Product Description
Literary affections naturally give way to literary habits. Families who love to read will find the time to read—the distractions of life are simply crowded out .... Such families invariably become inveterate and unapologetic list makers. There are lists of books that must be read. There are lists of books that must be reread. There are lists of books that must be read by others.

This book will most certainly appeal to that breed apart. It will sate even the most inveterate of list makers. How appropriate that a mother and her daughter—Elizabeth McCallum and Jane Scott—should have given us such a delectable treat. They have provided a guide to the best of children's literature serviceable for both veteran reading families and those just beginning their great journey of the imagination. I think you'll find that their accurate descriptions, careful recommendations, and cogent insights will prove to be as delightful as it will be invaluable in your own family.
George Grant, from the foreword ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

GREAT BOOK!!!Yes they left off some good ones but who doesn't!
This is only the 2nd book review, I have done.I have three other similar books and I am actually on-line looking for more.I just felt the one star the other patron gave this book was extremely bias and wrong to the rest of us.Keeping an open-mind as a book reviewer is very important.

There are Catholic stories for sure in "The Book Tree", "Madeline" comes to my mind.The "Queen of the Reformation" (page 138) is given no more prominence than any other book with a caption.Just opening the book, "Ox-Cart Man" (Page 30) and "Bread and Jam for Frances" (Page 31) have similar types of captions.

One caption I don't particularly like is from "Book of Greek Myths" (Page 50) "After a while Mother Earth bore three more sons.Uranus looked at them with disgust.Each of them had fity head and a hundred strong arms."I obviously don't believe in mythology at all, but would I say the entire book is bad because of that, of course not.Would I read the book about greek mythology--of course. It is part of the world's history. Would I recommend it to a young reader who I thought could handle it--of course.Recommend it to all children--no.

As far as the quality of "The Book Tree", I think it is wonderful.Yes they have left off many good books, but so has every other book of this type.They have done alot of research and there are over 300 listings in this book and a short paragraph about each. Reading and choosing books for children should be fun. You as the ADULT can pick and choose and read for yourself and make the final decision for the children you come in contact with.

One I would like to recommend to the one star patron is "Really Good Books for Kids: a guide for Catechists and Parents" by Jamaan Manternach.

Another favorite book of mine in this category is "Children's Literature for All God's Children." The only problem it was published in 1986.The ideas for using chiildren's literature in all kinds of settings is timeless.It has an excellent 5 star review written by someone else.

Finally, I hope this review is helpful to others.Choosing books for children and the young at heart is hard and I think these authors did a wonderful job. This kind of research makes the job for all of us so much easier.Thank you.

Anti-Catholic bias and 'curious' perspective on the "Civil War."
The authors of this volume have chosen to emphasize books with a strong anti-Catholic bias.For example,the book "Queen of the Reformation" is given prominence (on page 138) witha drawing of a bishop accompanied by the following: "In a half-scream, she continued: 'We can no longer suffer the serpent to creep through the field of the Lord.The books of Martin Luther are to be examined and burned.'"I am surprised the authors did not also recommend the anti-Catholic fantasies of Jack Chick.

Also of concern might be the prominence given by the authors to southern heroes of the "War between the States."(I am surprised they did not call it "The War of Northern Aggression.")Four books on Robert E. Lee are listed but not one on Ulysses S. Grant.No doubt heroes and villains were to be found on both sides, but the recommended reading here leans southward.

Parents looking for lists of books for their children would do better to consult those at the end of Michael
D. O'Brien's "A Landscape with Dragons."

"The Book Tree" is a "Christian" reference in only the most distorted sense of the word.

