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Children-and-Adolescent-Literature module-1
education (Urdaneta City University)
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URDANETA CITY COLLEGE of
UNIVERSITY
Owned and operated by the City Government of
TEACHER EDUCATION
Urdaneta
Children and Adolescent Literature
MODULE 1: CHILDREN AND CHILDREN’S LITERATURE
Objective:
a. expound on children and adolescent literature and its historical development, in
relation to today’s rich repertoire; and
b. recognize how language development can be achieved through the use of children
and adolescent literature.
Introduction:
Liam Otten (2003), says that children’s literature exists as an idea in the adult mind
about the ways one speaks to children and about how we adults configure childhood.
Children’s literature celebrates the imagination that we, as adults, think is necessary to
engage children in.
Laura Laffrado (1995) defines children’s literature as literature that doesn’t exclude
children, family literature, and literature for a number of generations. It includes so many
different types of writing for such a wide range of ages, from toddlers on the brink of
comprehension to teenagers on the brink of adulthood.
Children’s literature, the body of written works and accompanying illustrations produced
in order to entertain or instruct young people. The genre encompasses a wide range of
works, including acknowledged classics of world literature, picture books and easy-to-
read stories written exclusively for children, and fairy tales, lullabies, fables, folk songs,
and other primarily orally transmitted materials.
Children’s literature first clearly emerged as a distinct and independent form of literature
in the second half of the 18th century, before which it had been at best only in an
embryonic stage. During the 20th century, however, its growth has been so luxuriant as
to make defensible its claim to be regarded with the respect—though perhaps not the
solemnity—that is due any other recognized branch of literature.
Exploring different genres in children’s literature
MAIN GENRES REFERRED TO UNDER CHILDREN’S LITERATURE:
Picture Books
Picture books provide ‘visual experiences’ which tell stories with pictures. There
may or may not be text with the pictures in the book.
Eg. The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter
Picture Story Books
Picture story books contain pictures or illustrations that complement the story,
often mirroring the plot.
Children and Adolescent Literature 1
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Eg. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.
Traditional Literature
Traditional literature refers to stories that are passed down from generation to
generation changing slowly over time. Traditional literature includes folktales,
folklore, fairy tales, fables, legends and myths.
Eg. Little Snow White
Historical Fiction
Historical fiction refers to stories portraying a time period in the past or it conveys
information about a specific time period or historical event.
Eg. Steps to Freedom by Dr. Susan Shafer.
Modern Fantasy
A fantasy is an imaginative tale that requires young readers to accept elements
and story lines that clearly cannot be true. Modern fantasies are contemporary
stories that are imaginative tales.
Eg. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin.
Realistic Fiction
Realistic fictions are stories that are similar to historic fiction, except, these are
based on current issues. These stories feature children as the main characters
and allow young readers to experience different things.
Eg. Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly Giff
Non-fiction or Informational Books
The non-fiction books help readers learn more about real things and provide
young readers information.
Eg. The Life and Times of the Ant by Charles Micucci
Biography
A biography is a true life story that someone has written about another person.
These books can be extremely motivating to young children.
Eg. He rescues the Birds (Abraham Lincoln) by Noah Brooks.
Poetry
“Poetry is a rhythmical composition of words expressing an attitude, designed to
surprise and delight, and to arouse an emotional response.” X.J. Kennedy
(1995). Poetry refers to pieces of writing that involve rhythm, rhyme, literary
devices and creativity. Children’s poetry introduces children to different writing
styles using verses.
Eg. The Bee’s Knees by Roger.
Drama
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Drama generally takes the form of a story presented to an audience through
dialogue and action. The story is conveyed using the elements of the theatre:
acting, costumes, props, scenery, lighting, music, and sound.
Personal and Academic Values of Literature to Children
PERSONAL VALUES
To create enjoyment environment in children’s learning.
To make the children have high imagination and inspiration in learning.
To promote experiences through reading (vicarious experience)
Children are able to put themselves in other’s shoes.
