This past semester, I decided to take a children’s literature class because why not? If there’s an opportunity to read children’s books in a college course, I’m gonna jump right at it! Throughout the semester, I found myself intrigued by this class more than my other ones. A lot of my decision to take this class was from what I was familiar with — the Disney versions of most of the stories. I was ready to get back in the world of books meant for children, but little did I know that that was the furthest thing from it. But even then, the class kept my interest at peak and if I had the chance to take it again, I would.

1. "Folk and Fairy Tales"

I didn’t even bother trying to rent this book because I immediately knew I wanted to keep this one. The collection of stories from different authors in this book all reach a common feature — they all stem from stories we’ve heard growing up. From "Cinderella," to "Little Red Riding Hood," to "Sleeping Beauty," and "Jack and the Beanstalk," the original stories that we’re familiar with are in there as well as the different versions many wouldn’t recognize. The stories I remembered as a little girl have now been altered in my mind as provocative, troubling and confusing in this book. Even more so, the questions that I’ve never thought to think about. Like, why are the majority of these stories centered around young vulnerable girls? And — how do we not recognize that these stories have a clear deeper and darker meaning? These folk and fairy tales are anything far from innocent and the theories behind all of them.

2. "Alice In Wonderland" and "Through the Looking Glass"

If I had the chance to talk to any author it would probably be Lewis Carroll. I would start off by asking him, “How in the world did you come up with a story such as this one?” The only thing I was familiar with was the Disney movie of "Alice in Wonderland" and that was about it. I had never read the book and I definitely didn’t realize how long the book actually was. This was probably the most confusing story we read out of the entire semester. Why? Because in my honest opinion, Alice in Wonderland made no sense at all to me. Sure, during lectures I followed along and we went through analyzing the pictures and what they all meant, but if you asked me to go back and tell you what one of them meant, I couldn’t tell you because I barely remembered that book. Just like Alice fell down a hole and ended up in Wonderland, reading the book was like falling down a hole and I had no perception of what was going on. The only thing that kept me interested were the details behind this story and that was good enough for me.

3. "Treasure Island"

When we first started reading this book, I thought to myself, “Why on earth is this considered children’s literature?” Not only is this book confusing just like Alice in Wonderland, the vernacular of it is complicated to translate. The dialogue from character to character was an important thing to catch on to but who can really understand pirate talk? One thing I noticed when I attempted to read "Treasure Island," was that I really didn’t have any interest in it at all. All of the other stories with a female protagonist so far were the ones that kept me interested. I wasn’t interested in the adventure and I wasn’t interested in reading about the lives of fictional pirates. This story just wasn’t for me

4. "Harry Potter"

I’ve loved watching the "Harry Potter" movies my whole life and I was definitely excited about reading this book. Just like any movie adaptation of a book, many details are left out. So actually getting to read this book in a class was very exciting for me. J.K. Rowling’s use of ventriloquizing the characters really shows the personality of each character she created. Not only does it add more insight to how the characters are as individuals, it’s really entertaining to read! Many situations in the book can be viewed as if they have a certain purpose to tend to. Rowling uses focalization as a way for readers to view different events in the book from a different perspective. Even though the story takes place in the "wizarding" world, looking at it from a relatable standpoint makes the story more enjoyable to read.

5. "The Hunger Games"

This being the second time I've read this book, I barely remembered any of the details from the story. All I remember was rushing to finish the book the day before watching the movie. In exploring all the controversy and the characters of the book and examining the movie adaptation, gender roles and racism came to light. From Cinna's make-up wearing and Rue being cast as an African American, "The Hunger Games" gave a different perspective of identities when it came to the roles of both female and male characters.