J.K. Rowling’s first book was published 20 years ago today. Did it create better readers, or just more of them?
children’s literature
Posted inBooks, Reading List
The Tender, Wild Realm of Children’s Literature: A Reading List
The plot of the book came to me as I was falling asleep: two girls share a bedroom, and squabble until they have no choice but to divide their room in half. Only one girl has access to the bedroom door. The other has the closet, which turns out to be an elevator. Suddenly, I was […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
Most People Love Ramona Quimby, But I Remember Beverly Cleary
“That Cleary eventually ended up writing children’s books feels the way the paths of a great many talented people feel: both inevitable and magical, the result of a lot of hard work mixed with a certain amount of luck.”
Posted inBlog Post, Fiction
The Notebooks of Harriet The Spy
Black Cardigan is a great newsletter by writer-editor Carrie Frye, who shares dispatches from her reading life. We’re thrilled to share some of them on Longreads. Go here to sign up for her latest updates. *** A few months ago, my friend Maud was in town from New York, and one afternoon I met her and her stepdaughter at a […]
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
E. B. White on the Secret of Writing for Children
Anybody who shifts gears when he writes for children is likely to wind up stripping his gears. But I don’t want to evade your question. There is a difference between writing for children and for adults. I am lucky, though, as I seldom seem to have my audience in mind when I am at work. […]