Blog Post 1

 A topic that I always found fascinating in terms of children’s literature is the fact that in some places like North Korea, the material that is in children’s books is censored. The dynamic is unlike anything else. Instead of regular people becoming authors like in the United States the countries most powerful people are writing stories about things like “violent battles, sudden death and government-endorsed heroes” instead of normal themes like growing up or over coming adversity. I think it is a very interesting thought experiment on how literacy can change people thoughts and or thinking. This is a big reason why there is only one publishing company. Kim II-sung who founded the country of North Korea was the one who realized the power of books on young minds. He was ironically one of the countries first big authors which shows why the current leader is so revered. Something I found very interesting was that “Dr Christopher Richardson, who specialises in the study of children’s culture in the DPRK argues not: “North Korean children’s books and cartoons proved to be often entertaining, colourful, action-packed, and not so different to children’s books and cartoons anywhere.” This was shocking to me at first but the more I thought about it it made sense as every story has an underlying reason why it is written.  Overall, I find it very interesting how literature can be such a powerful tool in influencing people.