“Criteria for Selecting Speculative Fiction for Younger Readers: What to Discuss and Why”

Thanks, Susan Day, for inviting me to be a Guest Blogger on your site, Down Under!

Here is a bit of the post, to whet your appetite…

Criteria for Selecting Speculative Fiction for Younger Readers:

What to Discuss and Why

by Sally Ember, Ed.D.

“Once upon a time…” is the start of many a tale, especially for a younger reader/listener. Add: “in a land far, far away” or “in another time,” and your story falls into the genre of Speculative Fiction, which includes Fantasy and Science Fiction. But, as a life-long feminist (since aged 3; really), I have serious and ongoing problems with many children’s books and movies. Here are some of my issues, topics and criteria for selecting quality children’s literature, particularly in the Speculative Fiction genre.

Confession: I was so anti-fairy- and folk-tales that I returned gifts my well-meaning relatives sent to my then-toddler, 1980-83, because the depictions in the stories were so sexist, racist, and classist I couldn’t restate them fast enough as I read aloud to make the story worth reading. Sure, I could change gender pronouns (almost always moving from masculine to feminine, just to even the score) as I referred to characters in illustrations of impossible-to-classify beings, but when drawings of tiny-waisted, pasty-white mermaids, princesses and downtrodden, victimized, humanoid females were sprinkled throughout a story, it was time to throw the book out…..MORE on Susan’s site!

Here is the link. Please visit, comment, follow, share!

http://www.susandayauthor.com/home/say-hello-to-sally-ember-my-guest-author-for-today

Filed under: Writing Tagged: choosing books, fantasy, parents, sci-fi, speculative fiction, younger readers