scholarly journals Developing a Child’s Library

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Desmarais

Dear Readers,As an avid book collector, I derive great pleasure from deciding what kinds of books should be acquired for my personal library.  I collect books that I love in a few subject areas, and over the years my library has grown into a carefully curated collection.My collecting habit began early in life when I hoarded picture books in my dresser drawers. Regrettably, I did not have a proper bookshelf or even a set of bookends to stand my books upright on a flat surface, but I had plenty of drawers for storage. Assembling my little library of picture books was great fun and the experience taught me that a personal book collection can provide a lifetime of enjoyment. Indeed, I still enjoy buying picture books from time to time for my library.I am always delighted when I see children who are keen to build their own book collections. In fact, developing a home library for your child is a great way to demonstrate that books are extensions of our interests and passions, and they can enrich our lives in manifold ways. Now of course I am not advocating that parents should rush out, spend a small fortune on children’s books, and immediately install a room full of bookcases. Building a library for young readers can be easy and inexpensive, and you can have fun helping young readers gain a deep appreciation for print books in their homes.If you want to encourage your child to have a compelling selection of books at home, you can stretch your book budget by taking your child to garage sales, thrift stores, flea markets, book fairs, and library sales. All of these venues are great places to pick up piles of books at a significant discount. As your child’s library begins to grow, you could suggest that s/he add a bookplate to each book to indicate its rightful owner. Bookplates are the decorative labels that are pasted down inside the cover of a book to give us some information about the owner, and they usually have the title Ex Libris, meaning “from the library of.” There are many websites that offer bookplate designs for children that are free to download and use, and they are a great way to customize a growing library.Of course, one of the best ways to build a child’s library is to begin by checking them out at the local library, and if your children find a personal favourite, a book that they enjoy reading over and over, then go ahead and buy a copy for their library. Supporting their library will show your commitment to investing in knowledge, and children who grow up with books are well positioned to make tremendous gains in educational attainment.Our new issue has many excellent books that would be well suited to a personal library, so I hope you’ll consider adding one or two to your child’s bookshelf.Happy reading!Robert DesmaraisManaging Editor

2016 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary K. Van Ullen ◽  
Jane Kessler

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the accuracy and functionality of a selection of basic Android and iOS apps for mobile devices designed to generate bibliographic citations. Design/methodology/approach – A number of inexpensive or free apps were installed on several different tablets and phones. Book citations in MLA and APA format were generated and evaluated for accuracy. Findings – Results show that the majority of the apps tested produced unacceptably inaccurate citations, and many had limited functionality. The best of the apps tested was EasyBib. Research limitations/implications – There are infinite combinations of operating systems, apps, citation styles, material types and devices. Testing for this study was limited to uncomplicated apps likely to appeal to undergraduate students. It did not include more sophisticated apps for managing reference libraries. The study investigated how well several Android and iOS apps installed on mobile devices functioned to generate MLA and APA citations for print books. Practical/implications – As the role of mobile technology in education continues to grow, librarians need to remain aware of solutions that can help students manage their research. Librarians have an opportunity to provide feedback to developers by reviewing and rating apps. Originality/value – Undergraduate students face challenges in learning to appropriately acknowledge materials they have consulted in their research and writing. Librarians can play an important role in helping students select the most appropriate tools to make citing sources easier and more accurate.


2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rhonda Sader

Beaty, Andrea. Ada Twist Scientist. Illustrated by David Roberts. Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2016.With a whimsical prose and an empowering message, it’s hard to resist Ava Twist Scientist! This is the third book written by Andrea Beaty, and true to the form of Iggy Peck, Architect and Rosie Revere, Engineer, she celebrates the creativity, imagination, curiosity, and perseverance of every day children.  Ava Twist has a question for everything as she explores the world around her: “Why are there pointy things stuck to a rose?  Why are there hairs up inside of your nose?”   Her parents are puzzled and exhausted by their curious child, while at the same time supportive of her scientific endeavours. Although Ada experiences frustration in her experiments, as they don’t quite always go as planned, she perseveres and shows continued determination in finding answers to the many questions that perplex her. There are parallels in this story to Albert Einstein’s childhood, with Ada being delayed in speech, being extremely curious about the world around her, and getting into trouble at school because of it.  Einstein was puzzled by a compass, and Ava a grandfather clock.  Similarly, both made sense of their world through pictures and constant questioning.  Interestingly, in the end pages, Andrea Beaty notes she named Ada Marie Twist after two great women scientists: Marie Curie and Ada Lovelace.Focused colourful illustrations placed on a white background complement this rhyming text giving us a glimpse into Ada’s mind and her never-ending curiosity.  One of the most endearing qualities of this book is how the illustrator David Roberts includes the teacher, Iggy Peck, and Rosie Revere, characters of Beaty’s other books, as Ada’s diverse classmates, converging the stories together. This book is notable as it focuses on a young girl’s passion for science, providing a role model and empowering other girls to follow their dreams. It should be noted however, that the story is inspirational for all. And with that I must insist: Ada Twist should not be missed!   Recommended: 4 out of 4 StarsReviewer: Rhonda SaderRhonda Sader started enjoying picture books as a young girl and has never looked back.  Some of her most treasured time is spent reading books nightly with her own two children. 


