Abstract

Children’s and young adults’ literature is characterised, first and foremost, by its aesthetic component. However, the specificity of the target audience makes it necessary to speak of an educational component and of aspects derived from the characteristics of the model reader.

Considering this triple significance, this chapter will briefly review the evolution of the didactic treatment of literature to identify the importance of the emotional dimension in the effective communication between reader and text. Finally, the works The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and The Boy on the Top of the Mountain by John Boyne (Dublin, 1971) will be analysed to justify the use of literary reading as a resource for the integral formation of the youngest readers through identification with the fictional characters.