From Green Gables to the Postmodern Child: The Evolution of “Home” in Children’s Literature

• Post by: Nicole M. King
• April 12, 2023

“Here I am! I am Alex,” opens the popular children’s board book, Two Homes.   “This is Daddy. And this is Mommy. Daddy lives here. Sometimes I’m with Daddy. Mommy lives there. Sometimes I’m with Mommy. So . . . I have two homes!”   So begins a very young fictional child’s explanation of the worlds of divorce, of coparenting, and of separate residences. Alex continues his narrative, detailing that he has two front doors, two rooms, two favorite chairs, two kitchens, two bathrooms, and lots of friends at both residences. He also has two telephone numbers. Mommy calls him when he is at Daddy’s. And Daddy calls him when he is at Mommy’s. And they both love him, wherever they are, and wherever he is. It’s a saccharine little tale, hiding the dark reality of Alex’s world. His parents are divorced, or never lived together to begin with. There are no brothers or sisters. And instead of coming home every night to a home where his whole family resides, where mom reads him a book and dad tucks him in, he finds himself carted back and forth between two homes—although both parents are kind enough to provide him with a toothbrush. Two Homes is but one example of the changing meaning of the concept of “home” in children’s literature over the past several decades. This book is clearly aimed at very young children, so the tone is rosy. But as the intended audience gets older, the books become more mature, and the themes darker. In the classic children’s literature of yesteryear (Alice in Wonderland, The Chronicles of Narnia, the Little House books), home was a stable, significant organizing force. Alice explores the confusing world of adults, but returns home, where she awakens peacefully on a riverbank. Peter, Susan, Edwin, and Lucy venture into the fantastical Narnia and spend some Narnian decades as kings and queens, yet end up back at the home of the Professor—displaced from their actual home, yet safely