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Letters to the editor.

Article Excerpt
May/June 2004 Horn Book

I read with anticipation the opening to Perry Nodelman's "Reading Across the Border," thinking he would expand on just why so much of children's literature is "same-old, same-old." Instead, he describes three ways of reading a children's book: as a disengaged expert; as adult-as-child; and as an adult simply looking for a good book. He concludes that the best way to read a children's book is to appreciate it within the context of its literary tradition. We should "be wary of our boredom," he says, because children themselves are new to reading and not yet jaded by the conventions.

But I think our malaise should be attended to. I am particularly concerned with the novel, which is suffering from what I call The Formula: Put your main character in a pot of hot water. Turn up the heat. Turn it up some more. Put the lid on. Let her fight her way out.

One sees the pattern in book after book. It is the story most editors look for and most writers write: a child in the throes of coping. A perfect example is Gary Paulsen's Hatchet,...

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