who came from a rural background, were part of the Village Institute movement, whose
aim was to provide education and training for the children of farmers.
After changes to the Turkish constitution in 1961, more writers from rural and working-
class backgrounds appeared. Outstanding are Rifat Ilgaz (1911–), whose humorous tale,
Hababam Sinifi, was both dramatised and filmed with great success, and Gülten
Dayioglu (1935–) who in her later work abandoned her characteristically naïve outlook
and began to write more realistically. In the 1970s she took up the theme of foreign
workers from a female standpoint, and in the 1990s she is one of the most widely read
children’s writers in Turkey. In Journey to the Other Side of the Ocean, she writes in a
lively and exciting way about her journey to South America. Another popular author is
Can Göknil who produces picture story books about children’s everyday life. Fiti Fiti Tek
Basina [Fiti Fiti All Alone] (1991) about a small girl and her pets, and Kardes Kardese
[Brother and Sister] (1991) about a little girl who suddenly discovers that her younger
brother is now old enough to be a real playmate, are typical of her work.
The poet, Yalvaç Ural (1945–) has won international recognition, having been awarded
L’Ordre du Sourire, a Polish prize which had previously been given to Astrid Lindgren
and Tove Jansson, in 1986. At the time of the award he also edited a monthly magazine
for children, Milliyet, and much of his poetry was published in magazines before being
published in collected editions. Of his collections, his own favourite is Bir Gök Dolusu
Güvercin [A Sky Full of Pigeons], in which the poems are about children growing up in a
small town and in which he tries to show the powers of children’s imaginations when
they play make-believe games. His poems are mostly based on true stories or are
designed to make learning fun. Tekir Noktalama Isaretlerini Oğnetiyor [The Pussycat
Teaches Punctuation] is designed to make the rules of punctuation comprehensible by
making a game out of them. Zipir Bilmeceler [Crazy Puzzles] (1988) is a collection of
entertaining pictures, each with a question which is then answered in a humorous way.
Traditional tales are published in new editions and Turkish children are also being
introduced to the folk-tales of other countries. Bengiboz ve Küçük Sehzade [Bengiboz
and the Young Prince] (1985) is a Turkish folk-tale retold and illustrated for young
children by Cagla Erdogan; a special feature of this is that all the illustrations are based
on the traditional patterns of Turkish embroidery.
Turkish authors are being encouraged to write both poetry and prose for children, and
the quality of picture books and of illustrations in books for older children has risen
considerably with the work of such artists as Isa Çelik and Mehment Sönmez. The
future for children’s literature in Turkey looks hopeful.
Further ReadingAlpay, M. (1980) ‘A survey of Turkish children’s and juvenile literature’, Bookbird 4: 10–11.
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