“Hansel & Gretel: Fairy Tale to Opera”

Two singers from the San Diego Young Artists 

Opera Program performing a piece 

from the opera of "Hansel & Gretel"

On January 14^th I had the wonderful opportunity to see Dr. Joseph Thomas and Dr. Nicolas Reveles’ lively discussion, “Hansel & Gretel: Fairy Tale to Opera” as part of San Diego Opera’s 65^th year of the “Taste of Opera” series. Thomas and Reveles discussed the roots of Hansel and Gretel, both the Grimm Brothers’ version and the story in the Humperdinck opera. They explored the dark undertones of the story and how it turned into the (somewhat less dark) story it is known as today. Two talented singers from the San Diego Young Artists Opera Program performed a piece from the opera.

As Reveles beautifully puts it, Humperdinck perfectly illustrates children left to their own devices, without the scrutiny of parents, as seen by the two singers bickering with one another as they dance around the stage. This can be seen with Hansel and Gretel joyously skipping around the stage and fighting over who should do the laundry.

Nicolas Reveles playing a piano

piece from the Hansel & Gretel Opera

I don’t know much about operas, but I know a bit about the Grimm Brothers, so I was excited. The original opera was written in the nineteenth century by composer Engelbert Humperdinck, based on the Grimm brothers’ popular fairy tale.

The origins of “Hansel and Gretel” are a bit unclear, but Thomas says estimates lie around 1315, the time of the Great Famine in Europe. During this time there were many historic tales of cannibalism and child abandonment, two ideas present in the story of Hansel and Gretel. This popular tale may have been inspired by Charles Perrault’s fairy tale Hop o’ My Thumb.

Nicolas Reveles and Joseph Thomas

In the time of Grimm’s tales, it was not uncommon for many children to be abandoned due to lack of food, so Hansel and Gretel’s tale, at least the first part of the tale, is not as far-fetched as it may seem to modern audiences.

Although fairy tales are modernly associated with children, according to Reveles, fairy tales were originally written as a historical and theoretical study for adults. Grimm’s tales were a very new concept, as the common idea of literature was the it should come from Greek and Roman tales, an idea popularized by King Louis XIV. This was known as “The Quarrel of the Ancients and the Moderns”. 

Although Grimm’s first edition highlighted a motif of child abandonment, this didn’t sit well with audiences, so the mother was edited as a step-mother, and as Dr. Thomas states, editors argued that “a German mother would never do that [abandon her children]”. I am curious if this started the tradition of stepmothers that we see in many Disney movies and the fairy tales they were inspired by.

Hansel and Gretel has some interesting themes. For one, the natural world, or the woods Hansel and Gretel enter, is a world of mysticality, poetry, and fairy tales, perhaps as an escape from the restrictive world the two live in at their own home. These stories had many educational themes throughout which may not have been as obvious being a modern reader.

This was truly such a fun talk and I learned so much.

-SS

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.

Welcoming the New Graduate Assistant

Hello everyone!

My name is Sofia St. John and I am currently in my first year of my M.A. degree in English with a specialization in Children’s Literature. I am interested in diving deeper into queer studies, sexuality studies, and disability studies in children’s and young adult literature and I am particularly drawn to young adult books exploring diverse identities in adolescents.

I just presented my paper, “(En)Able the (Dis)Abled” at the 40^th Annual Southwest Popular/American Culture Association, exploring representations of disability in young adult literature, and I hope to delve deeper into the topic of disabled identities in children’s and young adult literature. 

As a child I quickly developed a passion for reading and language in general, which seemed to pave the way for my future studies. I was constantly reading to the point where I would get in trouble for being up too late with a flashlight and a book. The first Harry Potter stole my heart at six years old and seemed to spark my true passion for reading. My interests for reading slowly developed into a love for fantasy and fiction, and especially horror and supernatural elements in young adult literature.

When I am not doing work for the National Center for the Study of Children’s Literature or schoolwork, I can be found with my nose in a book, researching or writing novels, trying to find the next horror movie or obscure documentary, or looking at one too many pictures of dogs. A couple books that have stolen my heart are The Female of The Species by Mindy McGinnis and the Six of Crows series; I am always looking forward to finding a new book.

I am so thankful to be a part of the National Center for the Study of Children’s Literature, and I cannot wait to see what this semester brings. I look forward to learning more in the vast and ever-evolving world of children’s literature and I hope to bring my own voice into the conversation. I would love to chat with you about literature or anything else. 

-SS

Julián is a Mermaid

Jessica Love’s Julián is a Mermaid is an elegant picture book about a young Afro-Latinx boy, Julián, who loves mermaids. In soft colors and gentle edges, Love creates a dream-like story tugging our heart strings. He dreams of letting his hair free and swimming in the ocean, as shown in dreamy, paint-like illustrations. Upon seeing three beautiful women on the subway dressed as mermaids, Julián reports to his abuela, “I am also a mermaid” (Love, 2018). After seeing these women, he arranges leaves and flowers to resemble long, flowing hair, dons a popping purple pout, and ties a curtain around his waist like a lacy mermaid’s tail. Julián's abuela enters, and the reader’s breath is bound to catch as Julián is discovered dressed in false hair and a tail-like wrap. His abuela, instead of shaming or shushing him, offers him a pearl necklace, and takes him to see a parade of mermaids, saying, “Like you, mijo. Let’s join them.” In this tender moment, his abuela’s complete acceptance and encouragement makes some of us smile, but apparently, not everyone. 

