So, you know, I stop by the used bookstore whenever I figure I don't need to eat this week

[conuly]

And it's in this way that I've discovered and re-discovered several classic/vintage kid's books.

Is it just me, or have children's chapter books become more... um... well, for lack of a better term, more arc-based in recent years? I'm reading one that has its reading level neatly marked on the back (5th grade), published in 1975, and each chapter is a self-contained story. Nowadays, it seems like all the chapter books, even the ones for first graders, are one whole story, not several. But this is far from the only one where each chapter was self-contained, or nearly so. Compare Ramona to Clementine, or Pippi Longstocking to... well, you can't compare Pippi Longstocking to anybody, I guess, but find someone.

And of course there were chapter books of the other sort back then too - certainly there's a coherent plot in Half Magic (even if each chapter *is* about a separate adventure) or in The Secret Garden - but... oh, I don't know. Maybe I'm just making things up in my head? Or reading the wrong newer fiction?

Comments

[lady-angelina.livejournal.com]

To be honest, I hadn't noticed that in the Ramona books (while the individual chapters did each have their own themes, they also were part of an overarching plot or theme of the entire book).

I have, however, noticed that's true for the original Star Trek series vs. the Next Generation, and even more so, Deep Space Nine and Voyager. Hardly the same thing, but that's what stands out more in my mind as an example of something having standalone "episodes" or "chapters" rather than a major story arc.

[conuly]

That's why I suggested a specific comparison :)

The Clementine books take place over a few days each. Each chapter is very tightly tied to the next.

The Ramona books do have an overarching theme for each book, but little is lost by reading a chapter separately and independently of the rest.