Critiques the work of Appalachian writer Gloria Houston who has written six children's books based on the culture and history of rural North Carolina. Her most successful work, "My Great-Aunt Arizona," presents an alternative to the usual stereotypes of backwoods teacher and school. Includes a bibliography of Appalachian children's…

Reviews six children's books about American Indian culture, traditional life, and folk tales by Native and non-Native authors. Discusses questions related to whether non-Natives should write about Native life, whether the same criticism should apply to Native and non-Native authors, and problems in adapting oral materials. (SV)

Discusses children's pictures termed "visual manifold narratives" (picture books that develop more than one narrative line by including two or more sets of separate pictures on the page). Discusses some uses of the manifold narrative, the reader's role in constructing meaning, subversion of the linear narrative, the metafictionality of manifold…

Compares the characteristics of children's books that received critical acclaim from adults and were "Children's Choices" to books that received critical acclaim only. Finds that the stylistic and structural differences between the two groups of books are more apparent than variations in themes. (RS)

The Council on Interracial Books for Children (CIBC), founded in 1965, was formed to promote and develop children's literature that adequately reflects a multiracial society and to effect change in media portrayal of minorities. Past critiques by CIBC of "The Cay" (Theodore Taylor) and "To Kill a Mockingbird" (Harper Lee) are…

David Wisniewski's 1992 picture book version of the African epic of "Sundiata, Lion King of Mali" and the actual historical account of the 13th century Lion King, Sundiata, are both badly served by Disney's "The Lion King." Disney has been praised for using African animals as story characters; for using the African landscape as…

This handout is a guide to library resources in the J. Murrey Atkins Library at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte in the field of children's and adolescent literature. The guide enables the reader to find biographical and critical information about an individual author or illustrator, or to research a literary style or period. The guide's…

To honor the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of Louise M. Rosenblatt's book "Literature as Exploration," this book offers 12 essays that demonstrate the extraordinary influence of Rosenblatt's work on the teaching of literature, on literary theory, and on educational research in all English-speaking countries. Further, it evinces…

Designed for college freshman composition classes, this guide describes a writing assignment for teaching students to write a formal review of a favorite children's book. The book analysis worksheet serves as a springboard for questions and a vehicle for teaching persuasive discourse, the business of publishing, the organization of libraries, the…

The process of introducing students to alternative approaches and giving them the opportunity to debate their views about a work in order to develop critical thinking skills can start in the elementary school grades. George Hillocks' seven-level hierarchy represents an appropriate scheme by which teachers can sequentially move students to higher…

This paper examines the fantasy literature that is currently available to young readers. Twenty-two children's books are listed and discussed under the following topics: good storytelling and lively imagination, recurring themes, satires and word play, original fairytales, and works that reflect the divided self, the occult, and parapsychology. It…

Humor in literature and children's responses to humor deserve serious study. Humor in literature may focus on a character's method for coping with a disturbing situation, problems (such as riddles) that engender sudden insights when things fall into place, or ludicrous characters. Incongruity and surprise also play an important part in humor and…

Over 80 young adult novels for blacks were analyzed to determine how they revealed the shared experiences of black people in the family setting and the social world (including the world of work). The analyses showed that the authors of these books tended to focus totally on the familial aspects of the shared experiences of black people, a rather…

This collection of 12 critical essays--written for teachers, librarians, students, and parents--comments on the style, characterization, sense of wonder, and sense of reality in children's books. Specific subjects covered are (1) the fantasy worlds of Andersen, Beatrix Potter, Walter de la Mare, C. S. Lewis, Lewis Carroll, and J. R. R. Tolkien;…

The study shows that there are Spanish fairy tales which are parallels to some well-known fairy tales written in English. These fairy tales are not merely translations of the English, but have certain character and plot similarities that allow them to be compared. This study compares eight fairy tales--the English tale is discussed first, then the…