Diana Mitchell

As far as textbooks go, this is one of the most interesting and easiest to read that I have completed. No doubt due to the subject matter. The book is intended for teachers of elementary or middle school children: to immerse them in the merits of children's literature, set guidelines for how to evaluate the books and lead classroom discussions and responses, and examine some of the broad genres of children's literature. Poetry, realistic and historical fiction, picture books, fantasy and science fiction, nonfiction, biography, and multicultural literature each have their own chapter. The entire book is laced with a plethora of examples of quality books that can be used in a variety of teaching contexts, spanning every type of genre and format. At the conclusion, the authors included lists of children book awards and the winners by year.

I love reading children's books. I was excited to take this class in college, and am pleased with myself that I finally completed another book that I started in my College of Education courses. The text is simple to read and understand, and presents all the wonderful benefits of reading children's literature, and the many ways of responding to books, which can apply to children and adult books, and just makes the reader excited about reading children's literature. The authors also address issues like controversy over matters of censorship and stereotypes, and how to make sure that libraries include children of all cultures and backgrounds. There are multiple sidebars that evaluate different kinds of literature in terms of quality, multicultural effectiveness, exclusion, interest, and educational importance, usually doing a sample review of a specific book. In addition, the textbook provides so many examples of great books that I just wanted to go out and read them all. If only I could lock away time and spend a few hundred thousand hours just reading kids' books. I highly recommend this text for teachers, or for people who have a passion for children's literature.… (plus d'informations)