Ā鶹Ćā·Ń°ęĻĀŌŲBoulder Associate Professor Emily Harrington examines the enduring power of stories we read in childhood and what we can learn from them as adults 

When many people think of December, their minds are filled with thoughts of snow, warm drinks, family and childhood. This is the time of year when memories of childhood bubble to the surfaceā€”burnished by time to seem simpler and happier.

For avid childhood readers, a profound element of those memories is the books they read in their youth, which can continue to play a significant role in their adult lives. , who died 100 years ago this fall, was the author of such booksā€”the kind that young readers devour and still swoon over in adulthood.

Her most famous works, including A Little Princess and The Secret Garden, continue to be fan favorites for young children and books that many adults consider the beginning of their reading careers.

Remembering Frances Hodgson Burnett

Frances Hodgson Burnett is a household name in the world of childrenā€™s literature. Her beloved novels are perennially popular with children and have been made into multiple film adaptations. However, says Emily Harrington, an assistant professor in the English Department at the Ā鶹Ćā·Ń°ęĻĀŌŲ, who has taught a course on childrenā€™s literature, it is important to critically examine even the beloved books of childhoodā€”not allowing memory to obscure what adult readers may recognize as controversial aspects of childrenā€™s literature.

Critics and educators have been noted how Hodgson Burnett portrayed characters of color in her novels. For example, in The Secret Garden, the character Mary is unhealthy because she grew up in India. Martha, a sympathetic character, contrasts people of color with "respectableā€ white people. Modern readers have questioned the effect that could have had on the children reading these stories.

Harrington notes itā€™s important to teach the novels in a way that doesnā€™t dismiss their issues: ā€œBoth (A Little Princess and The Secret Garden) have some super problematic, racist attitudes. Itā€™s not why theyā€™re remembered but I think itā€™s important to acknowledge,ā€ Harrington says.

When looking back on novels written in the early 20th century, it isnā€™t uncommon to discover undertones of racism or sexism.

Some argue that racism was more normalized at the time some books were written, but even in the context of a workā€™s time, it is important to recognize and consider these issues when they exist in novels written for children, Harrington says. She also notes Burnettā€™s questionable views about medicine, which are apparent in The Secret Garden, when a wheelchair-bound child is able to walk after a little exposure to fresh air. Burnett believed that nature and God were the solution to most medical issues, which can change the meaning of the Secret Garden as being a magical place outside that fixes all medical ailments.

A lifetime effect

However, even if some of their content makes a modern reader pause, the novels that young readers enjoy can have lasting echoes in their lives as adults. Childhood fans of Harry Potter, Percy Jackson and many other novels may continue to visit those worlds in their minds as adults or to wish they could be transported by books in the way they were as children. This includes Frances Hodgson Burnettā€™s novels, which many readers continue loving into adulthood. A large part of this connection is how the books made young readers feel while reading them, Harrington says.

ā€œIn these books like The Secret Garden, the kids are the ones who are empowered to figure things out for themselves and who are in worlds that are magical or partially magical. That kind of magic attaches itself to the kids,ā€ Harrington says.

Due to this escape that children can experience while reading these novels, the stories, characters and places can stay with them into adulthood. It isnā€™t rare to see someone who is still as deeply infatuated with novels such as A Little Princess or The Secret Garden as an adult because those books have been those escapes for many generations of children. And as parents or grandparents read these novels to children, the cycle continues, and the literary love is passed to new generations.

Even with Hodgson Burnettā€™s questionable beliefs, as well as aspects of her novels that trouble modern readers, readers still are able to take the best parts of these magical worlds and make them their own, Harrington says. That, in turn, allows the children who read them to make these fictional worlds their own, she adds.

She notes that this is a process that many children experience while reading these novels as a form of escapism: ā€œ[As they grow up, children may think] ā€˜This magical world is mine now, and itā€™s not going to be racist or anti-trans. Iā€™m gonna imagine myself in it in my own way and reject the parts of the legacy that I donā€™t want.ā€™

ā€œAll the people who enjoy these books can take the parts that they love and keep them, and hopefully had enough alternate influences that counteract the colonialist ideology,ā€ Harrington says, citing common issues with The Secret Garden and A Little Princess.

Best friends forever

For many avid childhood readers, books have been a major part of their lives for as long as they can remember and the characters in them their lifelong friends. Those reading experiences can transfer deeply into their adult lives, especially when correlating reading with comfort, Harrington says.

Further, last year found multiple points of positive correlation between early reading for pleasure with subsequent brain and cognitive development and mental well-being. Also, the most recent finds that while 70% of 6- to 8-year-olds love or like reading books for fun, that number shrinks to just 47% among 12- to 17-year olds.

