Fairy-tale violence is fun for young readers

Press, 27 March 1980, Page 16

Fairy-tale violence is fun for young readers

By

LEONE STEWART

Children enjoy the spice of danger in their reading, according to Joan Aiken, who should know. She has been writing successful children’s books for many years. Youthful readers and, I suspect, more than a few adults, enjoy her appealing mixture of fact and fantasy, humour and suspense. Her books are also well received by literary critics, and educators. She is in New Zealand speaking to groups about children’s literature. Her latest book is “Go Saddle the Sea.” Its resourceful boy hero, Felix, is in the tradition of Joan Aiken’s popular heroines, Dido Twite, in “Night Birds on Nantucket,” and Bonnie of “The Wolves of Willoughby Chase.” Joan Aiken’s visit follows her participation in the Adelaide Festival. She encountered, she recalls ruefully, some criticism that her book of European fables was too violent for children. The stories in “The Kingdom Under the Sea” are not of Miss Aiken’s making. She “dug out” some fascinating, little-known fairy stories at the request of the Polish illustrator, Jan Pienkowski. His drawings of high drama in fantasyland are the stuff of dreams, even nightmares. Most children love them. They seem to have an insatiable curiosity and delight in sagas of violence and revenge many adults consider need censoring. In Adelaide the children dramatised one. of the stories from “The Kindom Under the Sea.” “Baba Yaga’s Daughter” was their choice. Baba Yaga is a witch who eats her captives. The story tells' of two little girls who outwitted the witch and ended up stuffing her into her own oven. . - As adults, some of us recall being frightened by

traditional fairy stories. How do parents decide what is a safe, scary thrill for their children, and what will be upsetting? Because children vary so much she advises their parents — who know them best—to check their books first for “anything too horrific.” ■’ “Children usually know fairy tales like ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ are a joke, and take them as such. In their teens they get a real relish for horror stories.” Having parents read aloud can invest security

into a tale of danger and challenge. Joan Aiken believes even reading 10 minutes a day to your child is invaluable, “and it’s such fun for . everyone.” Joan Aiken was born in Rye, Sussex, in 1924. Her father was the American poet, Conrad Aiken. Her mother, a Canadian, and her father were divorced when she was five. Her stepfather was an English short story writer, Martin Armstrong. Her own childhood writings were encouraged. She wrote her first short stories when she was 16. They were adapted from tales she used to tell her younger brother, and were her first works published. During the depression Joan Aiken was educated at home until she was 12. Her mother was a highly educated tutor. The little girl grew up an insatiable reader—the classics, ghost stories, fairy tales. Now she has more than 40 books published. Many are thrillers, and lately historical novels, for adults. These are the basic ingredients of her evocative books for children. They are laced with romance, and a sense of the wild. “Events are different.

but there is the same pattern of good and evil in both. Children have a very strong sense of fairness, an appreciation of morality.” For them, she makes sure right triumphs in the end. “A pessimistic children’s book would be awful. I know the times we live in are often dreadful, but children should start life ’hopefully.” Unless she is writing for beginners as in “A Necklace of Raindrops” or “Tale of a One-Way Street,” she does

not tailor her vocabulary. Joan Aiken writes for her own enjoyment. Children sense that. She believes children enjoy long, interesting, exciting words. She writes so that they can pick up the meaning from the sentence. The author finds that small children especially like rhythmic stories. Joan Aiken is often chided by her publishers because she always wants to write something different. They like the successful. money-making formula. However, she has followed the adventures of various popular characters. Dido Twite has been embroiled in American political intrigue. She has even foiled a plot to slide St Paul’s Cathedral on wheels into the Thames. Both boys and girls write to the author about her heroines. But she is . careful to keep a mixture of the sexes, no matter how intrepid her girls. Since 1963 Joan Aiken has been writing full time. Widowed when her children were five and three, she spent 10 years in the London office of the United Nations. For five years she was editor of “Argosy,” a short story

magazine. She also worked in a large London advertising agency. The American publication of her historical adventure story, “The Wolves of Willoughby Chase,” was the turning point. Highly praised' in. “Time” magazine, it sold well in the United States. That gave her the courage, and the income, to go it alone. Joan Aiken’s daughter is now waiting for her big break on the London stage. Her son works as a carpenter, and writes music as a hobby. He has composed works for her children’s plays. Five years ago the author remarried. Her husband, Julius Goldstein is an American landscape painter. He lectures in art at the New York City University. The couple spend winters in New York and summers in England. As to the future of reading, Joan. Aiken does not despair of it. “So many teachers and librarians are alert to the dangers of electronic takeover they are really actively encouraging reading among children, and their parents.”