By Kanae Takagi

Recently, The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and Darren Shan, which are children's literature, are very popular with the public. Formerly, Treasure Island, The Count of Monte Cristo, and Robinson Crusoe were very popular. Most of them became movies, and many people enjoyed them.

Another children's novel is going to become a movie this year. The title is Bartimaeus, and the writer is Jonathan Stroud, who is British. The location of the story is in London, which is controlled by magicians, and there is rivalry between magicians and people who don't use magic. So the people attack the magicians to stop their control over them. A young magician named Nathaniel, the main character, solves those problems in co-operation with the devil, whose name is Bartimaeus.

Bartimaeus has some interesting features. First, the main character Nathaniel is devious. He is not only an elitist and a narcissist, but he also has no friends. Therefore, it seems that his character is strange, because we have an image of what a main character and hero should be. It is an image that is cheerful and one that has many friends. However, in the real world there are people who have a personality like his. Therefore, we can empathize with the character and are interested in him. Second, the book adds footnotes. It is very rare for footnotes to be used in children's literature. They reflect Bartimaeus's opinions, which are humorous and subjective.

Bartimaeus comes in three novel-length volumes with each book running over 600 pages. However, the books aren't tiring and they are enjoyable to read, especially the footnotes. The publishing company collected feedback about Bartimaeus and the character's illustrations on its homepage from children who have read the books. The company works with enthusiasm, which makes many people want to read the book. This is also the appeal of the book.

What is the attraction of children's literature? The first focus is the theme of friendship. It is a common thread in children's literature. Most children's books have characters that have a purpose and they work together to achieve it. The role of friendship in children's literature is to share feelings, such as pleasure, anger and regret, with the main character. This is an important role, because the main characters and their friends grow through different trials and tribulations, and the proof of their growth is their friendship. Friendship is described as an ideal, which many people have in the depths of their heart. This friendship is fascinating. Also, the world in the story, which is remote from the real world, is attractive. For example, the characters start a grand journey and dispose of a monster by magic. This also excites the readers. In addition, people who read books often put themselves in the place of the main character and enjoy the world in the book. It seems that many people want to enjoy the world like a dream.

Finally, we need to think about the importance of children's literature. Children's literature uses moral themes such as friendship, loyalty and trust. The moral themes in the novel affect the real world, which are needed in our life. Therefore, it has an impact on shaping one's character. We have all read stories since we were children, and the foundation of our moral beliefs has been laid down by the influence of stories. We can use this influence to an advantage in our life. In brief, we can go back to the basics of our character through reading stories. This is the reason that adults and children enjoy reading children's literature. The more society is corrupted, the more we need to read children's books. In present-day Japan, children's literature has become widely popular, even though teen violence and the kidnapping of elementary school kids has increased. From here onwards we should reevaluate the importance of reading children's books while young.