PBS Interview with 2004 Newbery Medal Winner

Be sure and read the interesting March 30th interview with Kate DiCamillo on the PBS Online NewsHour. The interviewer, Jeffery Brown, visited with DiCamillo about her book "The Tale of Despereaux," for which she received the 2004 Newbery Medal. As I mentioned in my review of her book, this novel for 8 to 12 year olds has a lot in common with Grimm's fairy tales. I was particularly interested in DiCamillo's response when Brown asked her about the darkness in the book, saying, "There are parents who aren't all that nice. There are kids left alone, even beaten....There's the prison."

DiCamillo replied, "Right, there's a lot of darkness in the world. And I think it's a disservice to think that kids don't know that the world is full of all kinds of dangers and dark things. They know. And for adults to tell them that the world is only sweetness and light when the kids can see something entirely different in front of them is... that's kind of ridiculous. So I want stories... I wanted stories, as a kid, that dealt with the world the way I saw it, which was tragic and wonderful, light and dark." DiCamillo's comments are very much in keeping with the views of developmental psychologist Bruno Bettelheim in his book "The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales," for which he received the 1977 National Book Award for nonfiction.

Some people worry that fairy tales like Grimm's fairy tales are too grim for children. Others feel they serve a useful purpose in children's lives. Join our discussion for some interesting views on the subject.recall recall