Transfer one’s cultural heritage to others
ACADEMIC VALUES
Illustration in picture books:
- help to tell the stories and develop understanding among young learners.
Advantage of teaching children to read daily:
- children are able to develop their proficiency in reading.
- encourage independent reading where they choose the material they want
to read freely.
Relationship between Children’s Development and their Literature
Childhood, the most tender and versatile stage of the development of human
mind, is a crucial stage in the experiential learning & cognitive development of the
stages of human development. Children literature encompasses all books, poems,
magazines and
songs made for children. Children literature plays a crucial role in the foundational
development of the childhood stage of a human
life cycle.
Children’s literature is an extremely important tool or rather an influential driver
for the foundational development of a child’s language and acquisition as well as and
encouraging medium for the generation of a child’s actively engaged imagination.
(S.M.Audsley, 2019)
Reading is the best source of information in the course of information
development and children’s literature with commendable quality could play an essential
role in the development of the practice of reading in the foundational stages of achild’s
mind. Moreover, Children’s literature play a very important role in delivery of moral
values and wisdom to the child with lucrative display of pictorial representation and
exciting storyline that is highly adaptive to the understanding at a foundational level and
lays a sustainable imprint in a child’s mind for the constructive development of one’s
mind
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TEACHER EDUCATION
Urdaneta
1. Concept of Tabula Rasa
Tabula Rasa refers to a “scraped tablet” in Latin which means a “clean slate”. It is
a theory that says that at birth the human mind has no attributes and all mental
attributes are developed with experience and nurturing. In reference to this
theory, the children literature plays a very crucial role in the cognitive and
foundational development of a human mind. Children literature can develop the
senses of identification of the environment around the child.
Children’s literature, through its scientifically designed contents and methods of
pictorial display of storylines with a message on moral and social rationality, can
leave an imprint in a child’s developing mind which can instigate a rational
and constructive thought process for the child. The learning of a child from
children literature can be the best and the most lasting imprint in a child’s mind
and has to power to develop a sustainable and productive thought process which
helps the child to develop a easily adaptable learning process in the later stages
of life.
2. Importance of Children Literature in Child Development
The development of a child’s foundational understanding and acquisition of
language, speech has several stages and it is very essential for the guardians to
attend to these stages accordingly to generate the adequate growth and learning of
the child’s minds. There are six stages of language development in a human life
cycle and children literature plays an intrinsic role in the development of attributes in
all these stages of a child’s development.
As an example, we can refer to the Swedish author and psychologist Carl-
Johan Forssen Ehrlin. It is a well known fact that a child’s sleep cycle plays a crucial
role in the process of development and growth of the child. The author recognises
this fact and writes a book which goes by the name The Rabbit Who Wants to Fall
Asleep. In this book, the author employs “psychological techniques which aims at
helping a child fall asleep while reading or when this book is read aloud to the child.
In this way child literaturestructured scientifically with set goals can deeply affect
several such attributes in the developmental stage of a child.
3. Children literature as a medium of issue resolution
Children literature is a medium to deliver moral and life values to the child
through stories and poems carrying a moral message. At the initial development
stages, a child is exposed to several moral and ethical enigmas which require
immediate and correct attention so as to structure the constructive development of
their tender mindsets.
Effectively designed children literature can instigate the sense of
understanding of right and wrong, tackle the mindsets towards resolution of social
issues like bullying, discrimination and so on. It is very imperative to develop a
rational thinking towards social issues in the early childhood stages to develop a
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constructive mindset for the child and children literature can very productively deliver
that role. Portraying lucrative storyline from a child’s perspective and picturing the
same pictorially and through simple language makes it readily adaptable to a child’s
understanding, delivering the moral message resolving the air of social issues
instigating the development of a rational thinking and analysing pattern in the course
of development of a child’s psychology.
4. Children literature as a guidance towards social well being
The idea of empathy, equity, diversity and inclusion should be developed in a
child starting from its foundational stages of development. Children literature plays a
very intriguing role in this aspect. Children literature is a source which provides the
real scenarios to the tender mind of a child through readily adaptable and exciting
mode of delivery reflecting pictorial representation of the story and simple
languages. The idea of race, equity, diversity and inclusion amidst differences are
some of the very important social aspects that need to be triggered in a child’s mind
in its initial developmental stages.
