Children's Taste

New Zealand Listener, Volume 18, Issue 443, 19 December 1947, Page 11

Children's Taste

FTER hearing comments called for from the children at the conclusion of a BBC programme, "The Story of the Conjurer’s Rabbit," recently broadcast during 3YA’s Children’s Hour, I hoped to get some sort of a clue from

the scheduled A.C.E. talk some days later on "Children’s Taste in Books, Radio and Films." But interesting and instructive as this talk was, with its very practical suggestions for censorship, I am still at a loss to understand a child’s reaction to "The Conjurer’s Rabbit." Like the great majority of so-called children’s film cartoons, this story showed every indication of being written with an eye to the tastes of grown-up children as well. It was sophisticated with a cynical eye to character and situation (the real "magic rabbit" is ousted from his position by the glamorous and blasé little white rabbit who fakes her magic); and it had a strong "love interest" skilfully moulded at the conclusion to suit children of all ages. I am fully prepared to believe that this is what all but the very youngest prefer, and that they are bored to tears by the inane activities of Golliwog and Dutch Doll or Teddy Bear-activities which seem to have very little relation with what they must already know of life and character. And as the A.C.E. talk pointed out, a glance at the most popular children’s books of a generation or so ago show such different tastes that it is small wonder parents are at a loss to understand those of the present generation.