… A story’s beginning, A story is an end, And in the story’s middle, You just might find a

friend. – Richard Peck

CHILDREN
AND
ADOLESCENT
LITERATURE

nstructor: Priscilla Sarabia Cielo BSED English, NORSU, Department of English and Literatu
 CHILDREN’S LITERATURE - DEFINED

Children’s Literature is good-quality

trade books
for children from birth to
adolescence,
covering topics of relevance and
interest to children of those ages.
-Brown and Tomlinson (2005)
Children’s Literature is the body of
written works and accompanying
illustrations produced in order to
entertain or instruct young people.
-Britannica Encyclopedia (2020)

CHILDREN’S LITERATURE BSED English, NORSU, Department of English and Literatu

 CHILDREN’S LITERATURE AND ITS VALUE TO CHILDREN

Enjoyment

Imagination and Inspiration

Vicarious Experience

Personal Value Understanding and Empathy

Heritage

Moral Reasoning

Literary and Artistic Preferences

CHILDREN’S LITERATURE BSED English, NORSU, Department of English and Literatu

 LITERATURE FOR THE DEVELOPING CHILD
AGE APPROPRIATE LITERATURE Examples
0-2 Materials that well developed physically – I Can, I See, I Hear, I Touch
with illustrations, brief, plotless – CONCEPT (1986/1995)
BOOKS and BOARD BOOKS. They are with Clap Hands; All Fall Over;
exaggerated patterns in sound (strong Say Goodnight (1999)
rhymes) or movement, with humor, and Here Comes Mother Goose
brief. At age 2, they can be exposed to (1999)
INTERACTIVE BOOKS, where children Pat the Bunny
participate or make manipulations (1962/2001); Who Said
Moo? (2002)
2-4 Picture storybooks to be read aloud, Madlenka (2000)
featuring simple plots, beautiful illustrations
that tell the story, and interesting, humorous
characters and situations. They illustrate
the physical skills of characters that 2-4
children could take pride in having
accomplished. Toddler Two (2002)
Concept books can now include numbers, My First Word Book (1999)
letters, and more complex concepts like
opposites. Henny Penny
Folktales that are repetitive plot and display The Gingerbread Boy
the simplistic “right or wrong” sense of
morality.

CHILDREN’S LITERATURE BSED English, NORSU, Department of English and Literatu

 LITERATURE FOR THE DEVELOPING CHILD
AGE APPROPRIATE LITERATURE Examples
4-7 Picture storybooks to be read aloud.
Children could memorize unconsciously and
do “play-reading”. Folktales are still a
favorite for storytelling and read-aloud.
Funny poems with strong rhyme and
rhythm.
Children at this stage will acquire No, David! (1998)
fundamentals of reading. It is wise for There Was an Old Lady
teachers to use easy-to-read books to Who Swallowed a Fly
support children’s enthusiasm for learning to (1997)
read. Prominent topics are physical growth Lily’s Purple Plastic Purse
and increasing independence. (996)
Children at this age loves to find about the A. Lincoln and Me (1999)
world and how it works so books could feed What Do You Do with a Tail
their interest with informational books. like This? (2003)
Beyond Picture Books: A
Easy-to-read books could vary in readability Guide to First Readers
and level of conceptual difficulty: for lower (1995)
end – picture books with limited text to brief Best Books for Beginning
captions; for higher end – brief chapter Readers (1998)
books with illustrations.

CHILDREN’S LITERATURE BSED English, NORSU, Department of English and Literatu

 LITERATURE FOR THE DEVELOPING CHILD
AGE APPROPRIATE LITERATURE Examples
7-9 Transitional readers find chapter books and Ike and Mem (2002)
short chapter books and not full-fledged The Jamie and Angus
novels. Simple, straightforward plots and Stories (2002)
writing are most appropriate. They can be
enjoyed only as read-alouds in the Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive
classroom and independent reading by the Bus (2003); The
better readers. Gardener (1997)
Children’s abilities begin to grow to meet
their own needs. Story characters that See You Around! (1996)
reflect both good and bad qualities and face
realistic problems help them mature with a
sense of morality.
Folktales are still popular to them, but their
interest in folktales reaches its peak during
this age and ends by age 8 or 9. Their
interest shifts to realism and poems.

