Sometimes readers ask questions about the scary themes in The Wingfeather Saga. The Black Carriage, something dreadful and sad and frightening, shows up right away in chapter 1, and many scary things happen throughout the series after that. One of the questions asked during the Kickstarter was about how these frightening scenes will be depicted on screen. Will they be too scary for younger viewers? When a question (about casting toothy cows!) came up during the countdown party, here’s what Andrew said:
“I’m not excited about scaring your children, but there was something that was important to me with the Wingfeather Saga books. In order for the light in the stories to be shown as being powerful, the darkness needed to not be a straw man. It needed to not be a weak darkness; it had to be something that was actually formidable. That meant, from early on in the stories—the opening scene where Janner’s laying in bed and he can hear the sound of the Black Carriage—that was my attempt at telling the parents that were sitting down to read this story, ‘This is not Dr. Seuss. This is going to be a story that’s going to deal with some scary, scary stuff.’ But the point is, one of the things that’s important to me, that makes this series different from the other things made for TV, that’s going to give it its weight, is that the world needs to feel real. In order to make the world feel real, bad things have to happen.
“Your kids know that the world is a broken place. They have walked through the room and seen the news on. They’ve heard their parents argue. They’ve been to school. They know the world is a broken place. So what we need to do is tell a story that shows a broken world. That means that characters die, that there is war, there are real battles that happen, real things that happen—ultimately, not to disturb your children, but to comfort your children. That’s the idea. When the light triumphs over a real darkness, then—this is my dream—the kid goes to sleep with this warm glow inside, that ‘Yes, there is a great good in the world.’
“I can’t think of another animated series, a show that fits into this category, where there’s going to be a long story where you don’t know whether—where there’s something real at stake, where characters just might die, because the Fangs are actually evil. We’re going to be very careful. I have children, Chris [the producer] has children; we get it. We’re not looking to just do violence for violence’s sake, but the story is going to deal with some of those things.”
Ultimately, not to disturb your children, but to comfort your children.
Andrew has spoken to this concern in his Note to Parents, also. One of his favorite quotes is, “Fairy tales do not tell children that dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children that dragons can be beaten.”
Just last week, Andrew’s friend and fellow author N.D. “Nate” Wilson wrote an article in The Atlantic called “Why I Write Scary Stories for Children.” Here’s a snippet:
I write violent stories. I write dark stories. I write them for my own children, and I write them for yours. And when the topic comes up with a radio host or a mom or a teacher in a hallway, the explanation is simple. Every kid in every classroom, every kid in a bunk bed frantically reading by flashlight, every latchkey kid and every helicoptered kid, every single mortal child is growing into a life story in a world full of dangers and beauties. Every one will have struggles and ultimately, every one will face death and loss.
There is absolutely a time and a place for The Pokey Little Puppy and Barnyard Dance, just like there’s a time and a place for footie pajamas. But as children grow, fear and danger and terror grow with them, courtesy of the world in which we live and the very real existence of shadows. The stories on which their imaginations feed should empower a courage and bravery stronger than whatever they are facing. And if what they are facing is truly and horribly awful (as is the case for too many kids), then fearless sacrificial friends walking their own fantastical (or realistic) dark roads to victory can be a very real inspiration and help.
This is a great article which Andrew really appreciated, and we hope you will too. Read the rest of it here.
We’d love to hear your thoughts, too, whether you’re a parent, a kid, or a writer or reader of any age. If you’re interested in talking about this, feel free to post a comment below or visit our forum.
I just started reading the first one to my kids. They are 9 and 10. I, of course, read the book before I started reading it to my children, to make sure that it was acceptable. I am hoping that they’re still young enough to relate to Leeli, and getting old enough to understand Janner. I was a bit apprehensive while I read the Black Carriage part at the beginning…they seemed kind of worried while I read it…but I think it helped the Igiby cottage and that family seem more nice and good in comparison. It’s ok…necessary even…to learn to fear in a safe place, so that when you encounter fear in real life you are better equipped to resist it. Having the two, the evil and the good, contrasted so starkly, so quickly, really helps to engage the children and become invested in the outcome of the story. I’ve only read the first two, and am looking to buy the whole set as soon as I can.
Thanks so much for this article. I’ve been thinking about fear in chilren’s books quite a bit as I journeyed through the Wingfeather saga last year, am working on 100 cupboards series (quite a bit more intense darkness), and am a listener of many children’s audio books (great, hilarious, and moving narrators for both Cupboards and Wingfeather, btw!).
Since I’ve completed Wingfeather saga, I don’t recall the series as an unsettling experience (ok, other than the end of book 2). This isn’t true of all books, or of all children’s books. Some are deeply unsettling and convey hopelessness.
But, with Wingfeather saga, even though they are frightening, I recall an overall sense of calm and certainty in the fact that truth and light do exist and a deep desire to run toward the good and sacrifice for it.
Teresa, I love what you found in The Wingfeather Saga. There are so many difficult chapters in the Igibys’ story, both in their world and in their hearts, but reading that your takeaway is calm and certainty of hope and (I love this) a “deep desire to run toward the good and sacrifice for it”—Well. That makes me feel grateful all over again. If you’re up for it, I’d enjoy hearing more about the books you’ve been reading and how you’re thinking through them.
Hi! Thanks so much for your response! I would not suggest ALL of these books for kids of every age (I value commonsensemedia and pluggedin for these considerations). That being said, I will try to (somewhat) concisely say what I love about my favorite books as an adult reader (actually, audiobook listener) 🙂
For younger readers: Jesus Storybook Bible (Lloyd-Jones), A Sick Day for Amos McGee, Last Stop on Market Street
Some of my favorite chapter books: Because of Winn Dixie (DiCamillo—my favorite children’s book and also the audio book has one of my favorite narrators!), Flora and Ulysses (DiCamillo—a SUPER RANDOM, funny, creative, philosophical book, that in the end is all about HOPE– and a vacuumed superhero squirrel), the Crispin series (Avi—a lot of good thoughts about forgiveness and understanding the place of role models who are trustworthy, lovable, imperfect humans in our lives), City of Orphans (Avi), Maniac Magee (Spinelli— thoughts about loving all people), The Bronze Bow (Speare), A Wrinkle in Time (L’Engle), Wonder (by Palacio—a simple story, creatively and humorously woven with a philosophy of kindness), The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict (by Stewart– I actually enjoyed this prequel SO much more than the series itself, many good ideas about belonging, kindness and sacrifice), and need I list Lewis and Tolkien? 🙂
They all allow children to experience so many things and to live along with their characters, seeing and feeling and responding and finding the consequences of so many choices. Most of them are about lonely children, because we all need a friend (even if they’re a friend from a book) to be with us in our loneliness. Most of them have an amazing view of hope against all odds (because we all see that the odds are so often against us hoping). Most of them are about valiant fights for joy (and through the characters we see that joy is worth it in the end). Many are about forgiveness, kindness, and compassion. Many are about accepting those we would not think of accepting, and realizing how much value there is in choosing to love others.
And (*cue the Oskar N. Reteep voice)… In the words of the great Kate DiCamillo, in her work Flora and Ulysses, “All words at all times, true or false, whispered or shouted, are clues to the workings of the human heart.”
What a great list, Teresa! I have read some of these, but not many—most of my reading has been in Hollish until just recently!—so I will have to do a little book-hunting. Hope and loneliness and joy and loving others—wow. Thanks for sharing.