Love was inspired by this book upon hearing about her trans friend’s experience of transition to be a man late in his life, alongside episodes of RuPaul’s Drag Race. She tossed around ideas of the young boy encountering drag queens until she stumbled upon the symbolism of a mermaid within the trans community. Love has been drawn to mermaids, and says, “there’s something about mermaids. Who knows if that’s because they’re magical creatures who can live between two realities or because they don’t have any genitals, or because they’re f***ing great” (Pink News 2019). Mermaids became symbolic in the trans community due to having nothing but a tail, and the Disney film The Little Mermaid gained more significance: it portrays a main character desiring to discard her tails for legs to change her form an entire half of her body. Such symbolism seemed to ring true in Julián's narrative. 

While Love’s story can be read as a portrayal of the transgender experience, it can also simply read as a boy expressing his curiosity or love for mermaids, bringing a wide audience of readers-children and adult alike. 

Although this charming book has been winning hearts and awards alike, awards such as the 2019 Stonewall Book Award, many were upset with the depiction of the transgender experience. A blogger known as “The Book Toss”, states “by creating this almost immediate acceptance, Jessica Love negated the real struggle so many Latinx LGBTQ people must go through. Is that is [sic] the message the author is trying to send? Probably. But, it lands flat to me. For me, this comes from a place of privilege that would rather a mermaid trope carry the message and ignore the very real issues at work” (Blog, 2018). 

Despite the potential controversy, we immediately fell for young Julián and his desire to become a mermaid. With messages of tolerance and love, his imagination calls the reader to think outside their prescribed norms to show us that perhaps anyone can be a mermaid. We invite you to open this book and your mind to Love’s beautiful picture book. 

(SS)

Works Cited:

Jackman, Josh. “ Trans Kids’ Book ‘Julián Is a Mermaid’ Is Winning Hearts and Awards .” PinkNews, 17 Feb. 2019, www.pinknews.co.uk/2019/02/17/trans-kids-book-julian-is-a-mermaid-awards/.

Love, Jessica. Julián Is a Mermaid. Candlewick, 2018.

“Trans People Aren't Mythical Creatures.” BookToss, 24 Sept. 2018, booktoss.blog/2018/09/24/trans-people-arent-mythical-creatures/.

Introduction to Literature: Personal Accounts (II)

For this installment of my Introduction to Literature Series, I will be featuring Sequoia Stone. She is a second-year M.A. student in SDSU's English and Comparative Literature department, with a specialization in Children's Literature. This is her first semester teaching and her English 220 course is entitled "Reimagining Canon: Literary Confrontations, Adaptations, and Subversions." The following entries are from Sequoia herself!

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I'd had the idea for my syllabus knocking around in my head for a while, ever since I'd read one of my course texts (The Song of Achilles, a queer re-telling of The Illiad) right after reading The Illiad in a course during my senior year of college. While I knew I would have enjoyed The Song of Achilles on its own, reading it on the heel of The Illiad was a deeply illuminating experience. I understood The Illiad better (I read TSOA in six hours the night before my midterm or the course--whoops!), and I was able to approach The Song of Achilles with the tradition and history of The Illiad informing my reading. As I thought about becoming a professor in the far-off future, I thought I'd love the chance to put The Illiad and The Song of Achilles in conversation for my students. When I was presented with the opportunity to teach 220 here at SDSU, I took this initial parting and poured over the books in my library and memories of my undergraduate years in order to create my syllabus based around the idea of reading a "canon" book with a "non-canon" one. Some of these pairings were direct adaptations, while others were simply two texts that echoed similar themes and ideas.

1. What Children's and young adult books or texts were included in the reading list for your course? How were these texts received by the students?

I have eight course texts, four canon and four non-canon. All of my non-canon books are young adult novels: Madeline Miller's The Song of Achilles, Libba Bray's Beauty Queens, Paolo Bacigalupi's Ship Breaker, and Scott Westerfeld's Uglies. I have gotten mostly a positive response to these books, and they are often just as intellectually challenging to my students as the more dense canon texts. Something I would hear often is that reading the YA companion book made things we discussed in the canon text more accessible, as students were able to use more "relatable" texts as a way to retroactively understand things that might have been more austere in older novels.

2. What other texts lended themselves to discuss childhood and adolescence in nuanced ways that were either unexpected or surprising? 

Something that was surprising and delightful to me in my course was how concerned my students were with the interiority or backstory of a character. When reading Lord of the Flies, a student proposed that maybe Jack was so violence because he had a childhood, or was abused. Similarly, in Great Expectations in my class wondered if the villainous figure of Mrs. Joe was more so a product of her upbringing than anything else. While I like to steer these observations back into textual analysis, I enjoyed seeing my students approach these characters as so three-dimensional that they asked themselves, why are they the way they are? It seems that the importance of childhood, the impact of how one is raised, was at the forefront of my student's minds even when we were reading texts not specifically aimed at children or young adults.