R. Joseph Rodriguez, a teaching fellow with the National Book Foundation, , ā€œThe joy of books has been killed. Suppressed, tested and killed. I hate when students are called ā€˜struggling readers.ā€™ We need to see them as students who need a revival! I want a revival!ā€

Educators, researchers, parents, health care professionals and children themselves study and discuss how to ā€”from alleviating testing pressure to proving time and space for reading, supporting diversity in childrenā€™s literature and not dismissing the literature that children actually enjoy as ā€œfrivolous.ā€

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At a panel discussion co-sponsored by Ā鶹Ćā·Ń°ęĻĀŌŲBoulder Center for Humanities and the Arts, literacy experts championed childrenā€™s access to literature

Though censorship and book banning are nothing new, the recent upswing in this censorship in public institutions has compelled many to protest these limitations on their access to diverse views.

During a panel discussion hosted at the Boulder Public Library Wednesday evening, co-sponsored by the Ā鶹Ćā·Ń°ęĻĀŌŲ Center for Humanities and the Arts, Adam Crawley, a Ā鶹Ćā·Ń°ęĻĀŌŲBoulder assistant teaching professor of literacy studies and the discussion's moderator, led a conversation on the right to read in K-8 schools and libraries and the fundamental right to access literature.

Jo Currier, a fifth-grade teacher in the Boulder Valley School District and a mother of three, offered the perspective of a parent and an educator. Currier strongly supported ā€œpromoting access for all students and representation in the curriculum.ā€

Colorado author , who explores Asian American culture and identity in her picture books and middle school novels, said that as a second-generation Chinese American, she recognizes the importance of children being able to read books in which the characters are like them. ā€œI write the books that I needed as a kid,ā€ she said. ā€œEveryone deserves to see themselves represented in a book.ā€

Panelists Adam Crawley (left), Jo Currier, Andrea Wang and David Farnan discuss frequently challenged children's books.

David Farnan, director of the Boulder Public Library who has extensive experiences dealing with censorship, noted that this current surge in book banning is due, in part, to the ongoing ā€œculture war.ā€ Mentioning the librarian code of ethics, Farnan emphasized that he ā€œwill not just oppose but resist censorship in all of its forms.ā€

Farnan said he believes the recent uptick in censorship is related, in part, to an ā€œorchestrated attack primarily on LGBTQ authors and stories, and authors and stories about people of color.ā€ He added that this attack is on ā€œany type of curriculum having to do with a story that is not having to do with White hegemony.ā€

Wang added that this is also due to the ā€œfear of the other,ā€ and cited the ā€œrising anti-Asian sentiment since the pandemic began.ā€

In response to the question of whether censorship might ever be appropriate, Currier noted how some curriculum can tend to favor one predominant perspective over less dominant ones, so educators face a challenging dilemma. Should they opt to substitute these materials with more diverse viewpoints, or should the original content be taught, but through a more critical lens? As difficult a question as that is, it is important to make sure that there is equal opportunity for representation, Currier said.

Another challenging aspect is the issue of self-censorship. Pointing to a few recent examplesā€”including the being canceled at the Frankfurt Book Fair and, earlier this year, an author's decision not to publish a novel set in Russia following criticism from Ukrainian readersā€”Farnan said that these acts are ā€œjust solely inappropriateā€ and that it both ā€œunderestimates the power of books and overestimates it too."

ā€œBooks do not cause harm,ā€ Farnan said. ā€œThey may represent viewpoints that are different. They may be offensive, they may be something that you find difficult to identify with, but you can choose not to read them. The point of books is, in some ways, to explore ideas and selves and identities and worlds that you cannot and do not live.ā€

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Taste of top-notch competition whets 12-year-oldā€™s appetite to return to national spelling bee

Until he participated in the in Washington, D.C., in May, Niwotā€™s Ben Lenger, 12, and his family didnā€™t realize that such competitions are virtually unknown in countries where English is not spoken.

That little nugget of informationā€”confirmed by John McWhorter, the famed linguistics professor at Columbia Universityā€”was provided during the competition by Jacques Bailly, a Denver native who won the bee in 1980 and is now associate professor of classics at the University of Vermont. Bailly has served as the official ā€œpronouncerā€ for the national competition since 2003 and was featured in the 2006 film, Akeelah and the Bee.

Ben Lenger, the Boulder Valley spelling bee champion, competes in the national bee in May. Photo courtesy of Scripps National Spelling Bee.

