Post History

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/9403
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

In direction of one of the most famous stories of Hans Christian Andersen "The Little Match Girl", I want to write a tragedy _for_ children; a story dealing with children who are suffering and who may not even have hope for the future. I want to acknowledge such children, who are rarely mentioned in mainstream children's fiction. But I don't know what kind of endings I can write which will be interesting and less horrific. Some of my professional writer friends who read one of my drafts said that the atmosphere of my work is too _dark_ for a child. One of them said: "It is _dangerous_ for a child to read this because its ending is too _interesting_ and _dark_ for a child, and there is a fear that he/she lose his/her way of life in this _darkness_!"

How can I tell, by myself, the difference between a tragedy for children and a tragedy for adults? What differences are appropriate, in endings or other parts of the story? What kind of usual tragic endings are adequate for children?

I would like very much to see examples from famous tragic books _for_ children (as appropriate endings) and quotes from drama theoreticians or other professionals (for inappropriate endings).

Original score: 5