3. How does your class's theme carry over to the matters of childhood and adolescence?

Something my class has emphasized throughout our semester has been the importance of familial bonds, and how the family unit impacts the way one grows. Many of our main characters have had abusive parents or families that encourage negativity, and a lot of our discussion has been based around following these characters as they navigate the repercussions of abuse, of cruelty, or of neglect. We have also talked a lot about found families, the family one creates that provides support or love, and how this constructed family illustrates the importance of things like kindness, generosity, and loyalty. As we've moved through our texts, we've also looked at the various ways in which society pressures children and young adults to conform. Whether this manifests as discouraging queerness, encouraging apathy, or dictating beauty standards, my class has talked extensively about the different ways the characters in our novels face crushing dominant ideologies, as well the ways in which it is possible to resist them.

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Thank you so much to Sequoia Stone for the robust commentary and amazing engagement with themes of childhood and adolescence!

-A. Elliott

Introductions to 2018-2019 Academic Year

Greetings to all readers and interested folks!

Thank you for waiting patiently, but it is time for the new NCSCL academic year to kick off! Already this year, we have had a lecture from our very own Joseph T. Thomas Jr. entitled “A Long Talk on Shel Silverstein’s Short Plays.” If you were unable to make it to this event, or if you would like to see it again, we have uploaded a recording onto YouTube. Simply click here.

This academic year brings lots of potential, therefore our goal is to discuss news and upcoming materials that might be of interest to those of us in the fields of children’s and young adult literature. We also hope to give you a glimpse into the endeavors and projects taking place at SDSU. To receive regular updates, be sure to follow all our social media platforms! Please like a post, leave us a comment, or ask us questions about anything. We would love to hear from everyone!

Twitter: NCSChildLit
Instagram: ncschildlit
Facebook: @NCSCL (National Center for the Study of Children’s Literature, at SDSU)
YouTube: National Center for the Study of ChLit

We are so excited for what this academic year will bring, and we hope you are ready to join us on this year’s journey. Be on the lookout for more blogs and posts on all our platforms for what is to come!

-A. Elliott

Welcoming the New Graduate Assistants

Alexander Elliott

Hi everyone!! My name is Alexander and I am currently in my second year of my MA degree in English and Comparative Literature at SDSU. Although I am technically specializing in American Literature, I have been able to really focus on my preferred area of literature: young adult literature. I am mostly interested in young adult literature that discusses various identities and provides a diverse, intersectional discussion of adolescence—while complicating the genre itself. The areas of interest that have come up for me are LGBTQ+ narratives, queer studies (time/space, geographies, and ecology), and cultural/ethnic representations of Latinx individuals in YA literature.

I read many books as a young child, but my interest in the field stems from having picked up a book in the first grade that dealt with loss, grief, and relationships. It is no surprise that I continued on the reading trajectory that I did. Thankfully, SDSU has provided me with the guidance to incorporate this personal interest into my academic studies. My current research has been focused on adolescent cultures of various kinds. I will be presenting at the Literature/Film Association Conference later this year in New Orleans on Were the World Mine, then at the International Girl Studies Association Conference next year on Anna Marie-McLemore’s When the Moon Was Ours. These two opportunities are perfect examples of my interest in film/media and literature that deals with intersectional topics.

I am so thankful to join the team here at the NCSCL! I hope to learn more about YA literature, but finally delve into children’s literature more closely; so, if there are any recommendations as to where I should start, please let me know!

Kiedra Taylor

Greetings fellow humanists! My name is Kiedra Taylor, and I’m a second-year English graduate student specializing in Children’s Literature. While I’m interested in the critical histories and conditions of young adolescent (YA) and children’s literature, I’m also interested in the possibilities of the genres. YA and Children’s literature have the potential to assist its readers with identity formation; it also has the potential to foster empathy and compassion for others through story lines that encourage critical thinking and self-reflection. So far, my focus is discovering how the genres offer readers the opportunity to practice independent critical thinking.

I recall reading Toni Morrison’s coming-of-age novel, The Bluest Eye, at a young age and feeling confused afterwards. Even as an adult, I don’t fully understand the nature of the impact that the novel had on me, but I do recall times in my life where I recollected a particular character or moment in the novel and those thoughts somehow informed how I felt about whatever was happening at the time. I wish my younger self had thought to ask someone for more novels like this one, novels where I had a choice which of characters whom I could identify with, novels where someone whom I could identify with was not in the margins. Now that I’m a mother of four children and grandmother of one, I’m particularly interested in how YA and children’s texts can help readers, especially children to make sense of this complicated world of ours.

I hope that my graduate research and internship with the National Center for the Study of Children’s Literature will allow me to enter into and contribute to a fairly new yet learned conversation about young adolescent and children’s literature. I am humbled by the fact that I am brand new to this field of study, so I have every intention of listening to and considering the suggestions, guidance, and expertise of all of you in the field.  In that same vein, I hope to be heard since I have years of experiences and observations that will allow me develop a voice of my own.