Fantastic You (And you too!)

“Fantastic You” written by Danielle Dufayet and illustrated by Jennifer Zivion immediately caught my attention with its bright, metallic cover and smiling children jumping together, but the book is not about making friends to explore with. In a culture insisting on the importance of social engagement and social interaction, “Fantastic You” emphasizes the need for children to learn about solidarity and self-reflection.

Although the cover of four playing children seems to portray a book focusing on encouraging children to interact with their peers, Dufayet’s book reminds children, or perhaps teaches them for the first time, the need for a child to spend time with and get to know oneself.

Like many children, I loved play dates and new friends, but friends weren’t always around, so I learned to be by myself. I learned I could spend hours reading, playing in my room, or creating art all by myself. This wasn’t just a ploy by my parents to get me out of their hair; they were teaching me something far more important: being content with myself.   

One of my main interactions with kids is with my three-year-old niece, Olivia. O can be found laughing with her family, but she also can be found sitting by herself in her room, playing with her dolls. I love watching her make her own voices for her toys and develop stories that only she would understand. Not only is she having fun playing by herself, she is learning about herself and even the world around her by contemplating situations by herself. Social as she is, she gets a bit cranky without some alone time, and maybe we can all learn from Olivia. 

Although this exact situation doesn’t happen in the book, this highlights how children can truly enjoy time on their own. Like in “Fantastic You”, O knows the way to love hanging out with herself. She’s not taking a bath or building a fort like in “Fantastic You”, but she’s learning about the joys of just being alone, almost as a reset from the chaotic world. She is reflecting on anything going on, and simply being content with herself and her imagination.

Not only does “Fantastic You” teach about solitude, but also the importance of self-care:

“And when I’m sick or just having a bad day, it’s especially important to give myself extra love.

I can snuggle with my softest blanket,

Cuddle with my favorite lovey,

Or take an extra long, extra bubbly bath.” (Dufayet, n.p.)

Self-care tends to invoke vacation trips or an expensive day at the spa, but self-care is shown as accessible to anyone at any age or any time, as shown in Zivion’s illustration above of a little girl at the bath in a big, fluffy robe. Self-care can be a time for self-reflection, or a distraction from anything overwhelming in life. Self-care is a great way to check up on mental or physical states: What do I need right now? Is there something bothering me? How can I fix that?

On the next page, the bathtub overflows, but Dufayet uses this to make another important point:

“If I mess up, I say sorry. I do what I can to help make things right, even if it’s an accident. This I remember to forgive myself.

Instead of feeling bad about what I did, I remind myself:

Everyone makes mistakes. I’ll do better next time.” (Dufayet, n.p.)

We all need to take a page from Dufayet’s book: We can all forgive ourselves, and that’s a pretty important part of self-love.

Dufayet’s book is a great reminder to adults and children alike that anyone can love themselves without the help of anyone else.

Thanks to Magination Press for sending this book our way.

-SS

Citation: 

Dufayet, Danielle. Fantastic You. Magination Press, 2019.

Call for Papers and Upcoming Children's Literature Conferences

Whether you’re knee-deep or neck-deep in final projects or outlining your final papers during this busy semester, there’s always time for some literary scholarship (says the graduate student currently neck-deep in all things literature). To make things a little easier, we’ve gathered a list of future conference proposals and calls-for-papers that includes children’s literature topics. 

The Children’s Literature Society and the American Literature Association

Event: 27th Annual Conference
Dates: May 26-29, 2016
Location: The Hyatt Regency, San Francisco

Panel 1: Children’s Literature Adaptations: Musicals (both theatrical and film).

Children’s literature has had a long history of adaptation transformations—from early Shirley Temple films to comic books and most recently to musicals; e.g., Shrek, Wicked, Once Upon A Mattress, Little Mermaid, Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Jungle Book, Tarzan, Wizard of Oz/The Wiz, Hansel and Gretel, Into the Woods, Annie. This panel explores the ways musical adaptations of children’s texts change the original tale and are revelatory of changes in social/cultural considerations that include the changing dynamic of the construction of childhood, adults, and family.

