1Hello, Trevor.
2Hello, Stephanie.
3You said you wanted to talk about the course I'm taking on literature for children.
4That's right.
5I'm thinking of doing it next year, but I'd like to find out more about it first.
6OK, well, as you probably know, it's a one-year course.
7It's divided into six modules, and you have to take all of them.
8One of the most interesting ones, for me, at least,
9was about the purpose of children's literature.
10You mean, whether it should just entertain children or should be educational, as well.
11Right, and whether the teaching should be factual - giving them information about the world - or ethical, teaching them values.
12What's fascinating is that the writer isn't necessarily conscious of the message they're conveying.
13For instance, a story might show a child who has a problem as a result of not doing what an adult has told them to do,
14implying that children should always obey adults.
15Ah... I see what you mean.
16That module made me realise how important stories are -
17they can have a significant effect on children as they grow up.
18Actually, it inspired me to have a go at it myself, just for my own interest.
19I know I can't compete with the really popular stories, like the Harry Potter books - they're very good,
20and even young kids like my seven-year-old niece love reading them.
21I'm very interested in illustrations in stories.
22Is that covered in the course?
23Yes, there's a module on pictures,
24and how they're sometimes central to the story.
25Mm.. that's good.
26I remember some frightening ones I saw as a child and I can still see them vividly in my mind, years later!
27Pictures can be so powerful, just as powerful as words.
28I've always enjoyed drawing, so that's the field I want to go into when I finish the course.
29I bet that module will be really helpful.
30I'm sure it will.
31We also studied comics in that module,
32but I'm not convinced of their value, not compared with books.
33One of the great things about words is that you use your imagination,
34but with a comic you don't have to.
35But children are so used to visual input - on TV, video games, and so on.
36There are plenty of kids who wouldn't even try to read a book,
37so I think comics can serve a really useful purpose.
38You mean, it's better to read a comic than not to read at all?
39Yes, I suppose you're right.
40I just think its sad when children don't read books.
41What about books for girls and books for boys?
42Does the course go into that?
43Yes, there's a module on it.
44For years, lots of stories, in English, at least, assumed that boys went out and did adventurous things
45and girls stayed at home and played with dolls.
46I was amazed how many books were targeted at just one sex or the other.
47Of course this reflects society as it is when the books are written.
48That's true.
49So it sounds as though you think it's a good course.
50Definitely.
51Have you been reading lots of children's stories, to help you decide whether to take the course?
52Yeah. I've gone as far back as the late seventeenth century,
53though I know there were earlier children's stories.
54So does that mean you've read Perrault's fairy tales?
55Cinderella, The Sleeping Beauty, and so on.
56Yes!
57They must be important, because no stories of that type had been written before,
58these were the first.
59Then there's The Swiss Family Robinson.
60I haven't read that.
61The English name makes it sound as though Robinson is the family's surname,
62but a more accurate translation would be The Swiss Robinsons,
63because it's about a Swiss family who are shipwrecked,
64like Robinson Crusoe in the novel of a century earlier.
65Well I never knew that!
66Have you read Hoffmann's The Nutcracker and the Mouse King?
67Wasn't that the basis for Tchaikovsky's ballet The Nutcracker?
68That's right.
69It has some quite bizarre elements.
70I hope you've read Oscar Wilde's The Happy Prince.
71It's probably my favourite children's story of all time.
72Oh.. mine too!
73And it's so surprising, because Wilde is best known for his plays,
74and most of them are very witty, but The Happy Prince is really moving.
75I struggled with Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings...
76three long books, and I gave up after one.
77It's extremely popular, though.
78Yeah, but whereas something like The Happy Prince just carried me along with it,
79The Lord of the Rings took more effort than I was prepared to give it.
80I didn't find that - I love it.
81Another one I've read is War Horse.
82Oh yes. It's about the First World War, isn't it?
83Hardly what you'd expect for a children's story.
84Exactly, but it's been very successful.
85Have you read any...