Contemporary children's fiction books or Children's literature is a literary work whose primary audience is children though many books of this category are also equally enjoyed by adults.
Basic characteristics of contemporary children's fiction books
There is some debate regarding the content of children's fiction books . It mainly comprises of stories which are selected and read by children themselves. These books are written and published keeping in mind a child's emotional needs and to give airs to his imaginative faculty. In many cases these books are chosen for the children by the authorities like teachers, reviewers, scholars, parents, publishers, librarians, bookstores and award committees.
Sometimes it is not clear whether to categorize a given work as adult or children's literature for example the Harry Potter series was published in separate editions for children and as well as adults.
There are a number of problems in children's fiction books
• Parents wishing to guard their children from the unhappy sides of life often find the traditional fairy tales, voyages of discovery and adventure stories problematic because the protagonist in the story often frees himself from the adult influence and learns to cope on his own. In most of the cases the story reflects the young character's transformation into adulthood.
• In many contemporary children's fiction books there is a romantic episode involving the young characters. Parents often don't want this to influence their children.
Some of the best known authors of contemporary children's fiction books
- J.K. Rowling
- Jacqueline Wilson
- Catherine Cookson
- Jane Yolen