As for instance we can take the example of D. Jillian Roberts, a renowned
and proficient child & adolescent psychologist based out of British Colombia,
Canada. She mentions that by developing the feeling of empathy a child can learn
how it feels to be in someone else’s shoes and in a competitive and never halting
world on the present times, children should learn how to attend to someone else’s
feelings and thoughts as it is the key to social and emotional development. This can
be understood from the quote by the psychologist herself mentioned below:
“Developing empathy allows children to put themselves in another’s
place and to better understand their experience. In today’s busy world,
it’s important that children learn how to be deeply present to others’
thoughts and feelings. Empathy is the key tosocial and emotional
development [...].”
5. Children literature in line with Sustainable Development Goals
The sustainable development goals are a set of 17 Development goals
which are designed for the attainment of a better and sustainable future for every
inclusive person on earth. This set of goals also include a goal for quality
education i.e. SDG 4 and gender equality i.e. SDG 5.
As discussed earlier, children literature plays a very important role in issue
resolution and development of a rational social thought process. This thought
process further enhances a child’s learning capability and adaptability that
triggers their attraction towards knowledge gaining process and also helps them
develop their social emotional understanding towards the virtues of equity,
diversity, inclusion & empathy. These traits are the very basic and necessary pre-
requisites for the steps towards attainment of the SDG 4 & SDG 5.
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URDANETA CITY COLLEGE of
UNIVERSITY
Owned and operated by the City Government of
TEACHER EDUCATION
Urdaneta
From this we can somehow relate that children literature not only
instigates a rational thought process in a child in its foundational stages but in
this course of development also prepares the child to contribute to the attainment
of internationally set goals for inclusive growth and sustainability which is a very
intrinsic characteristic and role of children literature in the development of a
child’s psychology and behavioural attributes.
Historical Background of Children’s Literature
THE CLASSICAL PERIOD ~ 500 BC to 400 AD
All literature begins with storytelling. In fact, storytelling is an important part of
every world culture. Long ago, people did not distinguish between adult and children's
literature. Children heard the same stories as their parents ... tales of heroes as retold
by Homer in The Iliad and The Odyssey and, of course, the tales gods, demons and
talking animals. These are found all over the world.
Western civilization has its roots in the cultures of ancient Greece and Rome,
which flourished between 500 BC and 400 AD. This was the Classical Period. Our
culture is filled with references to Classical stories; we often speak of "Archilles' heel",
the "Midas touch" and "Pandora's box". Planets, galazies and stars ... as well as track
shoes and Tiger Woods' shirts ... all bear names of classical gods and heroes. There
are part of our cultural heritage.
THE MIDDLE AGES ~ 476 AD to 1453
After the Roman Empire fell in 476 AD, European civilization declined. The period
between the fall of Rome and the Renaissance (in the 14th century) is called the Middle
Ages because it fell between the Classical and Renaissance periods.
During the Middle Ages, the Roman Catholic Church was dominant and
responsible for education. But education was a luxury and few people could read or
write. Books were very expensive as they had to be copied by hand on expensive
parchment. So, just as it was in the Classical period, storytelling was the primary
entertainment for most people.
Biblical stories and stories about saints were most popular. The lives of saints
were used to set examples for children. Secular stories were also popular. The romantic
tale of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table likely thrilled many adults and
children. The battle scenes, heroes and magic made it a popular story in the Middle
Ages and it remains so today.
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TEACHER EDUCATION
Urdaneta
THE RENAISSANCE ~ 14th to 16th Centuries
A new era began in Europe around 1400. It was called the Renaissance because
people saw it as a re-introduction of the ideals of ancient Greece and Rome, including
their art, literature, philosophy and respect for learning.
During this time, Johannes Guttenberg invented the printing press. This was
considered to be the greatest invention of the past 1,000 years. The printing press
made it possible to make books in a fraction of the time it took to copy them by hand.
