Mainstreaming Social Realism in Children’s Literature

Childhood is the base for human growth and development and it shall be prudent if the child has an opportunity to get exposed to the challenges and realities of life along with fantasy, ecstasy and imagination. Children can grasp and learn their environment right from an early age as they are really smart; but the supplement which reaches them in terms of literature in any form should also provide them with glimpses of real life. Hence, it would be really judicious if the fodder they get in terms of literature is infused with social realism so that they understand the realities of life, the kind of society they live in with all kinds of inequities, stigma, discrimination, cruelties, marginalisation, and social exclusion, and so on. Children shall develop the wisdom to distinguish just from unjust and in a way might also build up their responding, assertion and decision-making skills. The Paper primarily discusses how social realism needs to be mainstreamed in children’s literature, firmly believing that it shall help the children towards their own positive development along with the development of the communities and nations they live in.