17 May–3 JuneM–Th 1:00-5:10 Library 115 Ruth Feingoldrpfeingold@smcm.eduMH 122

This class is designed to introduce you to an admittedly slim sample of children’s literature. Due to time constraints, much is being left out: virtually all the texts were published in the last 100 years, which means we won’t be reading authors such as E. Nesbit, Susan Coolidge, George MacDonald, Anna Maria Hall, Louisa May Alcott, Anna Sewell, Andrew Lang, and G. A. Henty. That, I’m afraid, is a whole other course—and one well worth taking.

What I can promise you is that the books we are reading (and the films we’re watching) are well worth the time we’ll be spending on them. Many of them have won Newberry or Caldecott Awards, the most coveted prizes in children’s publishing; all of them have captivated readers both young and old. And all of them, I think you’ll find, are not only enjoyable stories, but also rich and complex texts that reward the attentive critical reader.

To a large extent, you can expect this to be like any other literature class. We’ll be looking at character and plot, symbol and theme, and connecting the world of the text to the worlds in which it was written and is being read. You might find yourself asked to think about what the political views of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s daughter have to do with Little House on the Prairie, or why it matters that Mistress Mary, of The Secret Garden, was born in India. We’ll also be talking about what exactly makes a book a “children’s book”—and what makes it a good one. Finally, we’ll be spending a portion of each day talking about one critical element that separates many children’s books from most adult ones: pictures.


 


texts:

The Secret Garden, Burnett (1911)
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass, Carroll
(1865, 1872)
The Dark is Rising, Cooper (1974)
M.C. Higgins, the Great, Hamilton (1975)
Kira-Kira, Kadohata (2004)
Bridge to Terabithia, Paterson (1977)
The Golden Compass, Pullman (1995)
Charlotte’s Web, White (1952)
Little House on the Prairie, Wilder (1935)

Bridge to Terabithia, dir. Csupo (2007)
Into the West, dir. Newell (1992)

 

syllabus

week & day readings anything extra
1   Seasons and Cycles  
  17 May

Introduction to Children’s Literature

Charlotte’s Web

 
  18 May

The Secret Garden

 
  19 May

Kira-Kira


  20 May Library field trip  
2   Family & Growth  
24 May

Little House on the Prairie

 Illustrator spotlight: Dania, Greg, & Kristen
  25 May

Film screening and discussion:Bridge to Terabithia

Read Bridge to Terabithia

Illustrator spotlight: Chris & Andrew

 
  26 May

M.C. Higgins, The Great

Illustrator spotlight: Sarah, Shelby, & Will
  27 May

Film screening and discussion: Into the West

Illustrator spotlight: Nora, Emily, & Emily

 
    Fantasy & Quest  
3 31 May Memorial Day—no class

 

 
  1 June

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland &
Through the Looking-Glass

 Illustrator spotlight: Charley, Abby, & Joanna

 
  2 June

The Dark is Rising

Illustrator spotlight: Cat & Jade
  3 June

The Golden Compass

Illustrator spotlight: Megan, Tay, & Erica

 
4 12 June


Final Essay due, 8 p.m.

 

 

graded work


Attendance and participation

This course will be run primarily by discussion, and a high level of responsibility for what happens in class devolves on all participants. You’ll be expected to show up every day—missing a class in an accelerated summer course is like missing more than an entire week during the regular semester. You should come to class, moreover, having not just read the texts, but read them thoughtfully, so that you can participate fully. Chatty is good. Chatty is critical. Don’t feel like you have to know all the answers in order to open your mouth—queries, half-formed ideas, etc., are welcome. But you need to be an active intellectual participant not only in your own mind (something that is also, admittedly, cricial), but also in our community. Simply filling a chair every day will not get you an A—or even a B. This grade will also take into account any quizzes, in-class projects, etc.

If anything comes up that will prevent you from attending (and it had better be good), it’s imperative that you contact me in advance, and discuss arrangements for make-up work. Depending on the reasons for your absence, and the extent of it, make-ups may not be possible.

 

 approx. 30% of grade

Discussion questions

Each day (excepting the days of the field trip and Into the West), you’ll be asked to prepare five discussion questions for class, e-mailing them to me no later than 11 a.m.. Your grade will depend both on your regular completion of this assignment, and on the thoughtfulness and relevance of the questions you pose on the selected texts. Everything doesn’t have to be a gem, but I’ll be looking for a pattern of serious engagment with the assignment.

 approx. 5% of grade


Illustrator spotlight

Our library trip is intended to give you a head start on preparing your class presentation, which will be on a children’s book illustrator, or picture book concept (books about animals, alphabet books, etc.), of your choice. You will be working in teams of three, and will have 40 minutes for your presentation. You should expect to provide your classmates with both historical/biographical information and a critical analysis of your chosen topic and texts. You should plan to put together a powerpoint presentation (or other form of digital slideshow) to help talk about images, but it would be helpful to bring in actual books as well, to provide context for your discussion. All group members should take part in the intellectual work of the presentation conception, the drudge work of the presentation assembly, and the performative work of the presentation itself.