CHILDREN’S LITERATURE BSED English, NORSU, Department of English and Literatu

 LITERATURE FOR THE DEVELOPING CHILD
AGE APPROPRIATE LITERATURE Examples
9-12 Children at this age have rapidly developing Esperanza Rising (2001)
physical and mental skills and abilities. Thus, more The City of Ember (2003)
complicated plots, alternative points of view,
nontraditional characters, moral dilemmas (for
moral development) and use of language devices Calibri (2003)
can now be managed. Both historical and science Wringer (1997)
fiction can be understood and enjoyed. They are
now growing up, asserting and using new-found
skills, independent, and experiencing growth
through meeting challenges.
Children at this age reread books. They discover Nancy Drew
series books, Animorphs science fantasy, sports- Hardy Boys
oriented stories, and formula fiction (appearing as American Girl
mysteries, fantasy and science fantasy
adventures, historical fiction, and romances. They
usually read books in a series one after the other.
They still enjoy read-aloud programs. Holes (1998)
Teachers and librarians should consider general Ug: Boy Genius of the
factors (age and age-appropriate books) when Stone Age (2002)
helping children find books.

CHILDREN’S LITERATURE BSED English, NORSU, Department of English and Literatu

 LITERATURE FOR THE DEVELOPING CHILD

Workshop 1
The lesson has presented types of books:
a)concept books;
b)interactive books;
c)picture storybooks;
d)informational books;
e)chapter books; and
f)series books.

What are they? How do they differ in terms of

language structure and phase layout, intended
audience, and content? Present your work in a
four-column table.

CHILDREN’S LITERATURE BSED English, NORSU, Department of English and Literatu

 WHY EXPOSE CHILDREN TO LITERATURE
ON LITERATURE AND LITERACY
Butler (1975) ages 4 months to Reading aloud from children’s
3 years picture books to a severely
disabled child from age 4mos.
enabled the child to learn to
read.

Durkin (1966) Children who Children who learned to read

learned to read before attending to school
before attending were read to regularly from
school the age of 3. Early reading and
early writing are often linked.

CHILDREN’S LITERATURE BSED English, NORSU, Department of English and Literatu

 WHY EXPOSE CHILDREN TO LITERATURE
ON LITERATURE AND LITERACY

Cohen (1968) 7-year olds Reading to children who have

not been previously exposed
to literature can help them
learn to read.

Eldredge and 1,149 beginning Use of children’s literature to

Butterfield readers in 50 teaching reading has a much
(1986) classrooms greater positive effect on
students’ achievement and
attitudes toward reading than
does use of basals with
traditional homogeneous
grouping.

CHILDREN’S LITERATURE BSED English, NORSU, Department of English and Literatu

 WHY EXPOSE CHILDREN TO LITERATURE
ON LITERATURE AND LITERACY
Dowhauer Second-graders Reading the same books
(1987) multiple times significantly
improves students’ oral
reading rate (fluency),
accuracy, and comprehension.

Leinhardt, Elementary-grade The amount of time children

Zigmond, and children spend reading silently in school
Cooley is associated with their year-to-
(1981) year gains in reading
achievement. Children
improve their reading ability by
reading a lot.

CHILDREN’S LITERATURE BSED English, NORSU, Department of English and Literatu

 WHY EXPOSE CHILDREN TO LITERATURE
ON LITERATURE AND LITERACY
Anderson Elementary-grade Even slight increases (10 minutes a
(1996) children day) in time spent reading
independently lead to gains in
reading achievement. Amount of
free reading in early grades help
determine reading ability in grades 5
and 6.

Fielding, Middle-graders Students who read a lot at home

Wilson, and show larger gains on reading
Anderson achievement tests.
(1986)
Applebee Children ages 2 Children’s sense of story grows as
(1978) to 17 they mature. Literature has a
positive effect on children’s
language development.

CHILDREN’S LITERATURE BSED English, NORSU, Department of English and Literatu

 WHY EXPOSE CHILDREN TO LITERATURE
ON LITERATURE AND LITERACY
Carlsen and College students Conditions that promote a love
Sherill (1988) who were of reading includes:
committed •Freedom of choice in reading
readers material
•Availability of books and
magazines
•Family members who read aloud
•Adults and peers who model
reading
•Role models who value reading
•Sharing and discussing books
•Owning books
•Availability of libraries and
librarians

CHILDREN’S LITERATURE BSED English, NORSU, Department of English and Literatu

 WHY EXPOSE CHILDREN TO LITERATURE
ON WRITING
McGonaghy First-graders in a Children use in their own
(1990) literature-based writing the literary
reading and conventions and forms they
writing program encounter in literature.

DeFord (1981) First-graders in Children in literature-based

phonics-, skills-, reading classrooms tend to
and literature- produce a wider variety of
based reading written forms and better
classes written stories than children in
phonics or skills-based reading
classes.

