Kaew the Playful and Kaew the Naughty: Contemporary Didactic Literature for Children

Abstract

This research article aims to study the didactic content and its presentational techniques in Kaew the Playful and Kaew the Naughty by Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn as contemporary didactic literature for children.

It is found that the didactic content in Kaew the Playful and Kaew the Naughty is suitable for children in all ages. Moreover, it also corresponds to the maturity of children. The author has conveyed knowledge and morals in many aspects including external knowledge, or cognitive skills, and internal knowledge, or affective skills, cooperatively. All of these contribute to a wider outlook of the world for the readers, who are children and young adults. Furthermore, they also help the readers find guidelines on good conducts and problem-solving skills, which can effectively be applicableto their daily lives.

Not only is the didactic content in the two works beneficial for the young readers, but it is also helpful for adult readers, or parents. Parents can adapt the didactic content in the two works in teaching their children. In addition, the two works also remind parents of the learning process, the cultivation of morality and ethics, and logical and scientific upbringing for children, all of which can shape children and young adults into good citizens with desirable qualities in society.

There are three main presentational techniques in Kaew the Playful and Kaew the Naughty. Firstly, the protagonist learns lessons by herself from encountering various situations. Secondly, she learns from the teaching of adults, which employs scientific or religious reasoning. Thirdly, she learns from role models. These three major techniques efficiently contribute to the readers’ understanding of the content which the author has intended to deliver, and which is beneficial for life.