Things to consider covering in your presentation:

  • a history/chronology of the artist’s work, so that we can get a good idea of the range and/or development of her style;

  • information about any non-children’s book work the artist does: adult illustration, other forms of art, film work, etc.;

  • information about the artist’s influences: the writers he read as a child, or the artists he particularly admires or sees himself as indebted to;

  • a discussion of the artist’s philosophy or goals, if known. What kinds of subjects does she like doing books on? What themes does she—or do critics—see emerging in her art?

  • an analysis of individual images and/or books as a whole. How do the illustrations of a particular books work in concert with (or instead of) its text? How does a particular image “read?”

    • As part of this assignment, you should expect to turn in (within 48 hours of your presentation):

  • a copy of your powerpoint/slide show

  • a written explanation of who did what in your group

  • an assessment of your own performance, as well as the performance of each of your group members.


    		•

    approx. 30% of grade


    End of term essay

    This paper, due a week after the conclusion of the course, will be an articulate, intelligent, finely-honed analysis of one or more of the primary texts we have studied in class—or, with instructor’s permission, of another relevant work (or works). You will be expected, in this essay, to demonstrate your familiarity with some (not all) of the critical ideas and issues raised by our discussion over the course of the term; your analysis itself, however, should show independent thought, and not merely replicate what we did in class.

    Students taking the course as a 230 are expected to write in the range of 2800 words (8 pp.), +/- 10%,. No additional research is required, although it is certainly permissable. Students taking the course as a 390 should aim for about 4200 words (12 pages), and must do research using secondary sources (more details will follow—but this means printed, reputable literary criticism and theory, not publisher websites).

    All students should plan to talk to me about your ideas before you write your paper.

     

    		 approx. 35% of grade

    resources

    A reserve shelf containing the following books is being set up in the library :
    Lerer, Seth. Children’s Literature: A Reader’s History from Aesop to Harry Potter
    Evans, Dilys.Show and Tell: Exploring the Fine Art of Children’s Book Illustration
    Nodelman, Perry. The Hidden Adult: Defining Children’s Literature
    Hunt, Peter. Understanding Children’s Literature
    Nodelman, Perry. Words About Pictures: The Narrative Art of Children’s Picture Books
    Lewis, David. Picturing Text: The Contemporary Children’s Picturebook
    Nikolajeva, M. How Picturebooks Work
    Clark, Beverly Lyon. Kiddie Lit: The Cultural Construction of Children’s Literature in America
    Clark & Higonnet, eds. Girls, Boys, Books, Toys: Gender in Children’s Literature and Culture
    Wojik-Andrews, I. Children’s Films: History, Ideology, Pedagogy, Theory
    May, Jill. Children’s Literature and Critical Theory: Reading and Writing for Understanding
    Natov, Roni. The Poetics of Childhood

    Some potentially useful—or at least interesting—websites and blogs having to do with children’s literature:

    http://cosmos.somd.lib.md.us/magazinesoutside.html (scroll down to the Children’s Literature Comprehensive Database)
    http://www.scils.rutgers.edu/professional-development/childlit/ChildrenLit/
    http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/chl/ (this is a journal available on-line through the SMC catalog. You’ll want to go through Research Port to actually access articles, but this will provide you with tables of contents and abstracts—it’s a good way of surfing to wee what’s out there).
    http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/lion_and_the_unicorn/ (same as above—this is one of the other main journals in the field)
    http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/childrens_literature_association_quarterly/ (this is the third)
    http://www.childlitassn.org/ (see the “scholarly resources” section)
    http://www.bpib.com/illustra.htm#illustopage

    http://www.kidlitosphere.org
    http://latibookblog.blogspot.com/
    http://tortoiselessons.blogspot.com/
    http://www.literarymama.com/
    http://justinelarbalestier.com/blog/
    http://www.pbs.org/parents/booklights/
    http://yzocaet.blogspot.com/
    http://www.motherreader.com/
    http://jkrbooks.typepad.com/
    http://wizardswireless.blogspot.com/
    http://www.books4yourkids.com/
    http://www.wandsandworlds.com/

    These lists are not intended to be exhaustive—they’re simply a good place to start...