LAI 565LEC - Literature for Children and Young People

The study of children’s literature has grown increasingly important in the past decade due in part to an explosion in this area of publication, as well as to the emphasis in many schools on literature-based instruction. Furthermore, beyond the pedagogical value of learning to read, children’s literature is a significant cultural artifact, one that has “power to celebrate, perpetuate, interrogate, subvert, expose, and even openly defy cherished myths and deeply entrenched ideological assumptions” (Butler, Dillard, & Keyser, 1996). In this course we examine historical and contemporary literature for children in order to identify not only the traditional elements of literature and illustrations, but to identify as well the myths and ideological assumptions of authors and illustrators. Topics include: the definition and depiction of families, multicultural selections, gender roles, expository text, and visual literacy.

Credits: 3