I was thinking the other day about how dramatically writing for kids has changed over just one generation. Mine were the days of mostly Enid Blyton adventures. The Magic Faraway Tree, and Famous Five being among my favourites. The language was very structured and formal. It was certainly an adult writing for children in neat prose.
Todays childrens books seem much more daring and come out with the voice of a child rather than of an adult telling a childs story. The language is short, witty, punchy and at times irreverent. References to bums, penises, farts and everything icky provide hilarity and fun stories. The writings of the Paul Jennings of today would have been banned a short time ago, but now they have gained huge popularity with kids, but are also well accepted by schools and parents.
Then there is the modernized revisiting of traditional fantasy. J.K Rowling tells such stories that are almost a todays version of the Lord of the Rings of yesterday.
Gone are the days of didactic story telling, as the trend heads towards stories purely for the purpose of entertainment.
What were your favourite stories as a kid? What about todays kids? Whats your take on books for kids today as opposed to a generation ago?