Children's literature, morality and values: materials for discussion

The purpose of this report is to present the results of the analysis of some trends in children's literature which privilege moral education and the understanding of multiculturality. Such analysis has been done by means of the interpretation and contrast of the theoretical assumptions on the role of this particular type of literature in children's education. Based on this critical reflection, some essential categories about the relationship among children's literature, moral education and culture were stated: first, the link between aesthetic autonomy and moral benefit in children's literature; second, the inclusion of multicultural ideology in children's texts; and finally, the power of literature as a means of cultural transfer and ideological vindication in society. This article concludes that moral and cultural functions implicit in children's literature actually contribute to the subjective symbolic construction and generates awareness on the function and responsibility of the human being in the world.