Madeleine L'Engle on Children's Books and Censorship
Should children’s books to be honest about life and its hardships,
or should we shield kids from anything unpleasant, confusing, or scary?
When have children's stories ever been just sunshine and puppies?
In Do I Dare Disturb the Universe?, Madeleine L'Engle
explores the question of how to handle tough topics in kidlit.
It contains the text of a Madeleine L'Engle speech about different types of censorship and the responsibility of writers of children's literature to ask good questions and be faithful to the truth of things.
As the author of respected and beloved children’s and young adult books such as A Wrinkle in Time, A Wind in the Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, and An Acceptable Time, her perspective on these topics is invaluable.
In spite of all the negative connotations of the word “censor”, L’Engle proposes that we all censor to some degree, just by choosing one book over another. We examine art and decide what parts of it are acceptable, and what we want to avoid or eliminate. We call it “choice” and “discernment”, not censorship. However, that kind of censorship for ourselves and our families, not for the entire community, not attempting to use the police power of the state to control access for others.
Exercising our best judgment and making choices based on our knowledge, experiences, and sincerely held beliefs is one of the joys of being human. It doesn’t need to be a source of divisiveness. Inclusion of some things often means the exclusion of others—it’s unavoidable. This can be as simple as a genre preference or as essential as your core values. In any case, we all want to enjoy the freedom of making these choices, including what we and our children should read. The problems begin when we want to use intimidation, extortion, and threats to keep others from exercising their judgment about what is and isn’t a good book.
Books are important for so many reasons, not the least of which is that they give us the opportunity to explore new experiences and ideas without leaving the safety of home, or the comfort and counsel of our friends and family. Stories ask us questions we never knew needed asking, and quite often they leave us without any answers. That’s a good thing.
Hearing from an experienced and respected author like L’Engle can really help us gain some perspective on the relationship between censorship and kidlit. Do I Dare Disturb the Universe? includes the authors’s introduction to A Wrinkle in Time, which gives us a glimpse into the ideas behind that story. You might find the number of rejection slips she received from publishers surprising. They didn't understand the story, or felt that it was too hard for children.
But L’Engle points out the obvious: When have children's stories ever been just sunshine and puppies? There has always been death and pain, good vs. evil, and betrayal and hardship in children's literature. Hansel and Gretel anyone? Through stories we can introduce and prepare our children for realities they've yet to experience. We can help them find a healthy perspective on heartbreak and tragedy, and comfort to them when they have had their first taste of bitter tears.
The authors of children’s books have a tremendous responsibility to tell the truth, but they also must do so in a way appropriate to their audience. In the local library, children’s books are arranged by reading level, but that’s not just about the difficulty of the vocabulary; it’s also about the subject matter. Parents place an enormous amount of trust in kidlit authors to take their role seriously. It’s a kind of partnership, and the best children’s books reveal that the author understands this. And it’s a balance; parents should be involved in choosing the books their kids read, and not abdicate this responsibility to teachers, librarians, and authors. The propriety of a book for a child should be evaluated on a book-by-book basis.
Do I Dare Disturb the Universe? finishes with a scanned copy of the original manuscript of A Wrinkle in Time. Anyone interested in the writing process is going to enjoy deciphering the word choices and edits that mark the pages. It was a pleasure to see behind-the-scenes with the author of a much beloved children’s book.
If you are interested in the topic of crafting or choosing children’s literature, or the various shades of censorship, Do I Dare Disturb the Universe? is a must read.