I love it!
This is a great resource for appropriate children's literature.I like the brief synopsis of the books, and I appreciate the sections on biographies that are appropriate for different age levels. ... Read more

Product Description
British author Diana Wynne Jones has been writing speculative fiction for children for more than thirty years. A clear influence on more recent writers such as J.K. Rowling, her humorous and exciting stories of wizard's academies, dragons and griffins, many published for children but read by all ages, are also complexly structured and thought provoking critiques of the fantasy tradition. This book will be of interest to Jones's many admirers and to those who study fantasy and children's literature. With the rise in interest in "Harry Potter", there has been an accompanying renaissance of critical interest in Jones's work. This book, however, is the first sustained, single-author study of Jones's work, written by a renowned science fiction critic and historian. In addition to providing an overview of her work, Farah Mendlesohn also examines Jones's important critiques of the fantastic tradition's ideas about childhood and adolescence. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A must for fantasy readers AND writers
Farah Mendlesohn knows as much about the elements of fantasy writing as anyone on the planet, which enables her to not only appreciate but explain Diana Wynne Jones's brilliant technique and her subversion of many fantasy-genre cliches, from hackneyed Arthurian-type grail quests to invariably beautiful heroines. She does a particularly good job of disentangling Jones's intricate use of series-A and series-B time travel; if nothing else, it will help you understand why you don't understand what's going on in some of Jones's books (like, for instance, Time of the Ghost and A Tale of Time City). She also offers background on many of Jones's references, including the Gwyn Ap Nudd myth that figures in Dogsbody, the variations on Tam Lin/Thomas the Rhymer folktales in Fire and Hemlock, and possible sources for the animistic gods and goddesses in the Dalemark Quartet. I loved, loved, loved this book. ... Read more

Product Description
This work fills the void by providing students of childrens literature with a comprehensible and easy-to-use analytical tool kit, showing through concrete demonstration how each tool might best be used. Contemporary literary theories discussed include semiotics and hermeneutics, structuralism and narratology, feminist and postcolonial theory, psychoanalysis, and reader-response, each adjusted to suit the specifics of childrens literature. ... Read more

Product Description
In order to place criticism into the discussion of children's literature, the author explores the writings of professors who have laid the groundwork in critical theory for all literature, explaining what literary criticism is, how it works, and why it is an important part of studying any literature.She introduces the prominent schools of literary criticism and shows how her students in children's literature classes, and teachers in the field, have become critics in their own right. The book contains brief introductions to some classroom practices which evolved from teachers reading critical theory, helping to create role models for others who wish to develop a program of critical theory in the elementary schools. The author includes extensive discussions of issues such as canon formation, realism in literature, and response theory, striving to introduce her readers to criticism to suggest its role in shaping all readers' responses to children's stories. She also encourages them to first be real readers who enjoy listening to the author's story before turning to someone else's theories about literature and searching for critical answers that fit their personal responses. A glossary of literary terms for new readers of criticism is included as well as an extensive bibliography for further reading on the topics discussed. ... Read more

Product Description

In this volume, Jan Susina examines the importance of Lewis Carroll and his popular Alice books to the field of children’s literature. From a study of Carroll’s juvenilia to contemporary multimedia adaptations of Wonderland, Susina shows how the Alice books fit into the tradition of literary fairy tales and continue to influence children’s writers. In addition to examining Carroll’s books for children, these essays also explore his photographs of children, his letters to children, his ill-fated attempt to write for a dual audience of children and adults, and his lasting contributions to publishing. The book addresses the important, but overlooked facet of Carroll’s career as an astute entrepreneur who carefully developed an extensive Alice industry of books and non-book items based on the success of Wonderland, while rigorously defending his reputation as the originator of his distinctive style of children’s stories.

Product Description
How do you define children's literature? Can its study be justified? Are conventional critical approaches appropriate? In a collection of articles, the author shows how the criticism of children's literature has developed. ... Read more

Product Description
This unique book is written for teachers, parents, librarians and anyone who is seeking quality literature for children (preschoolers through grade 6). The book is filled with wide-ranging lists of titles organized by grade level, theme, and content areas. This comprehensive resource simplifies your search by selecting the most useful information from websites, teacher resources, award listings, and publications that are available on children’s literature. For quick access and easy use, the lists are printed in full-page format and organized into five sections.

  ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Great for new elementary teachers
I bought this book for my daughter who is going to be an elementary teacher.It was recommened by her college professor.