CHILDREN’S LITERATURE BSED English, NORSU, Department of English and Literatu

 WHY EXPOSE CHILDREN TO LITERATURE
ON WRITING

Eckhoff Second-graders Children adopt writing styles

(1983) who used basal from their reading texts. Some
readers inappropriate writing
structures may be learned
from oversimplified reading
texts.

CHILDREN’S LITERATURE BSED English, NORSU, Department of English and Literatu

 WHY EXPOSE CHILDREN TO LITERATURE
ON WRITING
Lancia Second-graders Good books are effective models
(1997) for children’s writing. Students
“borrowed” plots, plot elements,
characters, stylistic devices, and
information from books to use in
their own writing.
Dressel Fifth-graders Student writing was directly
(1990) affected by the characteristics of
the stories they heard and
discussed, regardless of the
students’ reading abilities. The
better the quality of the read-
aloud, the better the quality of
the student writing. Which
stories teachers read aloud is
important.
CHILDREN’S LITERATURE BSED English, NORSU, Department of English and Literatu
 WHY EXPOSE CHILDREN TO LITERATURE
ON RESPONDING TO LITERATURE
Lehr Children in grade Degree of sophistication of
(1991) K-4 children’s commentary on
literature increases with
exposure to literature.

Hickman Children in grades Children responde to literature

(1992) K-5 at their level of undestanding.
Forced responses can destroy
the enjoyment of literature.

CHILDREN’S LITERATURE BSED English, NORSU, Department of English and Literatu

 WHY EXPOSE CHILDREN TO LITERATURE
Across the Curriculum

Levstik Sixth-grade class Children use “human behavior”

(1986) that used schemata to make sense of
narrative historical information. Personal
literature to learn narrative descriptions of historical
fiction have a greater impact on
history
young students that textbooks’
depersonalized explanations.

Kiefer Children in grades Exposure to picture books can

(1994) 1-5 increase children’s awareness
of art and aesthetics.
Children’s awareness of
stylistic factors in picture
books grows developmentally.

CHILDREN’S LITERATURE BSED English, NORSU, Department of English and Literatu

 WHY EXPOSE CHILDREN TO LITERATURE
Across the Curriculum
Morrow, Third-graders from diverse Students who received yearlong
backgrounds divided into literature-based reading and
Pressley,
three groups: literature-based science
Smith, and 1.Those who received instruction scored higher than
Smith literature-based reading
control groups in reading and
(1997) and literature-based
science instruction
total language score on the
2.Those who received California Test of Basic Skills and
literature-based reading on two measures of science
and textbook-based content.
science instruction
3.Those who received basal
reading and textbook-
based science instruction

CHILDREN’S LITERATURE BSED English, NORSU, Department of English and Literatu

 WHY EXPOSE CHILDREN TO LITERATURE
Across the Curriculum

VanSledright Fifth-grade history Students’ interest in history and

and students their ability to retain information
Kelley increased significantly when their
history instruction included
(1996)
literature.

CHILDREN’S LITERATURE BSED English, NORSU, Department of English and Literatu

 WHY EXPOSE CHILDREN TO LITERATURE
ON ART APPRECIATION
• Children
appreciate art and
its value within
itself and
compared to
others’ artworks

• Children gets
to appreciate
art for its
own sake.

CHILDREN’S LITERATURE BSED English, NORSU, Department of English and Literatu

 HOW DO WE STUDY LITERATURE
WITH CHILDREN
Structuralism Studying author’s life, historical and
political background, analysis of
words and form of literary work

Transactional View of The “personal” brought to the reading

Reading act, within reason, is valid,
permissible, and desirable

Efferent Reading to take knowledge

Reading

and
Reading to live through the literary
Aesthetic experience, assuming the identity of
Reading a character

CHILDREN’S LITERATURE BSED English, NORSU, Department of English and Literatu

 LITERATURE FOR THE DEVELOPING CHILD

Workshop 2

You basically have had three to four stages of

exposure to literature: Pre-Elementary and
Elementary Junior High School; Senior High
School; and College. Which stages deal with
literature through structuralism, transactional
view, efferent reading and aesthetic reading?
Present your answer through a self-designed
graphic organizer (e.g. concept map, web map,
flow chart, etc.).

CHILDREN’S LITERATURE BSED English, NORSU, Department of English and Literatu

 Main Reference

Lynch-Brown, C. & Tomlinson, C. (2005). Essentials of

children’s literature (5th Ed). Boston: Pearson.

CHILDREN’S LITERATURE BSED English, NORSU, Department of English and Literatu