Essays on Children's Literature

Annotated Bibliography

Snodgrass, Mary Ellen. Encyclopedia of Feminist Literature. InfoBase Publishing, 2006 Snodgrass provides a review of a variety of genres explored over the years by various feminists on topics and issues that affect women. The book provides a broad range of non- fiction and fiction authors who have written various literary pieces on feminist themes that signal the evolution of feminism. The book deals with a wide range of themes, from abortion to male- female violence to rape. Snodgrass merely reviews fiction and non- fiction on feminist issues. She gives an account of the feminist themes explored in these books ...

Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White, Hana’s Suitcase by K. Levine, Why Me? By L. Allen and The Paper Bag Princess by R. Munsch present a wide range of conflicts and themes that are aimed at teaching children something about the world that surrounds them. All of the books are under the great influence of the ideology of the times they were written, so it is easy to spot different attitudes towards the same question, as for example, the classic emotional and empathic women in Charlotte’s Web and strong and brave Elizabeth in The Paper Bag Princess. ...

History of Children’s Literature

In the time when there were no books and not everyone could write and read, mothers and grandmothers were able only to tell their children or grandchildren stories and fairy tales. Even when people became more literate, they did not begin to write down folklore for youngsters. It was Charles Perrault, who collected and published folk tales for children in 1697. However, speaking about folklore, people imagine more often not Charles Perrault, but the Brothers Grimm (Zipers, 2002). They are considered to be the first collectors of both folk and fairy tales. The reason for this is their ...

Claim: Teaching methodology greatly affects the way story books are utilized to teach morality to children.

Claim: Morality might become questionable due to the way teachers teach children. Claim: Children should be taught different pieces of literature in the form of folklore, fairy tales, fables so that they understand the diversity in moral values across culture. Neuroscience research states that by the first four years of life, the intelligence of a child develops to about 50 percent whereas by the age of eight years, their intelligence reaches a maximum of 80 percent. Developmental theorists like Piaget and Kohlberg have all stressed upon the excellent learning abilities of individuals during their childhood which forms the basis ...

One of the most fundamentally important literary devices used to develop a short story is the element of pathos, or the empathy that the reader feels for the characters of the story. Without pathos, the reader is not engaged with the characters of the story, and is left apathetic to the eventual outcome of the storyline. Without characters that engage the reader in some way-- whether their existence drives the storyline or not-- the reader is left without any kind of emotional connection to the story. This is especially true for short stories, as they must convey significant actions, events, ...

The Book Thief by Marckus Zusak

Wolf Brother by Michelle Paver The Book Thief by Marckus Zusak Wolf Brother by Michelle Paver In The Book Thief Lisel Meminger is living with a foster family - struggling to get by on what she steals - hiding from bombing raids - in a war that makes powerful adults feel helpless - still she shares with her neighbors - and helps the even more powerless Jewish man hiding from the Nazis. In The Wolf Brother Torak sets out to avenge his father by destroying the demon bear who killed him. Along the way, he receives assistance ...

ABSTRACT

Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games tells the tale of young tribute Katniss Everdeen, who is forced into a state-sanctioned spectator sport where she must kill her fellow teenagers for the entertainment of the authoritarian Capitol. In The Hunger Games, the character of Katniss Everdeen distinguishes herself from other female protagonists in children's fiction in many ways. These differences will be discussed at length, mostly through the lens of the treatment of romantic relationships with regards to the protagonist in children's fiction. Through analysis of the primary text and the surrounding scholarly literature, The Hunger Games is shown to be an ...

In much of modern publishing history, particularly as it pertains to children's literature, there has been a significant movement toward marketing childrens' books for particular, gendered audiences. There are "boys' books" and "girls' books", each with their own emphases and particular genres. Boys' books tend to be adventures complete with violence, while girls' books are more fully centered on romance. However, despite these distinctions, I do not feel quantifying these books as being appropriate for a particular gender over another is wise or appropriate; children's literature on the whole has a great capacity for being palatable and enjoyable for both sexes, as ...

Children's literature can have many purposes - they are often used to entertain, to delight, and to spark imagination. Many are also used to provide children with useful lessons for proper behavior and desirable attitudes. However, one additional benefit that children's literature has is its unique method of discussing adult topics and subjects in front of children in a way that does not offend the status quo, or introduces it to them too harshly. At the turn of the twentieth century, three stories in particular were particularly useful in conveying adult messages to their audience - "Uncle Remus," "Rip Van ...

Introduction

Multicultural literature is literature that is designed to give close attention to the history, culture and lifestyles of people from different backgrounds in the world. In America, a good example is the literature that comes from Anglo-Saxon Europe. This literature is usually prepared for children to boost their multicultural knowledge, as well as, to celebrate the various cultures that the contemporary society is made up of. Basically, multicultural literature helps children to have a clear understanding of people from different ethnic backgrounds and countries. This is because these literatures give detailed facts describing how life is in other places in the ...