Great investment!
The best way to decide if you want to purchase this book is to use the 'Look Inside' feature to review the Table of Contents. It will tell you everything thing you need to know.

This book is a great investment because it can be used for several grades. Unfortunately the Caledott & Newberry Winners list stops at 2003 but you can find a updated list online. It also lists other book awards that I am not familiar with.

I am a homeschooling parent and consider this book a must buy!

Great for college students or new librarians
I notice the copyright date is 2004.Most children's librarians will have more current knowledge from working with children's books every day.This is a good foundation book for people who are new to children's literature, but those who exist in the world of children's lit will want a more up-to-the-minute offering.

very good selection
This book is excellent for parents who have children in elementary school. It points out what books are available for kids of different ages and interests. It also has lists of books that have won awards. It definitely saves parents a few hours of research for what books their kids ought to read. It does all the work for them. I gave this book to my brother because he is busy at work and does not have time to go on the computer and search for books for his kids.

Enormous
I haven't used the entire book--not the section for later grades (too advanced for my growing boy).We have read many, many hundreds of children's books, and while I'm not as expert as a children's librarian or anything, I think I have a pretty good idea of what is out there.

For what it's worth, I didn't notice any important omissions.If there is any problem about this volume, it is that it makes too many recommendations and does not have enough helpful info about each one (just author names and book titles).There are a sentence or two about the books on the lists of "favorites," which are very useful--probably the best feature of the volume.But most of the lists are not "favorites" and there's nothing but the author name and book title.The lists of "Classics and All-Time Favorites" are useful too, but there aren't any comments about those--which is fine I guess, the point is that they can be recommended in any case.The judgment about what should be considered classics & all-time favorites seems pretty good to me.

I didn't notice any critical remarks about the books, or advice for parents (or teachers) with moral or other such concerns.For that, Amazon is a heck of a lot better than this book.

I'm not an expert, but it seems to be the sort of book list that I would expect an Ed.D. to produce--as far as I can tell, it follows the conventional wisdom and standards of education schools.This isn't meant to be a criticism, just helpful info for those who are wondering if this is going to be quirky: not really.It's a huge variety of resources, lots of attention to realistic fiction, multiculturalism, and children's book awards.The classics are here, but buried among an enormous number of other recommendations. ... Read more

Product Description
Children's Literature: New Approaches is a guide for graduate and upper-level undergraduate students of children's literature. It is structured through critics reading individual texts to bring out wider issues that are current in the field. Includes chronology of key events and publications, a selective guide to further reading and a list of Web-based resources.
... Read more

Product Description
LITERATURE AND THE CHILD, 7th Edition, covers the two major topical areas of children's literature?the genres of children's literature (picture books, folklore, etc.) and the use of children's literature in the classroom. Deliberately concise, the book offers succinct yet beautifully written and illustrated discussions that reflect the tone and feel of children's books. Featuring discussions of the latest works of children's literature, the text includes coverage of the growing importance of young adult literature as well as expanded emphasis on upper-level children's literature and adolescent literature. The authors pay careful attention to diversity in children's literature and equip students with practical, research-based teaching ideas. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

Literature and the Child
The text book is easy to read, the books listed in the appendix are a good mix of books for all ages. The text book's information is positive and the set up is in a logical order.

Reading Textbook
I ordered this book for a reading course.What a great book!I have used the book for almost all of my classes.It is a terrific reference book for reading research.I aso like that it is a hardcover book because I use it so much.Well written, well organized, great content, excellent reference resource.It also has a huge list of books for students that can be used throughout the full range of the curriculum. It is a teacher's guide to literacy.This is a super resource for reading teachers and reading coaches.

Literature and the Child
I enjoyed learning how to use more literature in my classroom.In some cases the content is cluttered by book titles but they are very good references for creating a literacy rich environment.

I wish I received the correct product!
Im sure this is a great book......for someone who ORDERED A 3RD EDITION!!!! However, I ordered a 6th edition....and was sent a 3rd. When I contacted the seller to resolve this matter, they simply informed me that Amazon has a tendency to put the same ISBN numbers on numerous editions of books. So, when I asked them what they were going to do about it, they simply said, "im not sure what you are asking for, we sent what you ordered." So, needless to say, I probably wont be doing this again!

