Childhood: Children's Literature
Directed Independent Adult Learning
STUDY GUIDE
INTRODUCTION TO CHILDREN'S
LITERATURE
LIT-221-GS
Compiled by Sylvia Baer
Material adapted and reproduced from Instructor's Resource Manual to Accompany "Through the
Eyes of a Child: An Introduction to Children's Literature," 4th through 7th eds., by Donna E.
Norton and Saundra E. Norton (Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Merrill/Prentice Hall, 1995, 1999, 2003,
2007). Used with permission. ii © 2007 by Thomas Edison State College iii Contents
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Introduction v
1 Response to Literature 1
Lesson 1: The Child Responds to Literature 3
2 History and Evaluation 13
Lesson 2: The History of Children's Literature 15
Lesson 3: Evaluating and Selecting Literature for Children 24
3 Realm of the Artist 33
Lesson 4: Artists and Their Illustrations 35
Lesson 5: Picture Books 44
4 Literary Forms 53
Lesson 6: Traditional Literature 55
Lesson 7: Modern Fantasy 64
Lesson 8: Poetry 73 iv 5 Realistic and Historical Fiction 83
Lesson 9: Contemporary Realistic Fiction 85
Lesson 10: Historical Fiction 94
6 Nonfiction 103
Lesson 11: Biographies 105
Lesson 12: Informational Books 114
Appendix: Answer Key to Multiple-Choice Study Questions 123 v Introduction
What was your favorite childhood storybook? What was your favorite fairy tale? Surely you remember fondly at least one story, and most likely two or three. A friend of mine in his fifties can still tell the tale, almost word for word, of The Little Engine That Could. Another friend, in her thirties, loved every single word and picture in her Cinderella book. My first friend heads a major corporation, but his childhood was filled with desertion and poverty.
He credits reading that childhood book every night while waiting for his mother—a waitress and single parent—to get home in the evening with inspiring him to get ahead in the business world. My other friend is now a
New
STUDY GUIDE
INTRODUCTION TO CHILDREN'S
LITERATURE
LIT-221-GS
Compiled by Sylvia Baer
Material adapted and reproduced from Instructor's Resource Manual to Accompany "Through the
Eyes of a Child: An Introduction to Children's Literature," 4th through 7th eds., by Donna E.
Norton and Saundra E. Norton (Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Merrill/Prentice Hall, 1995, 1999, 2003,
2007). Used with permission. ii © 2007 by Thomas Edison State College iii Contents
_______________________________________________________________________________
Introduction v
1 Response to Literature 1
Lesson 1: The Child Responds to Literature 3
2 History and Evaluation 13
Lesson 2: The History of Children's Literature 15
Lesson 3: Evaluating and Selecting Literature for Children 24
3 Realm of the Artist 33
Lesson 4: Artists and Their Illustrations 35
Lesson 5: Picture Books 44
4 Literary Forms 53
Lesson 6: Traditional Literature 55
Lesson 7: Modern Fantasy 64
Lesson 8: Poetry 73 iv 5 Realistic and Historical Fiction 83
Lesson 9: Contemporary Realistic Fiction 85
Lesson 10: Historical Fiction 94
6 Nonfiction 103
Lesson 11: Biographies 105
Lesson 12: Informational Books 114
Appendix: Answer Key to Multiple-Choice Study Questions 123 v Introduction
What was your favorite childhood storybook? What was your favorite fairy tale? Surely you remember fondly at least one story, and most likely two or three. A friend of mine in his fifties can still tell the tale, almost word for word, of The Little Engine That Could. Another friend, in her thirties, loved every single word and picture in her Cinderella book. My first friend heads a major corporation, but his childhood was filled with desertion and poverty.
He credits reading that childhood book every night while waiting for his mother—a waitress and single parent—to get home in the evening with inspiring him to get ahead in the business world. My other friend is now a
New