childrens literature themes

  childrens literature themes: The Writer's Guide to Crafting Stories for Children Nancy Lamb, 2001-09-20 Create Unforgettable Stories for Kids! You dream of writing stories that children respond to–the kind they come back to again and again. Nancy Lamb can help you achieve that dream. She mixes insightful advice for mastering storytelling with dozens of examples that illustrate a variety of plot-building techniques. Nancy's instruction covers everything from format and content to setting and characterization. She also draws from a range of children's classics, including Where the Wild Things Are, Charlotte's Web and Bridge to Tarabithia to explore and illuminate the unique nature of children's literature. Nancy also shares writing tips and tricks accumulated through years of successful storytelling–invaluable advice for crafting fiction that resonates with children of all ages, from 4 to 14 and beyond.
  childrens literature themes: Writing Irresistible Kidlit Mary Kole, 2012-12-04 Captivate the hearts and minds of young adult readers! Writing for young adult (YA) and middle grade (MG) audiences isn't just kid's stuff anymore--it's kidlit! The YA and MG book markets are healthier and more robust than ever, and that means the competition is fiercer, too. In Writing Irresistible Kidlit, literary agent Mary Kole shares her expertise on writing novels for young adult and middle grade readers and teaches you how to: • Recognize the differences between middle grade and young adult audiences and how it impacts your writing. • Tailor your manuscript's tone, length, and content to your readership. • Avoid common mistakes and cliches that are prevalent in YA and MG fiction, in respect to characters, story ideas, plot structure and more. • Develop themes and ideas in your novel that will strike emotional chords. Mary Kole's candid commentary and insightful observations, as well as a collection of book excerpts and personal insights from bestselling authors and editors who specialize in the children's book market, are invaluable tools for your kidlit career. If you want the skills, techniques, and know-how you need to craft memorable stories for teens and tweens, Writing Irresistible Kidlit can give them to you.
  childrens literature themes: Escape from Aleppo N. H. Senzai, 2020-06-09 After Nadia is separated from her family while fleeing the civil war, she spends the next four days with a mysterious old man who helps her navigate the checkpoints and snipers of the rebel, ISIS, and Syrian armies that are littering Aleppo on her way to meeting her father at the Turkish border.
  childrens literature themes: Literature and the Child Lee Galda, Bernice E. Cullinan, 2005-07-01 Since this book's debut, LITERATURE AND THE CHILD has become a popular choice in the children's literature market. The book covers the two major topical areas of children's literature -- genres of children's literature (e.g., picture books, folklore, etc.) and the use of children's literature in the classroom. The book is beautifully written and illustrated to reflect the tone and feel of children's books. The authors pay careful attention to diversity and provide research-based information about teaching. Extensive booklists are provided for the student to use as an ongoing resource as well as teaching ideas that can be applied in future instruction. Significantly enhanced technology offerings on CD-ROM include an all-new video component featuring in-depth interviews with leading children's book authors and illustrators, an improved title search engine, and an online Tool Bank feature. Additionally, this book includes a four-month subscription to InfoTrac College Edition, and each chapter includes suggested articles from the prestigious HORNBOOK journal, as well as further suggestions for in-class discussion and outside writing assignments.
  childrens literature themes: Lemons Melissa D. Savage, 2017 After her mother dies in 1975, ten-year-old Lemonade must live with her grandfather in a small town famous for Bigfoot sitings and soon becomes friends with Tobin, a quirky Bigfoot investigator.
  childrens literature themes: Follow That Map! Scot Ritchie, 2009-02-01 Follow That Map! is a mind-expanding adventure for the young and a unique way to introduce mapping concepts at the primary level and get kids started on the road to mastering this essential skill.
  childrens literature themes: Gittel's Journey Lesléa Newman, Amy June Bates, 2019-02-05 Gittel and her mother were supposed to immigrate to America together, but when her mother is stopped by the health inspector, Gittel must make the journey alone. Her mother writes her cousin’s address in New York on a piece of paper. However, when Gittel arrives at Ellis Island, she discovers the ink has run and the address is illegible! How will she find her family? Both a heart-wrenching and heartwarming story, Gittel’s Journey offers a fresh perspective on the immigration journey to Ellis Island. The book includes an author’s note explaining how Gittel’s story is based on the journey to America taken by Lesléa Newman’s grandmother and family friend.
