Garcia |1

Emmanuel Garcia
English 308
Dr. Lee
November 10, 2016
An Analysis of Childrens Literature
Annotated Bibliography
Blume, Judy. The Pain and the Great One. Bradbury Press. 1974
A story that depicts the rivalry among a brother and a sister. The Pain or the brother of the
sister- a mischievous, rude and trouble maker, making her life miserable. The Great One, or the
sister, a story of the brother and how his parents seem to favor her because she is miss know it
all. Takes us down memory lane and makes the reader relate to when we once thought our
sibling to be the rival.
Gibbons, Gail. Knights in Shining Armor. Little, Brown and Company. 1995
A voyage back in the Medieval Times in Europe. Mr. Knight describes his journey from
being a young boy aspiring to be a Knight into finally reaching his goals. The colorful pages and
the descriptive steps to become a Knight, allows the reader to flourish into this time.
Kellog, Steven. Paul Bunyan. William Morrow & Co. 1984
From a cute and adorable child, to a monstrous and mischievous toddler, into a large and
tall man, Paul Bunyan, the most unique lumberjack underwent a variety of adventures. From
cleaning the town he lived in, to create the humongous flap jacks to feed his men, Bunyan along
with Babe, his Ox, became the hero of the United States.
Levine, Arthur A. The Boy Who Drew Cats. Dial Books. 1993
Kenji, a Japanese boy seeks to pursue his talents and aspirations of being an artist. Haven
to abandoned his village, and put into a temple to study as an acolyte, Kenji is able to defeat the
Rat King by painting cats. Finally, this lead him to become the famous painter of his village, and
rules peacefully in restoring the old temple with his art.
Seabrooke, Brenda. The Swans Gift. Candlewick Press. 1995
The story of sacrifice and risk taking, Anton, father of seven children undergoes while
encountering a snow storm. In the midst of his adventure he finds himself an encounter with a
lovely white Swan. Desiring to kill it, he falls on his knees and repents for his misconduct. In
gratitude of not killing it, the swan blesses Anton with a pocket full of diamonds. At the end,
Anton is able to feed his children with an abundance of food.

Throughout history, there has been a variety of definitions that depict what an ideal child
is. Among these definitions rises the idea that a child is and should act as being in adult. From

Garcia |2
this, the counterpart depicts that children are to be seeing as being innocent, warm and fun.
Though they may counterattack each others beliefs, as we enter the twenty first century,
needless to say, the contemporary ideology has shifted into a more sympathetic and firm thought.
In the five texts used for this analysis we see how the definition of a child, in particular the male
or boy construct, has changed into a more dominant figure in our times. The child in the five
texts depict the role of the boy to be adventurous, risk taking, wild and misbehaved, and in need
of constant ethical training. Specific behaviors are demonstrated through the way the protagonist
think and act. Certain use of vocabulary are being used in the text, describing the idea of
empowerment and dominance. In the text, The Boy Who Drew Cats, we see how painting is seen
as something feministic, where field working, as described in the book by the actions of Kenjis
older brothers, seem to be the social norm of an ideal job for a male figure. In The Swans Gift,
Brenda Seabrooke explains what a father should be and act when they are married. The father
role is being demonstrated by the constant sacrifices Anton does for his family. In this text, boys
are taught to be dominant and firm. They are taught to be risk takers, and to go on constant
voyages that make them the hero in the household.
Books written for boys and girls differ in a variety of ways. In the Swans Gift, The Boy
Who Drew Cats, Knights in Shining Armor, and Paul Bunyan, we see the exact same plot
designed for the Folk tale genre. That is the main character or protagonist is introduced to a
problem, he, in this case, leaves his home to solve the problem; fights or solves the problem,
returns home into a festivity of welcoming. All male protagonist, Anton from The Swans Gift,
and Kenji, from The Boy Who Drew Cats, the main Knight in the Knights in Shining Armor, and
Paul Bunyan, face the role of leaving their homes in search to resolve the issues that each are
undergoing. At the end, they return home or are relocated in another village, but have earned the

Garcia |3
title of being the Hero. Another characteristic of the folk tale seen in each of these stories is the
use of vocabulary to demonstrate dominance and empowerment. In the Knights in Shining
Armor, the use of words such as respectful, powerful, deadly, strong, and bravery, discreetly
depict how boys should grow ought to be. In the Boy Who Drew Cats, Kenji constantly tells
himself to be brave and courageous. This goes a long with the type of moral lesson each of the
authors are trying to convey in the story. Boys should be brave, courageous, and ethical and risk
takers. Contrary to this ideology and moral teaching, Judy Bloome says otherwise. In her book,
The Pain and the Great One, though the main focus is to solve sibling rivalry, we see how the
boy is being perceived from himself and in a girls perspective. Morally speaking, through the
girls interpretation, her brother or Pain as she calls him, should be clean, polite, warming, and
loving; characteristics typically described for the female counterpart. When the brother talks
about himself, he does describe himself as being wild, active, and as a trouble maker. This
demonstrates and supports the idea of how boys should act like but most importantly, how our
contemporary society see boys through their eyes.
After looking back at the five text used for this field work study, I can relate a lot of the
concepts described in class. One of the concepts is the social conduct idea that men should
behaved a certain way to earn respect in society. We see this in Judys Blumes The Pain and the
Great One and in Paul Bunyan, by Steven Kellog. Both text mention that boys should grow up to
be respectable men by working hard, taking risks, being kind and loving. Although this is the
social conduct they perceive, the modem contemporary seems to differ. In class, we saw this in
Treasure Island. In this text, we saw two distinguish groups of men, the pirates themselves and
the white collar. Although we assume that the white collar men were the educated and prestige
men, it turned out to be that the pirates that actually obeyed and followed the social norms. These

Garcia |4
texts, like the pirates, exemplify this criticism. The brother or known as the Pain, did everything
right to be liked and respected; but the fact that he was the young one and a boy, brought conflict
with his sister.
Another idea that these text reflect concepts learn in class is that of an idealist family. In
all the text we see a father, a mother, a bother and a sister. This characteristic of the family
exemplifies the traditional American values that our country are trying to depict on children.
Like The Giver, these families seem to have the function of educating the young. If not, show or
teach children, in particular boys, how to act to when they grow families of their own.
Lastly, the continuous definition of the child. Children are clearly shown to differ when it
comes to gender. Gender roles has been without doubt an important trait of distinction when
analyzing these five texts. Girls are perceived as the educated, and fragile individuals. Where
boys are seen mischievous, demeaning, rude, dirty, wild and adventurous. Although to us this
may be a criticism that children do not act this way, it is interesting to see how this idea that boys
are simply trouble continues to transcend decades.
All in all, children literature has been a vital aspect to both children and adults. To
children because it brings out the fun and interactive aspect of them. To adults because it teaches
us how society perceives children as a whole. Although children literature tends to critique the
perception of children, gender roles seems to be a trait that distinguishes the how aspect of
how boys and girls should act. In the five texts, The Pain and the Great One by Judy Blume,
Paul Bunyan by Steven Kellog, Knights in Shining Armor by Gail Gibbons, The Boy Who Drew
Cats by Arthur Levine, and The Swans Gift by Brenda Seabrooke all depict important
interpretations of the boy construction.