Between Two Worlds

Trevor Cairney (Master of New College and Adjunct Professor of Education at the University of New South Wales in Sydney) has a very helpful post here on Christian writing for children, based on a recent seminar he gave. Here's the conclusion:

My conclusion to this seminar was that there is great merit in Christians seeking to write literature in its many forms for children. I suggested that such writing needs to first meet the basic criteria for good writing – good tales well told; language used well; narratives that work at multiple levels; rich authentic characters; interesting ‘page-turner’ plots. But beyond this they should:

• offer knowledge that is a celebration of God’s world and his purposes;
  
• act as a mirror allowing the reader to reflect on life and their future;
  
• lead us to consider aspects of the human condition (life and death, fear, loneliness, pain, loss, frailty, brokenness etc);
• point to the central redemption narrative of the Bible.

But read the whole thing.HT: Gordon Cheng