The Johnston Center for Integrative Studies

 Barbie Doll is favorit for some children because she is so beautiful. It is  used to dress in beautiful clothes.

cubby houses

I am blessed enough to work at a children's bookstore for the past five months. IN my time there, I have discovered the works of the hilarious Jon Scieszcka and the dark Lane Smith.

If I were a child reading their texts, I would simply laugh at the silliness of it all, but as one with a more developed mind and age-agh- I find their works to be brilliant in all their humor. 

Check out Jon's resume and Lane's series about the Happy Hock family. 

I find it interesting how you are thinking of Satire as being for kids when the guy in the video where the guys who made the Read A Book video are being "interviewed" said that kids don't understand Satire. He specificaly said the ages eleven and twelve. I think that kids, at least kids that old, do understand Satire, though they most likely haven't talked about it in any "scholorly" form.

I think there are different levels of complexity of satire, and this video clearly falls into a simpler level than other works. Most kids at the age of ten or older should be able to tell that this video is making fun of the other content that BET airs. The idea that kids don't understand this video and others like it is not only an ignorent one, but an offensive one.

Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas can be seen as another example of satire relating to capitalist culture.  In the beginning of the story, all of the Whos from Whoville are preparing for the largest consumer holiday of the year.  They were purchasing toys and gifts, and food for a great feast.  When the trinkets and meals were lost, everyone still came together when the essence of the festival was recollected.    They still were able to have a wonderful time as one big group singing together.   This is commentary on the consumer-driven nature of Christmas, and how the presents and excessive spending are not the real reasons to celebrate any holiday.  It was satirical in the way that the story listed a number of elaborate excesses that were being purchased around Christmas time, like the feast of roast beast, or the ridiculous amounts of presents.  The Grinch, who only noticed this materialistic side of Christmas was sure that if the “Pop-guns, bicycles, roller skates, drums, checkerboards, tricycles, popcorn and plumbs,” were taken, then the Who’s Christmas would be destroyed.  The values, which are diluted because of the consumer aspect of Christmas, are family and togetherness, which the Grinch found at the end of the story.  Even though this satire was not sarcastic and rude, it completed the task of pointing out the extremes of Christmas time shopping, and noted that it was not the most important part of that time of year.  Once the purchasing and spending facets of Christmas are removed, it is significant to say they had a better time when everyone was able to share the blessings they brought together.  While this may be a somewhat obscure example of satire I think that satire can definitely be useful in this harmless way and still be relevant by teaching positive messages through very light-hearted criticism.  I can remember as a child reading this book and wanting to feeling a little less concerned with the adequacy of the presents that I would receive on Christmas morning, rather than which one to open first.  However, this type of satire does have the potential to be much less meaningful and subtle.  I’m not sure, however, if subtlety necessarily means that the issue being satirized is not a serious matter.   

Excellent question, Chrystal. Here's a good example to ponder, Dr. Seuss's "The Star-Bellied Sneetches":

Part I: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ln3V0HgW4eM

Part II: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0LgMpfLD1Y