Instructions:

• Please include academic rank and affiliation, as well as AV requests.
• Send abstracts or proposals (~300 words) by January 15, 2016 via email to: Dorothy Clark (dorothy.g.clark@csun.edu) and Linda Salem (lsalem@mail.sdsu.edu)

Panel 2: Children’s Literature Adaptations—Part 2: Digital Transformations—From TV and Film to New Media

New media has entered the world of children’s literature adaptation in stunning ways. From video games to tablet and smartphone apps to YouTube videos and more, “story” is finding new formats and “reading” has gone from a passive immersive experience to a more interactive one. Multimodal storytelling—unique meshing of “old” media (e.g., print text, TV, film) with “new” media are transforming our understanding of adaptation, creating new formats, genres. This panel explores this new world of children’s literature adaptation, including a bit of the “old world” of media (print/television/film) as it also transforms to adapt to new media. In reflecting on this new world of adaptation, consider for example: What happens to the original story? How is narrative changing? What is the role of reader/writer? Does this new domain reflect changes in social-cultural understandings of childhood, adult, family?

Instructions:

• Please include academic rank and affiliation, as well as AV requests.
• Send abstracts or proposals (~250 words) by January 10, 2016 via email to: Dorothy Clark (Dorothy.g.clark@csun.edu) and Linda Salem (lsalem@mail.sdsu.edu)

Panel 3: “Humor and Children’s Literature”—Abstracts (300 words maximum) are encouraged on subjects addressing any aspect of humor in relation to children’s literature by an American author. Panel sponsored by the American Humor Studies Association and the Children’s Literature Society.

Instructions:

• Please include academic rank and affiliation, as well as AV requests. 
• Send abstracts or proposals (~300 words) by January 10, 2016 via email to: Dorothy Clark (Dorothy.g.clark@csun.edu), Linda Salem (lsalem@mail.sdsu.edu), and Jim Caron (caron@hawaii.edu) with the subject line: “AHSA/CLS session, 2016 ALA.” 

For further information, please consult the ALA conference website at www.alaconf.org or contact the conference director, Professor Alfred Bendixen at ab23@princeton.edu with specific questions. 

~ ~ ~ 

CFP: The Intersection of Cartoons, Animation, and Youth Media: A Special Issue of Children’s Literature Association Quarterly

Description:
“In connection with the upcoming 2016 ChLA conference on Animation, this special issue of ChLAQ will focus broadly and widely on the multimodal and ever-expanding medium known as youth animation. From children’s cartoon shorts such as Steamboat Willy (1928) and Leon Schlesinger’s Loony Tunes (1930–1969); to full-length animation motion pictures such as the work of Studio Ghibli, Pixar, and Nickelodeon; to Homestar Runner, video games, and flip books, if it’s sequential art pit into motion, it’s on the table for discussion.”

Deadline: November 1, 2016 

Website: http://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/node/61774

Instructions:

• Papers should conform to the usual style of ChLAQ and be between 5,000–7,000 words in length. 
• Queries and completed essays should be sent to Joseph Michael Sommers via email at somme1jm@cmich.edu with a re: line indicating “ChLAQ Essay) 

Notes: The selected articles will appear in ChLAQ in 2017. 

CFP: Reimagining the Child: Next Steps in the Study of Childhood(s)

Dates: April 22–23, 2016
Location: Camden, New Jersey

Description: Hosted by the Rutgers University – Camden Graduate Student Organization in Childhood Studies.
“The goal of this year’s graduate student conference is to bring together graduate students and other early-career scholars whose work represents a contribution to expanding academic understandings of and approaches to children and childhood. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to: theorizations and discourses of childhood; representations of children in media; relationships between children and technology; considering children in approaches to human rights, ethics, and morality; children’s culture(s); children as social agents; etc.”

Deadline: December 20, 2015

Instructions:

• Send an abstract (~300 words) to the conference chair, Julian Burton, via email at Julian.burton@rutgers.edu. Include the words “conference abstract” in the subject line. 
• Please include your name, current level of study, and affiliated institution in the body of your email. 
• Attach your abstract as a separate document containing no personally identifying information. 

Website:

• http://www.childlitassn.org/assets/docs/cfp%20-%20gso%20conference.pdf
• rulinked.camden.rutgers.edu/organization/csgs/events 

Good luck to everyone, on submissions, upcoming finals, and final papers!

Professor Jerry Griswold Presents AUDACIOUS KIDS at Warwick's!

Former director of the NCSCL and Professor Emeritus, Jerry Griswold will be visiting the historic independent bookstore, Warwick's in La Jolla to present the revised version of his prize-winning book, Audacious Kids: The Classic American Children's Story on Monday February 23rd at 7:30pm.

The book delves into twelve classic American tales including, Little Women, Tom Sawyer, The Secret Garden, and The Wizard of Oz, to reveal that these tales incorporate motifs that emphasize American values such as positive thinking, concern with health, and the concealment of sex and violence.