Author(s):  
Hervé Cantero

Generations of Australian children have been presented with iconic figures and values associated with the events of 1915 at Gallipoli and involved in the ritual practices of remembrance exemplified by Anzac Day ceremonies throughout a corpus of children’s literature which ranges from picture books for pre-schoolers to young adult fiction. This paper aims to broadly identify the narrative strategies at work in a selection of recent stories of brave animals helping the Aussie boys under fire or paeans to the duty of personal and communal remembrance and to examine them in a larger context of national self-representation.


2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (60) ◽  
pp. 92-115
Author(s):  
Kristina Hermansson

This article explores manifestations of class from a combined aesthetical and political point of view, focusing on a selection of Swedish children’s picture books from 2009 to 2018, in which class differences are made prominent. In this sense, they can be regarded as radical. This study examines how political aspects are intertwined with literary, visual, and multimodal means. The main purpose is to examine how the political and aesthetical merge in the manifestations of class. The publishing of radical picture books during the 2000s and 2010s coincided with a rise of norm-criti-cal discourse, including a strong emphasis on diversity rather than on social transformation. The books, I argue, do not depict radical change on a collective level, but uses various aesthetic means in their manifestations of class and inequality. Theoretically, the anal-ysis mainly draws on Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of capital (1984), and Beverley Skeggs’s (1997) reasoning on class by adding the con-cept of respectability, as well as picturebook theory, and scholarly writing on radical picturebooks.


Author(s):  
Sierrah Harris ◽  
Amanda J. Owen Van Horne

Purpose This tutorial discusses what it means to be a culturally responsive speech-language pathologist (SLP) and then grounds this discussion in strategies that SLPs can engage in to diversify the books and other materials that they use in clinical practice. Method We motivate the tutorial by reviewing policy statements and theoretical information from allied literature. Then, we suggest some ways that SLPs can reflect on their practice to enact an antiracist/culturally responsive approach to treatment, taking the selection of children's literature up as a particular example. We identified strategies that have been suggested across a variety of fields and illustrate these strategies with examples. We both provide recommendations for how to select picture books and also suggest ways to implement these suggestions with accountability. Conclusions There is a need for SLPs to reflect on how to be culturally responsive in their practice and to review their materials selection practices with regard to how materials reflect the composition of their caseloads. As a predominantly White profession serving diverse caseloads, we have an ethical obligation to review our choice of materials and align them with culturally responsive practices.


Author(s):  
Jack Zipes

This chapter sets the discussion of the legacy of the Grimms' tales in the German sociocultural context of the last twenty-five years. It begins by discussing some of the more recent popular manifestations of their stories. The chapter focuses mainly on literature, including picture books and filmic adaptations, though given the large amount of material available, it will only feature a selection of this literature. Following the discussion of popular manifestations, the chapter turns to the concept or notion of a Grimm legacy and concludes with an analysis of scholarly studies that, in contrast to popular culture, have grounded the legacy of the Grimms in substantial ways that would have gratified the Grimms.


2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 172 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie A. Leahy ◽  
Bridget C. Foley

<p><em>Children’s literature is profoundly influential in the lives of students and is widespread throughout schools, libraries, and homes. However, the field of children’s literature lacks diversity across several domains, particularly race, gender, and ability. Educators must be knowledgeable on how to use diverse children’s literature as a tool to teach about diversity, as they strive to foster inclusive classroom environments. Teachers must also design their classroom libraries with intense care so as to provide a wide-ranging selection of books to meet the needs of children’s interests and reading levels. Books are a powerful tool for development, so teachers must make conscious decisions about the materials they provide to young readers. All children deserve exposure to a wide range of books, which include characters who are both similar and different from themselves. Educators have a responsibility to expose students to diversity through a well-written selection of multifaceted children’s literature.</em></p>


2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 151-163
Author(s):  
Κaterina Dermata

Purpose The contribution of children’s literature to the social-emotional development of children has been recognized across disciplines. Especially picture books, as multimodal texts which communicate with young readers with two codes simultaneously, can be a potential means of fostering empathy in young children (Nikolajeva, 2013). The purpose of this paper is to introduce the program “My BEST friends, the books,” an empirical project (in progress) based on a Book-Based Emotional Social Thinking approach. Design/methodology/approach This approach is inspired by the Critical Thinking and Book Time approach (Roche, 2010, 2015). The program, based on the scales and competences of the Βar-On (2006) model of social-emotional intelligence, explores the way young readers interpret social-emotional skills when discussing about literary characters in children’s picture books. This paper examines the philosophy, the main characteristics and structure of the program, and presents the first results of the pilot phase. Findings The initial findings indicate that the design and implementation of such a program is a complex procedure that requires from the researcher to take into consideration various aspects that concern both the material and the participants, but also to step back and let children express their thoughts freely. Originality/value Moreover, such discussions allow for understanding how preschoolers interpret the social-emotional skills of literary characters in a critical manner.


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