Every night as a young child my parents would send me up to bed at 8:30 where I would eagerly await the sound of their footsteps approaching my room. Once they were finally upstairs I was allowed to pick out two books for them to read to me that night. For as long as I can remember this was a routine that took place every night. As children we are eager for story time for the sole reason that we are able to hear entertaining stories involving beautiful princesses, scary robots, or silly talking animals. You may be wondering what significance my childhood story holds to our current assignment.  The answer is this. What appeared to me to just be “just story time,” 16 years ago was in fact much, much more. With this realization I have begun to appreciate the work that children’s story author put forth. I have also realized the significance these stories play in the development of young children.  

What I believed was just story time was actually the beginning of an 18-year long process of instilling my parent’s (and society’s) morals and values into me. This was done in the hopes of making me a beneficial member of society. This process begins when we are infants, with things such as Baby Einstein, and leads well into our scholastic years. In this essay I will be analyzing two stories and their moral lessons. Furthermore, I will evaluate how the technique of the stories have been adapted to appeal to the audiences of various generations and whether or not I believe that this change is something that should be considered a “good” thing. I believe that parents should take what many would dub as the “old school” approach and use the older version of stories for reasons I will discuss below.  

One of the two books I consistently chose as a child was The Hare and The Tortoise, an Aesop Fable. This story is believed to have been written by Aesop, a Greek story teller, between the years of 620 and 564 BC. The Hare and the Tortoise is a short story about a race that takes place between a Hare and a Tortoise, two obviously opposite creatures when it comes to their natural abilities. Turtles are notorious for being extremely slow whereas hares are known for their speed and quick agility. The Hare was a cocky creature who constantly boasted about his speed and ability to beat all creatures in speed focused competition. The Hare, having  beaten all of his previous competitors began asking if anyone was brave enough to challenge him. The Tortoise, seeing an opportunity to teach the Hare a lesson, humbly accepted his challenge. “That is a good joke,” said the Hare; “I could dance round you all the way.”
(Aesop) The Hare, being so sure of his victory takes a nap and meanders around until he realizes that the Tortoise near the finish line. Unable to catch up with the Tortoise the Hare learns a lesson in both humility and patience.  (Aesop) 

It was not until I was older that I realized the true meaning of this story. This same story that millions of other children over hundreds of years have also heard and taught them the same life lesson. This is something that connects not only all citizens of our country, but is a shared moral belief across the world. While the message has not changed the method of delivering it to the children has. In Diane Sekers “The Market Child and Branded Fiction: A Synergism of Children’s Literature” she discusses how our Market has changed the way children relate and interpret stories, thus forcing publication houses to adapt the way they market and design their books.  “Publishers and marketers also want children to be consumers as well as readers. ” (Sekers) 

For instance, when The Hare and The Tortoise was originally created it was nothing but some lines of text that children would use to fuel their imaginations. Each Tortoise and each Hare was a different color or size or even shape within the young child’s mind. They did not have dolls, cartoons, or comic book versions of the story that painted the picture for them.(Sekers)  Every story is interpreted however it is “Branded.” (Sekers) This supports my claim that while the moral of stories has stayed the same, our method of rhetoric has evolved, and some would say not necessarily for the best. One small example of the evolution had been seen in the second story I will be analyzing. 

The second story I have chosen is titled, I’ll wait, Mr. Panda. This story is about a panda and a few of his friends including a llama, a alpaca, some rabbits, and finally the penguin.(Antony) The Panda was baking a surprise when each individual animal came up and asked the Panda what he was making. Each time the Panda answered “Wait and see it’s a surprise.” To what the animals would rudely reply that they will not wait and march away.(Antony)  It was not until the end when the Penguin was kind and patient with the Panda that he was rewarded with friendship and a giant doughnut. (Antony) While the moral of these stories is the same, the execution was not. The first story was a mere nine lines with no images. It left much to the imagination and the child’s interpretation. These were the kind of stories that as Seker said “children dressed up as the characters and acted how they imagined the characters would.” I’ll wait, Mr. Panda leaves nothing to the imagination. Each page consists of approximately four to seven words and large pictures that cover both pages.  The image that the market wants to portray in the dominant aspect of the entire book. Not to mention that there are various I’ll wait, Mr. Panda toys and classroom crafts. 

Children’s books have always been and will continue to be a driving force in the education of children. They offer not only the benefit of learning and developing language, but in this case, they offer life lessons on how to interact with other people in order to be successful in life. I find it comforting that the morals of the stories have remained the same despite the modernization and elimination of the use of children’s imaginations. In some ways I believe that the market’s agenda could be perceived as a good thing. All of these various forces help captivate the children to a new degree. What it does not help improve is our children’s desire to go outside side and play, or use their imaginations to make the story whatever they want it to be, typically creating a strong personal connection between them and the story. The focus of the publishers and authors should remain the education of the students as opposed to turning them into consumers. 

Works Cited 

Aesop. “The Hare and the Tortoise – An Aesop’s Fable.” The Hare and the Tortoise an Aesop’s Fable, www.taleswithmorals.com/aesop-fable-the-hare-and-the-tortoise.htm. 

Antony, Steve. I’ll Wait, Mr. Panda. Scholastic Press, 2016.

Sekers, Diana Carver. The Market Child and Branded Fiction: A Synergism of Children’s Literature, Consumer Culture, and New Literacies. Wiley on Behalf of the International Literacy Association, 21 Sept. 2017,