Madeleine L’Engle and Children's Capacity to Handle "Darker Matters"

Madeleine L’Engle, author of A Wrinkle in Time shares many of my views on the value of unsettling elements in children's literature.

Notes

 "fear of trampling on someone else’s toes, that was, alas, the way of the world"
-Madeleine L’Engle

"point of this parable" (Illocution)
"We find what we are looking for. If we are looking for life and love and openness and growth, we are likely to find them. If we are looking for witchcraft and evil, we’ll likely find them, and we may get taken over by them."
-Madeleine L’Engle

A good quote on censorship vs. discernment:
"The exercise of personal taste is not the same thing as imposing personal opinion."
-Madeleine L’Engle

"Fortunately, nobody ever told me that stories were untrue, or should be outgrown, and then as now they nourished me and kept me willing to ask the unanswerable questions."
-Madeleine L’Engle


Popova, Maria. "Dare to Disturb the Universe: Madeleine L’Engle on Creativity, Censorship, Writing, and the Duty of Children’s Books" Brain Pickings. n.p., Brain Pickings. n.p., Web. 19 Oct 2015. Web. 08 Aug 2016. https://www.brainpickings.org/2014/04/10/dare-to-be-creative-madeleine-l-engle/
(The Publication date is unlisted, but the web address suggests either April the 10th 2014 or October the 4th 2014)