Hunter-gatherers had stories. Primitive societies had stories. And storytelling requires a wood fire and a dark night. But of course stories may be found not only at the family dinner table or with the last survivor of the Titanic. In our interest in children's welfare, we often forget that children are not simply passive receptacles for whatever treasure or trash the adult world throws at them, but are lively agents who are continually interacting with their environment.
Children actively create meaning as readers, viewers, and listeners.
The 39th Allerton Park Institute papers emphasize the critical need to connect children and narrative as a way to affect their development as readers, viewers, and evaluators of literature and information in all forms. A Critical Look. Edited by Betsy Hearne and Roger Sutton. 161 pp. paper. Papers presented at the 34th Allerton Institute discuss not only selection criteria, but also ideas about how to reconsider and apply them in a new way.