Talking about picture books

Children's books are being discussed in the general media more than ever. The New Yorker has an article on the behavior of children in picture books that every librarian ought to read. The author, Daniel Zalewski, compares the behavior of recent protagonists like Olivia the cheerful little pig to earlier ones like Frances the Badger in Russel Hoban's classic picture books. The more recent heroes and heroines triumph over their parents, misbehaving in wildly inappropriate ways without experiences any downside. Unlike the parents in the Frances books or the even earlier Robert McCloskey books, today's parents are unable to restrain their children's tantrums. In the new Constance series by Pierre LeGall, the young heroine is able to fool all the adults around her by acting virtuous in boarding school without really changing her outrageous behavior while at home. Do these new books reflect a change in parental behavior or simply a new freedom for editors, authors and illustrators to portray naughtiness that would ge many children into trouble? Fantasy is fine for young children, but librarians might do well to talk to kids at storyhour about whether these stories reflect something that might happen or whether they are pure imagination. Let's hear some feedback from the target audience!