Literature and the Child
Great reference for teachers and parents alike.Book lists are fantastic and take the guess work out of figuring out which book is appropriate for which age as well as what genre the books fit into.The reading gets a bit tedious with too many book examples given for each topic, but it is very easy to skip over those parts and move on to the next topic.The book lists throughout the chapter list the books for each age and genre so you don't miss anything by skipping over 2-3 paragraphs. ... Read more

Product Description
An investigation into how constructions of character in childrens literature become cultural imprints that serve a functional purpose in the wider context of race and power. ... Read more

Product Description
Take Up Thy Bed and Walk provides an in-depth critical analysis of a number of nineteenth and early twentieth-century works for girls that reflect widespread beliefs that a disabled life isn't a full life and that patients can cure themselves through force of will. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

a heavy handed critism
This book was interesting and infuriating. the author focuses on the miracle cure more than she focuses on portrayal of disability in children's books. Her indults of Louisa may Alcott's writing was almost more than i could bear. It was not her handling of the sanctimonious Beth that bugged me so much as it was her own dissapointment At the ending that made that chapter read like she booked no argument. Mostly this book felt angry . The author lashing out at the world. also if leg problems are the only ones adressed the author should say so in the summary. ... Read more

Product Description

Product Description

This landmark volume is the first to bring together leading scholarship on children’s and young adult literature from three intersecting disciplines: Education, English, and Library and Information Science. Distinguished by its multidisciplinary approach, it describes and analyzes the different aspects of literary reading, texts, and contexts to illuminate how the book is transformed within and across different academic figurations of reading and interpreting children’s literature.

• Part 1 considers perspectives on readers and reading literature in home, school, library, and community settings.
• Part 2 introduces analytic frames for studying young adult novels, picturebooks, indigenous literature, graphic novels, and other genres. Chapters include commentary on literary experiences and creative production from renowned authors and illustrators.
• Part 3 focuses on the social contexts of literary study, with chapters on censorship, awards, marketing, and literary museums.

The singular contribution of this Handbook is to lay the groundwork for colleagues across disciplines to redraw the map of their separately figured worlds, thus to enlarge the scope of scholarship and dialogue as well as push ahead into uncharted territory.

Product Description
For much of its history, children's literature has been overlooked or looked down on by scholars. But in recent years children's literature has assumed greater importance, as literary critics, psychologists, anthropologists, and historians have begun to discover what children and parents have known for centuries: that this is a literature of extraordinary richness, depth, and delight.

The Encyclopedia captures and elucidates this richness in four volumes and 3,200 signed entries. It offers comprehensive coverage of children's literature, from medieval chapbooks of moral instruction for children to J. K. Rowling's immensely popular Harry Potter books. Unlike other references, the Encyclopedia not only documents but also interprets every work, major and minor, that has played a role in the history of children's literature in the world. General essays illuminate prominent trends, themes, genres, and the traditions of children's literature in many countries. In addition, the Encyclopedia provides biographies of important writers, as well as extensive coverage of illustrators with numerous examples of their work. Sociocultural developments such as the impact of toys, films, animation, the Internet, literacy, libraries and librarians, censorship, the multicultural expansion of the field, and other issues related to the appreciation and dissemination of children's literature are also addressed.

While the Encyclopedia concentrates on the tradition known best by its readership, it also covers the international development of children's literature and offers an unprecedented treatment of works from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, African countries, and other nations. Its over 800 distinguished contributors come from around the world and include such renowned scholars and writers as Gillian Avery, Peter Hunt, Klaus Doderer, Hansa Heino Ewers, Jean Perrot, Denise Escarpit, Brian Alderson, and Betsy Gould Hearne.