  childrens literature themes: A Monster Calls Patrick Ness, 2020-04 Large Print�s increased font size and wider line spacing maximizes reading legibility, and has been proven to advance comprehension, improve fluency, reduce eye fatigue, and boost engagement in young readers of all abilities, especially struggling, reluctant, and striving readers.
  childrens literature themes: Heather Has Two Mommies Leslea Newman, 2015-03-11 Candlewick relaunches a modern classic for this generation with a beautifully illustrated edition. Heather’s favorite number is two. She has two arms, two legs, and two pets. And she also has two mommies. When Heather goes to school for the first time, someone asks her about her daddy, but Heather doesn’t have a daddy. Then something interesting happens. When Heather and her classmates all draw pictures of their families, not one drawing is the same. It doesn’t matter who makes up a family, the teacher says, because “the most important thing about a family is that all the people in it love one another.” This delightful edition for a new generation of young readers features fresh illustrations by Laura Cornell and an updated story by Lesléa Newman.
  childrens literature themes: The House of the Scorpion Nancy Farmer, 2010-05-11 Discover this internationally bestselling, National Book Award–winning young adult classic about what it means to be human with an updated, reimagined cover! Matt Alacrán wasn’t born. He was harvested. His DNA came from El Patrón, the drug-lord ruler of the country of Opium. Most people hate and fear clones like Matt—except for El Patrón. El Patrón loves Matt as he loves himself, because Matt is himself. As Matt struggles to understand his existence, he is threatened by a sinister cast of characters, and realizes escape is his only chance to survive. But escape from the Alacrán Estate is no guarantee of freedom.
  childrens literature themes: A Little Pretty Pocket-book John Newbery, 2022-05-29 A Little Pretty Pocket-Book is a children's book written by John Newbery. It is commonly thought to be the first children's book ever made, and provides a code of conduct for boys and girls in different social settings.
  childrens literature themes: The Orbis Pictus of John Amos Comenius Johann Amos Comenius, 1887
  childrens literature themes: Holes Louis Sachar, 2011-06-01 This groundbreaking classic is now available in a special anniversary edition with bonus content. Winner of the Newbery Medal as well as the National Book Award, HOLES is a New York Times bestseller and one of the strongest-selling middle-grade books to ever hit shelves! Stanley Yelnats is under a curse. A curse that began with his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather and has since followed generations of Yelnatses. Now Stanley has been unjustly sent to a boys' detention center, Camp Green Lake, where the boys build character by spending all day, every day digging holes exactly five feet wide and five feet deep. There is no lake at Camp Green Lake. But there are an awful lot of holes. It doesn't take long for Stanley to realize there's more than character improvement going on at Camp Green Lake. The boys are digging holes because the warden is looking for something. But what could be buried under a dried-up lake? Stanley tries to dig up the truth in this inventive and darkly humorous tale of crime and punishment —and redemption. Special anniversary edition bonus content includes: A New Note From the Author!; Ten Things You May Not Know About HOLES by Louis Sachar; and more!
  childrens literature themes: The Colors of Us Karen Katz, 2002-10 Seven-year-old Lena and her mother observe the variations in the color of their friends' skin, viewed in terms of foods and things found in nature.