ā€œHe explained why spelling bees work in English but not in other languages,ā€ said Benā€™s mother, Audrey Lenger. ā€œIn French, once you learn the rules, or in Spanish or German, spelling is pretty uniform. There is not the sense of adventure you have in English.ā€

Thrilled to have earned a trip to the finals after winning his local bee and the regional finals in February, Ben technically tied for 41st along with scores of other spellers. He survived the first two rounds onstage but, he says, ā€œmessed up a couple of rootsā€ on a written vocabulary and spelling test, preventing him from moving on. 

ā€œI feel I did as well as I could have hoped for,ā€ Ben said. ā€œI had a great time, but professional is a very good word for (the finalists). They are just on an entirely different level.ā€

The Ā鶹Ćā·Ń°ęĻĀŌŲā€™s College of Arts and Sciences has provided funding for the families of Boulder County winners to travel to the finals for three years.

ā€œThanks to the support from CU, and watching our nickels and dimes, we were able to take the whole family,ā€ said Audrey, who traveled with her husband, Steve, and younger son, Jon, to cheer Ben on.

The family enjoyed being in the ballroom where the competition takes place, but decided to watch the final rounds from the comfort of their rented condo, where they could enjoy snacks and drinks while listening to the announcerā€™s ā€œsportsā€ commentary ā€” Ooh, this one might trip him up ā€¦ watch that second vowel ā€¦ this one comes from the Greekā€¦ ā€” Audrey said.

Of course, the trip wasnā€™t all about Latin roots and spelling bee trivia. They visited the National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution and its annex, a top priority for aerospace-fascinated Ben.

ā€œI think my favorite part was the North American X-15, the rocket plane that took pilots into the fringes of space at five times the speed of sound, including Neil Armstrong before he did the moon landing stuff,ā€ Ben said. He was only slightly less awed at seeing the Concorde, Lockheed Martinā€™s SR71 Blackbird, the space shuttle Discovery, and the Enola Gay, which dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima.

The family also visited George Washingtonā€™s home at Mount Vernon, where Ben was particularly impressed to see an actual piece of the Bastille sent to the American president by the Marquis de Lafayette.

Two weeks after the competition, the family traveled to Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Italy and the United Kingdom. Since returning to Niwot, Ben has been ā€œchecking out a lot of books on rocketry, the history of space travel and the space race from Longmont Public Library,ā€ as well as playing a little Minecraft and Jurassic World.

But heā€™s also making time to study up on Greek and Latin roots before heading off to eighth grade at Sunset Middle School in August.

ā€œDo I want to go back to the finals? Oh, yeah,ā€ he said. ā€œIt was really fun being part of something so huge and famous and well-known.ā€

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College of Arts and Sciences sponsors local spelling bee winnerā€™s travel to national competition

Ben Lenger is surprisingly nonchalant about winning the 2017 Barnes & Noble Regional Spelling Bee on Feb. 25 in Broomfield, which netted him an all-expense-paid trip to the national finals in Washington, D.C., in May and other prizes.

But perhaps thatā€™s no surprise. The seventh grader at Sunset Middle School in Longmont is an old hand at spelling bees, and has learned that anything can happen.

ā€œIn third grade, I made it to the third round at the Niwot (Elementary School) bee, and I said to myself, ā€˜Hey, I like this,ā€™ā€ says the 12-year-old Niwot resident.

Heā€™s studied hard for every competition since, with mixed results. Heā€™s bombed out and won at the school level, lost in the first round of the regional competition, and this year, beat out the 2016 champion, Cameron Keith.

ā€œItā€™s luck,ā€ he says. ā€œI didnā€™t prepare any harder this year than last year, when I was out in the first round of the regionals.ā€

He means, quite literally, the luck of the draw. Sometimes you get a word that hangs you up, as last yearā€™s champ did this time around. Other times, you donā€™t.

It doesnā€™t hurt, of course, to be extremely well read, and to have a PhD in organic chemistry for a father and a former English teacher for a mother, which is, Ben muses, another kind of luck.

Ben Lenger onstage during this year's regional spelling bee. He attributes his victory to good luck. Photo courtesy of Audrey Lenger.

ā€œI love etymology, and thatā€™s something Iā€™ve worked on with the kids, especially with Greek and Latin roots,ā€ says his mother, Audrey Lenger. ā€œNot because of spelling bees, but with an eye toward general literacy and enjoyment of the English language.ā€

Ben agrees that having such knowledge is helpful when parsing out words.