A-Z organization, accessible writing, plentiful illustrations, cross-references, bibliographies, a comprehensive index and a systematic outline make the Encyclopedia an invaluable and easy-to-use research reference. ... Read more

Product Description
Literature often is central to individual maturation. It typically reflects, in one way or another, the experiences of the reader and the larger strains of society. This book examines representative works of science fiction, children's literature, and popular culture as mirrors of what it means to grow up in the contemporary world. That world is permeated by technology, and technology thus figures prominently in the process of growing up and in these literary works. Included are chapters on Superman, the Hardy Boys, Star Trek, music videos, and other topics. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

From juvenile series fiction's changing presentation
Science Fiction, Children's Literature And Popular Culture proves a college-level cross-section analysis of representative works of science fiction, children's literature and popular culture to examine depictions of coming of age in the modern world. From picture and comic books which appeal to the young to films, videos, and popular novels and writings, this covers everything from juvenile series fiction's changing presentations to multimedia presentations.

An outstanding anthology of informative essays.
Westfahl's essays in Science Fiction, Children's Literature And Popular Culture, range widely over American children's and YA popularentertainment, starting with a little known children's series but coveringSuperman, Horatio Algier and the Hardy boys, SF film (esp. the fifties)Star Trek and even music video in the context of film and advertising.Westfahl, a well known SF critic, allows himself more free-play in theseessays. His playfulness gives rise to many intriguing speculations,connecting popular culture phenomena in convincing but previouslyunarticulated ways.

I greatly enjoyed each of the essays, even thefirst one about a now-obscure children's series that features a too good tobe true boy called Charlie ("How Topsy Made Charlie Love Him,"from the Better Homes and Gardens Story Book), which he analyzes from adevelopmental and a feminist perspective.The chapter "Giving HoratioAlger Goosebumps," supplements the Sands and Frank book referencedabove with critical perspectives on both production and marketing andsocial contexts for YA series fiction."Opposing War, Exploiting War:The Troubled Pacifism of Star Trek," should be read alongsideBartter's essay in Sullivan's collection, listed below."Legends ofthe Fall: Going Not particularly Far Behind the Music," offer basicanalyses ofMTV and VH1 stories of rock star legends, asking basicquestions about their accuracy and comparing different 'kinds' of storiestold about these famous people.My favorite essay is "Even betterthan the Real Thing: Advertising, Music Videos, Postmodernism and(Eventually) Science Fiction."In this essay, he describes for us thesimilarities in the stories told within advertising on the media. Media-based advertising for products tells stories within which theproducts are set, just like music videos which are used to promote artistsand to promote music sales, and film trailers use some of the sametechniques to summarize or condense the film, telling a story about it thatmay or may not be true.

Westfahlmakes a convincing argument for theirinter-related development (similar to the critical argument made by Palumboon comic books in the Sullivan collection) and this is only one of severalinsights provoked by this essay.As Westfahl's fifth through eleventhchapters emphasize, there are many more intersections between media whichcan be productively explored, from the realization of written as film tothe expansion of television SF through written series fiction.More thanany other sub genre, SF has adapted itself to the new media and made theman intimate link in the definition of the genre.The links between fictionand other popular culture phenomena are pervasive, fascinating, and in needof further attention.Thus, in addition to addressing age-baseddemarcations of SF, the critical works address defining moments in thehistory of SF are we know understand it's ability to expand and adapt tochanging tastes, habits, and indeed needs, of its audience.

Westfahldoes not attempt a summary chapter, but ends with an analysis of The TimeMachine and its many permutations in cinematic productions, giving us, byexample, a socio-historical perspective on the film industry that alsoreflects on the history of science fiction.Since Wells' story is so tiedup with the history of SF as a genre and with all the media carrying the SFstory, including radio, television and film, the final essay does give ussome sort of summary in that it covers the earliest and the latest formsfor the story.

