CHILDREN'S LITERATURE INSTITUTE

The Children's Literature Institute, hosted by the College of Education and the University Libraries, through the Pennsylvania Center for the Book, featured three well-known scholars who spoke on the topic of "Virtue and Evil in Fantasy and Fairy Tales for Children."

Jack Zipes-professor of German at the University of Minnesota, editor of The Norton Anthology of Children's Literature, author of four books, and winner of Guggenheim and Fulbright fellowships-spoke about the morality of fairy tales and the continual resurgence of fairy tales, such as Cinderella, and how these stories have been adapted to fit different age groups, types of media (movies, books, video games), and time periods.

Marina Warner-cultural critic and prolific writer of essays, stories, and novels, including From the Beast to the Blonde, Six Myths of Our Time, and No Go the Bogeyman- explored various forms of terror as entertainment throughout history and the characters that help evoke such terror.

Lissa Paul-professor of education at the University of New Brunswick, associate editor of The Norton Anthology of Children's Literature, and author of Reading Otherways and Enigma Variations: What Feminist Theory Knows About Children's Literature-discussed protagonists in stories.

The first week of the two-week event featured seminars on "Virtue and Evil in Fantasy and Fairy Tales for Children" taught by the three scholars and Dan Hade, associate professor of education, Penn State College of Education. Twenty people participated in the seminars and approximately thirty-five people attended each lecture.

"The event was a major success. We had three of the world's leading scholars discussing and questioning a most provocative topic," Hade said.

Afterwards the scholars commented on the experience. "Marina Warner and Jack Zipes were most impressed with the organization, the quality of our students, and the relaxed atmosphere. Lissa Paul stated that she felt something important had been accomplished by bringing scholars together with students to work out ideas and question each other," Hade said.