Books became plentiful, opening the door to mass education. Most books for children
were textbooks or other types of educational reading matter.
THE 18TH CENTURY
By the mid-1700s, the publishing of children's books began. A little Pretty Pocket-
Book (1744) by John Newbery is one of the first children's books designed to entertain
as well as teach. It is considered a landmark in children's literature. No copy of the first
edition has been found.
Prior to the 19th century, children's books were intended to instruct ... usually
morally. But about this time period, children's folktales from the oral tradition also
became popular. Folktales were printed in England as early as 1729, when Charles
Perrault's Tales of Mother Goose was translated from French to English. These
retellings of old stories included "Cinderella", "Little Red Riding Hood" and "Sleeping
Beauty in the Wood". These stories became staples for English children.
By the mid-18th century, Mme. de Beaumont retold many fairy tales, including
"Beauty and the Beast". In 1791, Elizabeth Newberry published the first children's
edition of Tales from the Arabian Nights, featuring "Sinbad the Sailor" and "Aladdin and
His Lamp".
The Grimm brothers published many folktales at the beginning of the 19th
century, although not expressly for children. The Grimms' tales are considered to be the
most famous of all fairytale collections.
THE VICTORIAN ERA ~ 1837 to 1901
The Golden Age of Children's Literature
The Victorian Era was characterized by rapid change and development in nearly
every sphere ... from advances in medical, scientific and technological knowledge to
changes in popularion growth and location.
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URDANETA CITY COLLEGE of
UNIVERSITY
Owned and operated by the City Government of
TEACHER EDUCATION
Urdaneta
By the end of the 19th century, there was an emergence of talented writers with
an interest in writing entertaining stories for children. This emergence is attributed to a
number of social developments: A lower infant mortality rate; the technology to produce
books inexpensively and in color; the rise in the status of women; mandatory education
in the U.S. and England (thus creating a literate audience); and the growth of the middle
class (thus broadening the audience).
In the second half of the 19th century, children's literature was dominated by
adventure or boys' stories. The major British boys' story from that era is Treasure Island
by Robert Louis Stevenson. The most prominent writer of stories in America was
Samuel Clemens (writing as Mark Twain), author of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
(1876) and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884) ... the later considered one of
the greatest American novels ever written.
America author Susan Warner (writing as Elizabeth Wetherell) wrote one of the
early domestic novels, The Wide, Wide World (1850). But the most famous of all
domestic novelists was Louisa May Alcott. Her Little Women (1868) is considered a
masterpiece not only because of its strong characters but also for its entertainment
value.
Fantasy was the gold of this age: First with Charles Dodgson's (writing as Lewis
Carroll) Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and then the much-loved Tale of Peter
Rabbit (1901) by Beatrix Potter, who set a high standard for illustrated children's books.
Perhaps due to its puritanical routs, America during this period was not as fond of
fantasy as the British. The exception, of course, is The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900)
by L. Frank Baum.
THE EDWARDIAN ERA ~ 1901 to 1915
Conceptions of childhood underwent a cultural change in the Edwardian period,
seeing the child become central to 'childhood' and childhood central to the Zeitgeist in a
way that had not been seen previously and would not endure in the same way after the
outbreak of World War I.
J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan (1904) was immensely popular during this period as was
the most endearing animal fantash A Wind in the Willows (1908), by Kenneth Grahame.
BETWEEN THE WARS ~ 1920 to 1940
Many notable fantasy figures of children's literature emerged during this period,
most of them British. Hugh Lofting's The Story of Doctor Dolittle (1920) and A. A. Milne's
Winnie-the-Pooh (1926) are two famous children's pieces from this period as well as
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Urdaneta
P.L. Travers' Mary Poppins (1943). Tolkien's The Hobbit; or There and Back Again
(1937) introduced children to Bilbo Baggins and his adventures.
The most famous American children's author during this period was Laura Ingalls Wilder
whose Little House in the Big Woods (1932) was the first in her popular series of books
about her
Children and Adolescent Literature 9
