Letters to the Editor
“Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”
When I read in the Crier that Eleanor
Cameron was going to reply
to Roald Dahl’s defense
of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, I could hardly wait
for the April issue of the Horn Book to arrive. I was not
disappointed. Eleanor Cameron’s reply to Dahl was perfect
and important. Her point that people, who are concerned about children’s
literature and reading, “must think about a book as well as
have feelings about it” if we are to consider what they say
as criticism, is too often glossed over in children’s literature
courses or language arts courses that deal with children’s
books. Utilitarian and “gut level” reactions are all
too easy and common. Many children’s literature students would
much rather give spontaneous, narrow opinions and plot summaries
of books than to ask themselves the hard questions that literary
criticism demands.
Blessings on Eleanor Cameron for her succinctly
eloquent response to Mr. Dahl and on all people who refuse to think
of children’s books as textbooks or “feelies.”
Thank you Horn Book. Thank you Eleanor
Cameron.
J. M. BINGHAM
Assistant Professor
Oakland University
Rochester, Michigan
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