  childrens literature themes: Red Rising Pierce Brown, 2014-01-28 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Pierce Brown’s relentlessly entertaining debut channels the excitement of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card. “Red Rising ascends above a crowded dys­topian field.”—USA Today ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR—Entertainment Weekly, BuzzFeed, Shelf Awareness “I live for the dream that my children will be born free,” she says. “That they will be what they like. That they will own the land their father gave them.” “I live for you,” I say sadly. Eo kisses my cheek. “Then you must live for more.” Darrow is a Red, a member of the lowest caste in the color-coded society of the future. Like his fellow Reds, he works all day, believing that he and his people are making the surface of Mars livable for future generations. Yet he toils willingly, trusting that his blood and sweat will one day result in a better world for his children. But Darrow and his kind have been betrayed. Soon he discovers that humanity reached the surface generations ago. Vast cities and lush wilds spread across the planet. Darrow—and Reds like him—are nothing more than slaves to a decadent ruling class. Inspired by a longing for justice, and driven by the memory of lost love, Darrow sacrifices everything to infiltrate the legendary Institute, a proving ground for the dominant Gold caste, where the next generation of humanity’s overlords struggle for power. He will be forced to compete for his life and the very future of civilization against the best and most brutal of Society’s ruling class. There, he will stop at nothing to bring down his enemies . . . even if it means he has to become one of them to do so. Praise for Red Rising “[A] spectacular adventure . . . one heart-pounding ride . . . Pierce Brown’s dizzyingly good debut novel evokes The Hunger Games, Lord of the Flies, and Ender’s Game. . . . [Red Rising] has everything it needs to become meteoric.”—Entertainment Weekly “Ender, Katniss, and now Darrow.”—Scott Sigler “Red Rising is a sophisticated vision. . . . Brown will find a devoted audience.”—Richmond Times-Dispatch Don’t miss any of Pierce Brown’s Red Rising Saga: RED RISING • GOLDEN SON • MORNING STAR • IRON GOLD • DARK AGE • LIGHT BRINGER
  childrens literature themes: Flush Carl Hiaasen, 2024-04-02 A hilarious, high-stakes adventure involving crooked casino boats, floating fish, toxic beaches, and one kid determined to get justice. This is Carl Hiaasen's Florida—where the creatures are wild and the people are wilder! You know it's going to be a rough summer when you spend Father's Day visiting your dad in the local lockup. Noah's dad is sure that the owner of the Coral Queen casino boat is flushing raw sewage into the harbor–which has made taking a dip at the local beach like swimming in a toilet. He can't prove it though, and so he decides that sinking the boat will make an effective statement. Right. The boat is pumped out and back in business within days and Noah's dad is stuck in the clink. Now Noah is determined to succeed where his dad failed. He will prove that the Coral Queen is dumping illegally . . . somehow. His allies may not add up to much–his sister Abbey, an unreformed childhood biter; Lice Peeking, a greedy sot with poor hygiene; Shelly, a bartender and a woman scorned; and a mysterious pirate–but Noah's got a plan to flush this crook out into the open. A plan that should sink the crooked little casino, once and for all.
  childrens literature themes: The Silent Patient Alex Michaelides, 2019-02-05 THE INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER An unforgettable—and Hollywood-bound—new thriller... A mix of Hitchcockian suspense, Agatha Christie plotting, and Greek tragedy. —Entertainment Weekly The Silent Patient is a shocking psychological thriller of a woman’s act of violence against her husband—and of the therapist obsessed with uncovering her motive. Alicia Berenson’s life is seemingly perfect. A famous painter married to an in-demand fashion photographer, she lives in a grand house with big windows overlooking a park in one of London’s most desirable areas. One evening her husband Gabriel returns home late from a fashion shoot, and Alicia shoots him five times in the face, and then never speaks another word. Alicia’s refusal to talk, or give any kind of explanation, turns a domestic tragedy into something far grander, a mystery that captures the public imagination and casts Alicia into notoriety. The price of her art skyrockets, and she, the silent patient, is hidden away from the tabloids and spotlight at the Grove, a secure forensic unit in North London. Theo Faber is a criminal psychotherapist who has waited a long time for the opportunity to work with Alicia. His determination to get her to talk and unravel the mystery of why she shot her husband takes him down a twisting path into his own motivations—a search for the truth that threatens to consume him....
  childrens literature themes: Never Let Me Go Kazuo Ishiguro, 2009-03-19 NOBEL PRIZE WINNER • 20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION • The moving, suspenseful, beautifully atmospheric modern classic from the acclaimed author of The Remains of the Day and Klara and the Sun—“a Gothic tour de force (The New York Times) with an extraordinary twist. With a new introduction by the author. As children, Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy were students at Hailsham, an exclusive boarding school secluded in the English countryside. It was a place of mercurial cliques and mysterious rules where teachers were constantly reminding their charges of how special they were. Now, years later, Kathy is a young woman. Ruth and Tommy have reentered her life. And for the first time she is beginning to look back at their shared past and understand just what it is that makes them special—and how that gift will shape the rest of their time together.