ā€œObviously, knowing the roots helps a lot,ā€ he says. ā€œBut I know most of the words just because I read a lot and Iā€™ve seen them.ā€

In fact, reading his fatherā€™s college-level biology textbooks helped send him to the national competitionā€”thatā€™s where he first encountered ā€œlysis,ā€ which he successfully spelled to claim this yearā€™s trophy.

Some of what Ben reads isnā€™t surprising. He loves the Harry Potter and Percy Jackson novels, as well as ā€œThe Lord of the Rings.ā€ He enjoys reading about history. But he also makes a habit of regularly poring over the DK Encyclopedia of Science, which he received for his sixth birthday, and scouring the internet for articles about ā€œcars, rockets, and various jet engines.ā€

ā€œI want to work in the aerospace industry and rocketry,ā€ he says.

Participating in a spelling bee in the nationā€™s capital is a great honor, of course, but heā€™s most excited about visiting the National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution. And heā€™s not just biding his time at home: He loves building and launching Estes model rockets, which have been thrilling enthusiasts young and old since 1958.

ā€œIā€™ve got this one I havenā€™t built yet, but it looks totally awesome. Itā€™s a multi-re-entry vehicle, so there are three stages that fall off,ā€ Ben says. ā€œIā€™ll have to launch it on a non-windy day, or the stages will be all over the place.ā€

He also plays viola in his school orchestra and enjoys bicycling and skiing.

Students have participated in local and regional spelling bees to reach the since 1925. In 2017, an estimated 11 million children participated.

The Ā鶹Ćā·Ń°ęĻĀŌŲBoulder College of Arts and Sciences has provided funding for the families of Boulder County winner to travel to the finals for three years. Ben will travel with his parents, Steve and Audrey, and younger brother Jon to this yearā€™s competition, which starts May 28. The finals are scheduled for June 2.

ā€œWe are very grateful for the financial assistance from CU,ā€ Audrey Lenger says.

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College of Arts and Sciences sponsors young competitorā€™s trip to national spelling finals, where he dabbled in both mordancy and jocosity

Cameron Keith is a consummate word guy. Heā€™s also 10 years old. Cameron made it to the semifinals in the 2016 Scripps National Spelling Bee and was poised to advance to the finals when he was asked to spell ā€œnoncompos.ā€

He paused as he approached the final letters of the word, and he used an ā€œaā€ for the final vowel.

Cameron Keith competes at the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, DC, this spring. Photo courtesy of Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Cameron says participating in spelling beesā€”a possibly quaint pursuit in the age of Twitterā€”has taught him a lot. The value of hard work is paramount, he says.

Now I use these strange words in conversation and when I write stories, and itā€™s really fun.ā€

ā€œItā€™s one thing to hear teachers and your parents tell you that, but it doesnā€™t really mean anything until you experience it for yourself,ā€ he adds.

Cameron has also learned how to keep calm under pressure and on national TV. ā€œI think that will help me in life.ā€

Studying and staying calm under pressure certainly helped him this year, as he faced the cameras and correctly ticked off the spelling of words many adults never use: parquetry (inlaid wood in geometric patterns), cameist (a maker of cameos), and solenoglyphous (having tubular, erectile fangs).

To clinch the win in the Boulder Valley Spelling Bee this year, he nailed the spelling of mordancy, which is a biting and caustic quality of style. And among the 10 other words he spelled correctly in Boulder this year was ā€œjocosity,ā€ which is jesting or joking.

But it is no joke that knowing such words would facilitate Cameronā€™s success in college. Thatā€™s one purpose of the Scripps National Spelling Bee, which aims to help students ā€œimprove their spelling, increase their vocabularies, learn concepts, and develop correct English usage that will help them all their lives.ā€

Cameronā€™s plan is to keep studying and returning to compete in the national bee as long as he can. Heā€™s got time. Of 285 competitors this year, 267 were one to four years older than he is.

And for Cameron, the National Spelling Bee confers other advantages, such as fostering a love of language. ā€œYou love the words because they become such a big part of your life,ā€ he says.

For months before the national bee, he spent at least an hour a day studying, learning new words, their definitions and their origins. ā€œNow I use these strange words in conversation and when I write stories, and itā€™s really fun.ā€

Last year, Cameron recalled, his weakness was vocabulary. This year, ā€œall my focus was on learning vocabulary,ā€ and he got one of the highest scores in the bee in the vocabulary section. This coming year, he plans focus on spelling ā€“ especially of French words, ā€œwhich Iā€™m really bad at.ā€

But, he adds, ā€œI have learnt that if I set a goal and do the work, I can achieve it, no matter what it is.ā€

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