MGA KWENTONG PAMBATANG RADIKAL (RADICAL CHILDREN’S STORIES): EXPLORING SOCIAL THEMES IN CONTEMPORARY CHILDREN’S LITERATURE

Abstract

For thousands of generations, children’s literature has been one of the most powerful tools in providing moral values to children. It employs a subtle technique commonly used to entertain children and at the same time, educate them about rights and wrongs. This kind of literature used human and animal characters usually with a touch of magic which was designed to give entertainment and feed lore to the kids. This study aimed to explore Children’s Literature to examine the issues of its content. The researcher also determined the reasons of the two authors in writing such stories and the perceptions of the parents regarding these kinds of children’s stories. Therewith, the selected five (5) children’s books were first summarized and analyzed. Meanwhile, in both interviews done with the authors and parents, the researcher used a Key Informant and Personal Interview. Ten (10) parents were selected through identifying the age of their child (aged seven (7) and below). The researcher identified the social issues embedded in the children’s stories such as drug, liquor, cigarette, and gambling addiction and illness. Social issues such as this are atypical in children’s literature and this research wanted to determine whether it could help in teaching children’s literature.