Why Singer Writes for Children
In a speech following the ceremony at which he was given the 1978 Nobel Prize in literature, Isaac Bashevis Singer said, "There are five hundred reasons why I began to write for children, but to save time I will mention only ten of them: Number one, children read books, not reviews. They do not give a hoot about the critics. Two, children don’t read to find their identity. Three, they don’t read to free themselves of guilt, to quench their thirst for rebellion, or to get rid of alienation. Four, they have no use for psychology. Five, they detest sociology.
"Six, they don’t try to understand Kafka or Finnegan’s Wake. Seven, they still believe in God, the family, angels, devils, witches, goblins, logic, clarity, punctuation, and other such obsolete stuff. Eight, they love interesting stories, not commentary, guides, or footnotes. Nine, when a book is boring, they yawn openly, without any shame or fear of authority. Ten, they don’t expect their beloved writer to redeem humanity. Young as they are, they know it is not in his power. Only adults have such childish illusions."
