WEEK TWO

CHILDRENS

 4
PLEASE BE PUNCTUAL!
2 LATES = -1 POINT

ATTENDANCE

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TODAYS CONTENT
Introduction to Childrens
Literature

Scope, Definition, Importance

Genres of Childrens Literature

Elements of Childrens Literature

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OUR FOCUS
A) Literature Class
- definition of childrens literature
- importance of childrens literature
- elements of childrens literature
- genres of childrens literature
B) Education Class
- how to categorise childrens literature
- how to use books with children
- how to choose appropriate childrens literature

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THINK ABOUT THIS

Why do we need to have literature
specifically written for children?
What differences and similarities do
you see between children's literature
and adult literature?
What kinds of literary experience did
you enjoy as a child? What kinds of
literary experience do you enjoy now
as an adult?

CHILDRENS
LITERATURE IS GOOD
QUALITY TRADE
BOOKS FOR
CHILDREN FROM
BIRTH TO
ADOLESCENCE,
Definition
COVERING TOPICS OF
RELEVANCE AND
INTERESTS TO

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VALUE OF LITERATURE
A)
TheCHILDREN
Personal Value
TO
- enjoyment
- imagination and inspiration
- vicarious experience
- understanding and empathy
- cultural heritage
- moral reasoning
- literary and artistic preferences
(*This part is based on Lynch-Brown, C. & Tomlinson, C. (2005).
Essentials of Childrens Literature, 5th edition. Chapter 1. Learning
about children and their literature.)

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VALUE OF LITERATURE
TOThe
CHILDREN
B)
Academic Value
- improving reading skills
- developing writing voice and
style
- learning content-area
knowledge
- promoting art appreciation

(*This part is based on Lynch-Brown, C. & Tomlinson, C. (2005).

Essentials of Childrens Literature, 5th edition. Chapter 1. Learning
about children and their literature.)

SHOULD WE TEACH CHILDREN TO READ LITERATURE? WHY?

1. Children are naturally capable of taking pleasure in what they read.

2. Readers are made, not born.
3. Literature is more experienced than taught.
4. Critical analysis of literature somehow destroys pleasure in it.
5. Many people dont focus their teaching of literature on the enhancement of
pleasure because they believe pleasure is private, too dependent on individual tastes
and feelings to be taught.
6. Literature must be discussed. It is only by discussing with others who have
experienced a book that new meaning can be effectively constructed.
7. Children need teachers to demonstrate how to enter into and explore the world of
literature, just as children learning language need adults who show them how the
language functions in the everyday world.

WHAT SHOULD TEACHERS DO TO HELP CHILDREN READ LITERATURE?

1. Ask children to understand every word written in a text.
2. Ask children to derive meaning from context as they read,
3. Ask children to always read closely and analytically.
4. Allow children to feel free to read against a text.
5. Encourage children to see their reading of literature as a source of questions to think about rather
than answers to accept.
6. Ask children to parrot the responses or interpretations of other people, particularly those with
authority over them, to prove that they understood the right things about a book they read.
7. Encourage children to have their own ideas about what they read.
8. Encourage children to exchange their viewpoints with others and respect the differences.
9. Provide children with diverse experiences of literature.
10. Help children to read with an awareness of ideological implications, that is, of the ways in which
texts represent or misrepresent reality and work to manipulate readers.

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LITERATURE

BY AGE

CHILDREN'S LITERATURE AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

Ages 0-2
sensorimotor
period
Ages 2-4
pre-conceptual stage

Ages 4-7
Beginning readers
intuitive stage

Ages 7-9
Transitional readers
period of concrete operations
(7-11 years)

Ages 9-12
Competent readers

nursery rhymes for reading aloud

brief, plotless, concept books with brightly coloured pictures
interactive books (e.g. touching and opening little doors)
often in the form of heavy, nontoxic cardboard or cloth books

- concept books including numbers, letters, and more complex concepts

like opposites (e.g. counting books, word books, and illustrated
dictionaries)
- easy-to-read picture storybooks, folktales, and rhymes for reading aloud,
storytelling, and play-reading
- informational books for beginning readers that help children find out
about the world and how it works
- they begin to understand the notion of stories, letter-sound relationship,
left-to-right and top-to-bottom progression of print on the page, and a
slight vocabulary
- longer picture books and short chapter books with simple,
straightforward plots and writing styles
- their interest in folktales begin to fall off by age 8; they show more
interest in realistic stories and adventures of young characters
- sophisticated picture storybooks and novels (chapter books) with more
complicated plots, including realistic fiction (survival stories, peer stories,
animal stories, mysteries, and romances), historical fiction, and science
fiction
- series books containing similar topics, recurring characters, and formulaic
patterns of plots

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LITERATURE

BY GENRE

LITERARY GENRES OF CHILDRENS LITERATURE

PICTURE BOOKS
EASY-TO-READ BOOKS
ILLUSTRATED BOOKS
GRAPHIC NOVELS
PAPERBACK BOOKS
MERCHANDISE BOOKS
SERIES BOOKS
EBOOKS

BOOK

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ELEME

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PLOT
Sequence of events which involving characters in conflict situation

Cumulative
Linear
Episodic
Circular
Conflict

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PLOT (2): FORMS OF CONFLICTS

Person vs person
Person vs self
Person vs nature
Person vs society

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CHARACTERS
Who the story is about, and the plot revolves around them.
Animals are given human traits anthropomorphism
How characters are developed?

Actions
Descriptions from other characters
Characters personalities

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SETTING
Where and when the story takes place
Forms: place, time
Can be realistic or imaginary
Can cover any time period or time span
Should be introduced to the reader subtly, through things the
characters see, say, and do within the story.

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THEME
Central idea, underlying ideas
Explicit and implicit

STYLE
Choice and arrangement of words help create the mood of the story
Authors personal choice

TONE
Authors attitude towards the book through the choice of words.