Come back to our blog next week for a more in-depth post about the event and the book!

In the meantime, if you are in San Diego, don't miss this opportunity to join us and attend this wonderful event on:  

Monday, February 23rd at 7:30pm at Warwick's in La Jolla! 

7812 Girard Avenue,

La Jolla, California 92037

Star Wars Across More Than Just Galaxies

Over the last few decades, millions all around the world have been captivated by the epic tale that spans out over 6 movies (so far) and 40 years. At the heart of the Star Wars story, the notion of childhood as a dark, difficult, and confusing time can be found initiating the battle between good an evil. Beginning with one child, Anakin, who leaves his mother to become a defender of the galaxy, the child perspective in this story reveals the sacrifices one might have to make in order to grow up and create a new and independent identity. Whether fans began in their own childhood with the first movies that popularized the story or whether fans are the children of these original fans, it can be said that even a third generation of Star Wars fanatics are being born.

The Star Wars world is captured beyond just the movies these days. When the second three part series of the movies were released in 1999, a large variety of children and young adult literature was published continuing the Star Wars story into a new generation. Well-known YA authors, Todd Strasser and Jude Watson, wrote for Scholastic’s Star Wars Journal series through which they were able to expose the story in a new light to younger readers. The Journal series enhanced the Star War story and main characters themselves by including short novels told from the perspective of the main character. Anakin Skywalker (Star Wars: Episode 1: Journal #1 published in 1999) was intended to touch on the childhood emotions of the young character. Anakin tells his perspective of what life was like as a slave and the reader gets to see into what he felt when choosing to leave his mother and home behind. The child tone narrating life before and after Qui-Gon, Jar Jar, and Padmé came into the picture grants a new sympathetic appeal to a man who becomes the galaxy's terrifying bad guy. Since children are often excused for wrong or rude behavior, the ability to see this bad guy character at an age identified with innocence gives a new spin to the whole story. The child perspective for Anakin's character appeals to young readers and fans because it is a scenario that is bound to one day happen; it shares the hardship and decision of leaving parents behind to become the adult they want to be.

Queen Amidala or Padmé was given another book from the Journal series that tells the story from a fourteen-year-old girl who is faced with the responsibility of caring for her home planet after its invasion. The feminine touch here adds an appeal to young girls because Padmé is a strong young woman who demonstrates agency in her position that can be more often associated with men. This grants authority, capability and desire for young teen girls trying to find their own voice. Her young character also demonstrates a more unisex political perspective that can broaden the scope of who can become a politician in the real world, while at the same time highlighting the sort of hardships and complications that may arise. Such an example would be the invasion of the Trade Federation and their assumption that Naboo would be an easy conquer solely because of her position as young teen queen. Her book from the Journal series captures her conflicting desires to stay strong and with her people, while at the same time the importance of her escape in order to save them ultimately showing the difficult decision she must use her own agency to make.  

These first person perspective books from some of the most famous child characters also exposed the beginning of the Empire's greatest love story. The first person narratives allow a close reading of their friendship blossoming while still needing to grow into their own adult identities. Also, the reactions of their first encounter together captures the hearts of young readers because it grants a look into the emotions these characters consciously work to understand. What is seen here then is how the story of Star Wars is one that begins as a child’s and young adult adventure to save worlds and bring peace to the galaxy. The child voice through this particular book series and others like it, expands upon child agency as the children are left to make their own choices and mistakes. Allowing childhood agency then to demonstrate a justification of why Darth Vader became who he is, makes the story about a man trying to save the women he loves, a once teenage queen who lived with him through the hardest decision of his life. The expression of fear and sadness Anakin faces leaving home to create his grown identity as a Jedi suggests that the child voice is something that was always crucial to the story and Darth Vader as a character.

Today the Star Wars story continues to be told in books meant for a younger audience. Author Jeffrey Brown created a series titled Jedi Academy also from Scholastic Inc., which follows the current children's book trend of graphic novel with a childish tone and silly images, a similar style to the popular Captain Underpants series. Chewbacca (known as Kitmum) is the P.E. instructor who offers advice to his student, but because he speaks in growls, his advice must be translated through the main character Roan Novachez. To convey the world of Star Wars, the child character Roan explains he wanted to be a pilot before being drafted into the Jedi Academy. Even though set in a science fiction world, the struggles he faces with teachers and friends as a child starting his journey into adulthood is still found. This series is told from Roan's perspective and still works to establish the familiar images of Star Wars but coming through a childish and captivating perspective. C-3P0 becomes T-P30 and R2-D2’s name is changed to RW-22 who still has to have his beeps translated by his faithful robot friend, bringing the classic Star Wars vibe back into the hearts of young readers.