Jan Bogstad, Reviewer ... Read more

Product Description
Filling a crucial need for K-6 teachers, this book provides practical strategies for using nonfiction trade books in language arts and content area instruction. Research-based, classroom-tested ideas are spelled out to help teachers:

*Select from among the many wonderful nonfiction trade books available
*Incorporate nonfiction into the classroom
*Work with students to develop comprehension strategies for informational texts
*Elicit responses to nonfiction through drama, writing, and discussion
*Use nonfiction to promote content area learning and research skills

Unique features of the book include teacher-created lesson plans, extensive lists of recommended books (including choices for reluctant readers), illustrative examples of student work, and suggestions for linking nonfiction reading to the use of the World Wide Web.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

excellent condition
it is a book, it came looking like a book, it walked like a book, it talked like a book, it was exactly what i was looking for, yeah! ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (1)

Good overview of recent trends in YA fiction
Globalization and new technologies have been changing the face of the Earth at an unprecedented pace and on an unprecedented scale. New World Orders offers a glimpse of how contemporary children's and YA texts reflect these changes and how they speculate on some of our possible futures.
The key concept of this book is transformative utopianism--an open-ended, always unfinished process of narrative imagining alternatives to the status quo; the main argument is that genres and strategies of children's literature provide the most conducive means for effecting new world orders and transformative utopianism. If this sounds dry, the bottom line is that what today's children watch and read they absorb as templates for reality they may (or will) create in their adult lives. If you're interested in how picture books deal with environmental issues, in how movies such as Monsters, Inc. create the global image of labor or in how children's books and films have responded to the posthuman (virtual reality, cloning, genetic engineering and so forth), this is the book for you. Although in part written in a dry lit-crit jargon, this book is worth the trouble and offers a lot in return. For teachers, students of humanities, educators, librarians and animators of culture New World Orders is an indispensable, solid, thematically-organized overview of important contemporary novels, short stories, picture books and films. It gives a fresh perspective on why children's and YA narratives are so vital for positioning young readers "to recognize the interaction between their own understandings of the world as it is now and the vision of what it might become" (129). ... Read more

Product Description
In this groundbreaking contribution to Victorian and children's literature studies, Marah Gubar proposes a fundamental reconception of the nineteenth-century attitude toward childhood. The ideology of innocence was much slower to spread than we think, she contends, and the people whom we assume were most committed to it--children's authors and members of the infamous "cult of the child"--were actually deeply ambivalent about this Romantic notion. Rather than wholeheartedly promoting a static ideal of childhood purity, Golden Age children's authors often characterize young people as collaborators who are caught up in the constraints of the culture they inhabit, and yet not inevitably victimized as a result of this contact with adults and their world. Such nuanced meditations on the vexed issue of the child's agency, Gubar suggests, can help contemporary scholars to generate more flexible critical approaches to the study of childhood and children's literature. ... Read more

Product Description
No text better prepares you for evaluating, choosing, and sharing quality children’s literature than Through the Eyes of a Child: An Introduction to Children’s Literature (with MyEducationKit). This streamlined eighth edition continues to provide a visually stunning, theoretically sound, comprehensive overview of children’s literature. Sharpened focus on contemporary issues in the field, deepened coverage of biography and informational books, and newly integrated technology give this new edition added relevance in the changing field. In addition to the text's contemporary and valuable information on literature for younger readers, some of the brightest stars of children’s literature lend their talents to the new edition, providing insight into the craft and addressing the changing needs of middle grades readers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (22)

Through the Eyes of a Child
The book was in great condition, and came in a timely manner. I will definitely order again.

textbook
This was a great item that arrived on time in the condition as it said it would be. Great item, great seller, A+!!

Education coursework
This book is beautifully done. It has tons of information as to what books would be appropriate for all different age groups. It is well worth the money. The book is so nice that you hardly want to mark anything in it, but it has very good information that is useful. Very good information for education course work as well. I would highly recommend this book to help guide a teacher to appropriate books for students of all ages.

Thank You- Very Pleased
Thank you for your prompt and honest service.I have already used this book a great deal in my teaching language arts class.Thank you very much!

No Real Content- all examples
Skip this book if you want to learn anything valuable and genuine about children's literature.The only useful information can be found in the first 2 paragraphs of each chapter, the rest of the grueling pages are paragraph after paragraph of examples.Truly dreadful book. ... Read more