A common trend we see today is to underestimate what our children can and cannot do. We see helicopter parents who get enraged when their children are being challenged in schools, calling for the teacher to slow down and go easy on their precious child. This would be all fine and dandy if this wasn’t making the confidence of our children suffer. One can easily observe students lack of confidence if they were to turn to their work, or their views of themselves; good self-esteem is something of the past. Good quality children’s literature can be the answer to this issue. Because of its ability to portray children as agents of change, literature like The Secret Garden and the Harry Potter Series, are staples in helping building up our children’s self-esteems.
J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone is full of young characters who have quite a large effect on their world. The titular character’s own existence is an example of the change a child character can have on a fictional world. Harry’s defeat of Lord Voldemort in Godric’s Hollow shows that children have the ability to bring down people and institutions that may be harmful to them and others; this is a great lesson for children who have abusive parents or guardians.
Alongside Harry, Neville Longbottom’s growth throughout the book helps him enact last minute change in both the House Cup and himself. If it wasn’t for his ability to stand up to his friends, and the self-discovery it took to get him there, the house cup in the end would’ve gone to Slytherin, making the overall theme of the underdogs prevailing in the end fall short. Neville’s story arc gives children the ability to see a child like them standing up and defending themselves, making Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone effective as a piece of children’s literature.
Another piece of children’s literature that is effective in helping guide our children through its young characters is, The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Mistress Mary is a great example of a child with flaws. So often in children’s literature we see protagonists who are perfect or when flawed are flawed in an unrealistic way, making them seem “plastic” and fake. If Mary wasn’t so bossy and brash, Colin and the garden would never grow to their full potential. Mary and Colin together form change both outwardly and inwardly. Burnett shows the reader this by writing a connected symbolism between the green growth of the hidden garden to Mary and Colin's own personal growth. When children read about Mary and Colin, they are given the chance to see characters who have problematic behaviors and understand that they can change them and the people around them.
In conclusion, when children’s literature includes young characters who are agents of change, children can gain vital skills and information that can raise their self-awareness and better their self-esteem. Characters like Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom can help students learn to stand up for themselves and their morals. As well, characters like Mary and Colin from The Secret Garden help young readers to have a background of traits that are and are not seen as favorable; and ways to fix them. We need books like these, with characters who make a difference in their respective worlds, to help our children in our world.
