Metafiction for Kids

Metafiction for kids. I guess the first thing we need to address here, dear reader, is the question,“What is metafiction?”

met·a·fic·tion
/ˈmedəˌfikSH(ə)n/
noun
1. fiction in which the author self-consciously alludes to the artificiality or literariness of a work by parodying or departing from novelistic conventions (especially naturalism) and traditional narrative techniques.

To simplify things a bit, metafiction is a book that is very aware that it’s a book and wants you to know it knows.

As it turns out children LOVE metafiction. They love to be in on the joke and feel like they are in control of what is happening. It’s pretty empowering and frankly adorable.

Here is a video of my mom reading my nephew his favorite book (which just happens to be meta): The Monster at the End of This Book

So, in the spirit of sharing my vast and prolific knowledge *cough* pretend knowledge *cough* of children’s literature, let’s discuss a few different ways a book can be meta.

#1–A book within a book. Think Harry Potter #7 on this one. Specifically, the book Dumbledore gifts to Hermione, The Tales of Beedle the Bard. It’s a book within a book that shapes and gives clues to the book you are reading.

Here is the Tale of Three Brothers

#2–Breaking the 4th wall. Can You Make a Scary Face by Jan Thomas is a good example of this. Throughout the book the reader is challenged by the book to do certain things like, make a scary face.

Here is a fun reading

#3–A story where the characters realize they are in a story. We Are in a Book by Mo Willems exemplifies this as Piggie and Gerald are stunned to find that they are the subjects of the book they are in.

Watch it here

#4–A book where a character changes the story as you are reading. Chester the cat, in the book Chester by Melanie Watt, does this brilliantly, re-writing the authors words as she is writing them.

#5–A book that dramatically changes the source story that it’s telling. Liz Pichon’s Three Horrid Little Pigs does this by turning the pigs into bullies picking on a poor wolf.

So why the lesson in metalit?

Because some of my fav-o-rite books in the whole wide kid-lit universe are meta! If you haven’t read one yet I challenge you to do so immediately, preferably with a child. Chances are that if you’re currently reading picture books you’ve already, perhaps unknowingly, stumbled into the meta arena. So, with no further ado, here’s a list of some of my favorite metafiction for kids with links for purchase just in case you remember that books make great gifts.

Metafiction for Kids – Some Karen Some Don’t