tommy.

‘Well then,’said Peg Leg Joe,’we can trust each other.’

Tommy had to admit that was reasonable.

Now the boy could see the man properly, and stared at the wooden leg sticking out of his right trouser leg. So it was not a cloven hoof. P.3

They travel along the legendary Underground Railroad, which stretched for miles across the country’s vastness,the network famously facilitated more than 100,000 slaves to a new life. For Tommy the journey is far from easy and he takes on responsibilities ahead of his years. He later becomes a guide along the routes, moving silently and bringing many people to freedom .

Tommy also learns to read and at one stage discovers a poster advertising a ‘Sale of Slaves’. Knowing that he could read he discovers a truth…

‘His heart beat very fast. He was unlocking a secret, and would find something that the others, his father,mother,sisters could never know. But he would! Confusedly,he understood that doing this made him strong. p.103′.

A powerful book and has lots of links with the current refugee movements.

This is a young adult book and recommended for age 10 years and beyond.

Sue Martin dolphinlogo2012imageright3

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