Since Disney has announced the release of the first of the last three Star Wars movies later this year, it seems appropriate to stop and remember where it all started. Perhaps Star Wars captured so many hearts because of its childhood elements that construct the story it ultimately became. If this is the case, then it may prove that fantasy and sci-fi with a little child or young adult spark can increase its depth within our own memories of childhood. Or maybe what captures fans is that the evil that transforms Anakin from a sweet child into the ruthless leader might have not happened without the dysfunctional family he was miraculously born into or the one he creates. Regardless, this story’s journey from childhood in a futuristic world still captures the terrifying identity crisis of owning one’s agency in childhood and being left with the decisions made innocently that could be the cultivators of good or evil within the adult.

Notes:

• Anakin Skywalker (Star Wars: Episode 1: Journal) Paperback – May 3, 1999 by Todd Strasser 
• Queen Amidala (Star Wars Episode 1, Journal #2) Paperback – May 3, 1999 by Jude Watson 
• Star Wars: Jedi Academy Hardcover – August 27, 2013 by Jeffrey Brown 

Lack of Science Fiction for Children: Failing to Imagine a Better Future

In a recent panel at the New York Public Library, an important question was asked: Where’s the science fiction for young readers?

Even today when one hears the term “science fiction,” the immediate titles that come to mind most often belong to the oeuvre of Jules Verne or H.G. Wells—the founding fathers of the science fiction genre. Many of the older SF writers are now celebrated for having the foresight of envisioning many of the technological advancements that now are a part of our daily lives. We belong to a time when the brightest minds of our time were able to create Siri, a “personal assistant” and “knowledge navigator,” who functions as a “human consciousness inhabiting [an] electronic [space], blurring the boundary between human and machine” (Cadora); but has our imagination and ability to envision the future stunted in comparison to the past?

In the wake of the moon landing and the Star Wars saga, there was an explosion of interest in the SF genre—as seen by the popularity of books like A Wrinkle in Time, Ender’s Game, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and The Giver—but the emergence of the Harry Potter series in the late 90’s changed the children’s publishing world forever. Following on its coattail came the Percy Jackson series and the Twilight saga. Fantasy suddenly became the most desired sub genre for young readers. 

Even the popular dystopian novels of today, which fall under combined category of science fiction/fantasy, have a distinct lack of science in them. Despite our futuristic world where we are slaves to our phones, people are turning away from the imagining and exploration of a future defined by “exploitive technologies” and “obeisance to authority” (Cadora). With constant criticism that social media and texting are taking away our ability to connect with each other on a personal level, one would think the fear of “social breakdowns caused by the alienation” of communicating with each other through machines would be a more enticing issue to readers (Crandall). Yet, readers are much more interested in patriarchal oppressed dystopian societies, and the popularity of the Hunger Games and Divergent series can attest to that.

Most books that are solely identified as SF are generally marketed towards adults. Even so, some YA novels, such as Cinder by Marissa Meyer and The Maze Runner by James Dashner, do try to incorporate the SF characteristics of technologically and scientifically advanced future societies into their stories for interested readers, but it is becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish the difference between fantasy and science fiction for YA.

As far as science fiction books for children, you can find pictures books like Doug Unplugged by Dan Yaccarino and Oh No!: Or How MyScience Project Destroyed the Whole World by Mac Barnett and Dan Santat. Then in middle grade you find select books such as When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead and The Accelerati Triology by Neal Shusterman and Eric Elfman. But the issue remains they are few and far in between. So it begs the question: Is science fiction in children’s literature out of place because there are not enough interested readers? Or is it that publishers are choosing to place their focus elsewhere? I believe it is a disservice to young readers to not let them explore the fun side of science fiction. The writing of both Stead and Shusterman/Elfman are filled with so much heart and humor:

"...it's like they say, 'Keep your friend's clothes... in your enemy's closet.'" 

-Tesla's Attic (Accelerati, #1) 

This shift away from science fiction has me wondering: At what point did children turn away from imagining and exploring the possibilities of a technologically advanced future to yearning for a life of magic and monsters (of the mythical and human variety, but not machine)?

Scholarly Sources:

Cadora, Karen. "Feminist cyberpunk." Science fiction studies (1995): 357-372.

Crandall, Nadia. "Cyberfiction and the Gothic Novel." The Gothic in Children’s Literature: Haunting the Borders (2008): 39-56.