The Author, Beverly Leon Clark, underwent an enormous change of opinion regarding her thought on children’s literature.  She mentioned that as a graduate student she “wouldn’t be caught dead reading children’s literature.” (Clark, Kiddie Lit, Preface).  Clark’s friend, who became president of the Children’s Literature Association, was influential in changing her mind about how she viewed that genre of literature.

The author ironically titles her book Kiddie Lit, highlighting the juxtaposition of the word kiddie- a “condescending and more than a little supercilious” term with the abbreviation lit- short for literature, a classic and noteworthy piece of written text (Clark, Chapter 1).  Children hate being referred to as kids, or even worse kiddies, because they feel demeaned.  Likewise, literature, or “lit” as Clark writes, infers higher level, complex prose – something that seems beyond the comprehension and appreciation of children.   By no means is this Clark’s intention from the title.

Another unlikely comparison is introduced when Clark goes on to compare women in patriarchal society to children.  She states the fact that they are both often ignored and overlooked.  However, Clark points out that there is one important distinction to be made about children:  where male children can grow out of childhood the females may grow to be women, yet are stuck in their lesser, societal roles.

Historically, women like children were viewed as “innocent, fragile, temptable, and therefore in need of molding.”  (Acocella, Little People)   Times are changing.  People’s attitudes toward women and children have changed as well.  Likewise, people’s attitudes toward Kiddie Lit have changed.  Clark states “My aim here is not to be comprehensive but to offer comprehensive case studies, in-depth analysis that, in concert, reveal the complexity of changing attitude towards children and children’s literature.” (Clark, Chapter 1).