In a W-Seminar, students are supposed to learn how to analyse scientific sources, structure their ideas and, finally, to write a paper about the topic which they have chosen. The broad variety of seminars offered at our school allows students to find a subject of personal interest. This is the ideal precondition as writing the paper at the end of the W-Seminar requires perseverance, creativity and meticulous work. The participants of the W-Seminar Children’s Literature all seem to be motivated:  Week by week, they are taken back to a moment of their childhood. They remember their grandmothers reading their favourite fairytales to them, reflect upon the effects which the evil wolf or the nasty witch used to have on them and think about their childhood hero.

The fascination for children’s literature is what everyone in the course has in common and what leads us to more profound (adults‘) questions: What is the value of children’s literature and should kids actually be told cruel stories too? Why are children’s books still appealing to adults and is there a difference in the way we perceive them once we have grown up? How can parents, nurseries and schools make sure that children develop a love for reading at an early age? These are questions which we have already discussed and will certainly discuss even more in the following weeks by means of scientific input.