When Classics Curdle: Reading Children's Literature that Did Not Age Well
Summary: In this episode, Susan and Susanna discuss their thoughts on teaching children’s literature, particularly older books that have problematic or insensitive content.
Show Notes:
Articles We Reference:
- Are some children’s classics unsuitable for kids? The Guardian
- American Indians in Children’s Literature Web Page by Debbie Reese
- Ted Talk: The Danger of a Single Story
- Booklists and Resources for Finding Windows and Mirrors:
- (00:00) - Intro
- (00:14) - The inspiration for this episode
- (01:03) - Revisiting classic books with objectionable content
- (04:21) - Defining and discussing "objectionable content"
- (18:19) - How do we read these books?
- (25:04) - Break
- (25:13) - Reading classic literature in the grammar stage
- (40:38) - Susanna's experience with classic literature
- (44:32) - Windows and Mirrors
- (47:14) - Classic literature in the logic and rhetoric stage
- (48:58) - There are definitely books that should be skipped
- (52:35) - An important question to ask yourself
- (55:53) - At the end of the day
- (57:25) - Outro
