Comments on: Captain Nihilist is for the children

By: Jay

Jay — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 22:36:16 +0000

Great post, great links. Thanks!

By: Angelina F

Angelina F — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 21:01:37 +0000

I agree. Writing childrens stories and for young adults is much harder. And Louis Sachar is FANTASTIC. He was a genius.

I think Roza and TDC are the best examples you’ve got of children’s books. Maybe check out Good Cheese, too, which is for young adults.

By: Grey

Grey — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 06:16:25 +0000

I just read Dawn of Time. It was pretty nice. I’ll have to follow it now. Wouldn’t have known of it if you hadn’t put up that page.

By: El Santo

El Santo — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 20:51:35 +0000

By the way, I remember one of my favorite stories from childhood being Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Traveling Companion.” It’s not brought up much in schools, I’m guessing, because it includes the following: grave robbers. Some guy hacking off a swan’s wings. A princess with a garden full of decapitated heads. An evil wizard who eats eyeballs. Seriously, that was DISTURBING, but man I loved it.

“Marsh King’s Daughter,” another Christiansen favorite, wasn’t quite as filled with grotesque imagery. It did, though, have a murdered priest and horse rising from a grave. Also a princess-turned-into-toad who bloodied and tore the webbing between her fingers to dig the aforementioned priest’s grave. I think another reason dark imagery is so prevalent in classic children’s lit is because they tend to stick with you for a long, long time.

By: John

John — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 13:07:51 +0000

Here’s another good quote for Section 2:
“Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed. ” – GK Chesterton

By: dwightmacpherson

dwightmacpherson — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 12:09:48 +0000

A wonderful, insightful article. Oh, and thanks for the Edgar Allan Poo reference!