  childrens literature themes: Children's Literature Barbara Stoodt, 1996
  childrens literature themes: Children's Literature Hannah Nuba, Michael Searson, Deborah Lovitky Sheiman, 2013-09-13 This chronological guide to the developmental stages, and corresponding literary needs and preferences, of early childhood is hte unique result of combinging the expertise of educational professionals with that of a children's librarian. Each chapter describes a developmental stage of childhood and presents appropriate books for that reading level, providing expert guidance in today's crowded children's book market.
  childrens literature themes: The Boy in the Cupboard Harshala Gupte, 2021-03 Darling, why don't you come out and play?I wonder what you do in there all day?Karan's favourite place in the whole world is his cupboard. If he's not at school, he's in the cupboard. Even if he goes out to play with his friends, he'll be back inside the cupboard before you know it. And somehow, no one's asked him why until one day, Ma does. And even though Ma usually knows everything, she didn't know what Karan was going to say?A heartfelt tale about a boy trying to understand himself and his place in the world, The Boy in the Cupboard is for everyone who's ever questioned something they were blindly asked to believe in.
  childrens literature themes: The Day I Met My Shadow , 2017-05-14 When a little boy goes outside to play, he discovers something mysterious, which he can't seem to get away from, no matter how hard he tries.
  childrens literature themes: Freaky Friday Mary Rodgers, 1977 A thirteen-year-old girl gains a much more sympathetic understanding of her relationship with her mother when she has to spend a day in her mother's body.
  childrens literature themes: I'm Glad I'm a Boy! Whitney Darrow, 1970-01-01 The author's concepts of what boys and girls are: Boys are handsome. Girls are beautiful. Boys are doctors. Girls are nurses. Boys are pilots. Girls are stewardesses.
  childrens literature themes: Fundamental Concepts of Children’s Literature Research Hans-Heino Ewers, 2009-06-15 This book provides students and professors with a much-needed new system of categories for a differentiated description of children’s literature, systematically analyzing the field of children’s literature and articulating its key definitions, terms, and concepts.
  childrens literature themes: The Midnight Library Matt Haig, 2023-10-04 Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story of your life as it is, along with another book for the other life you could have lived if you had made a different choice at any point in your life. While we all wonder how our lives might have been, what if you had the chance to go to the library and see for yourself? Would any of these other lives truly be better?
  childrens literature themes: Guided Reading Irene C. Fountas, Gay Su Pinnell, 2017 Much has been written on the topic of guided reading over the last twenty years, but no other leaders in literacy education have championed the topic with such depth and breadth as Irene Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell. In the highly anticipated second edition of Guided Reading, Fountas and Pinnell remind you of guided reading's critical value within a comprehensive literacy system, and the reflective, responsive teaching required to realize its full potential. Now with Guided Reading, Second Edition, (re)discover the essential elements of guided reading through: a wider and more comprehensive look at its place within a coherent literacy system a refined and deeper understanding of its complexity an examination of the steps in implementation-from observing and assessing literacy behaviors, to grouping in a thoughtful and dynamic way, to analyzing texts, to teaching the lesson the teaching for systems of strategic actions a rich text base that can support and extend student learning the re-emerging role of shared reading as a way to lead guided and independent reading forward the development of managed independent learning across the grades an in-depth exploration of responsive teaching the role of facilitative language in supporting change over time in students' processing systems the identification of high-priority shifts in learning to focus on at each text level the creation of a learning environment within which literacy and language can flourish. Through guided reading, students learn how to engage in every facet of the reading process and apply their reading power to all literacy contexts. Also check out our new on-demand mini-course: Introducing Texts Effectively in Guided Reading Lessons
  childrens literature themes: Lord of the Flies Robert Golding, William Golding, Edmund L. Epstein, 2002-01-01 The classic study of human nature which depicts the degeneration of a group of schoolboys marooned on a desert island.
  childrens literature themes: My Place in Space Robin Hirst, Sally Hirst, Roland Harvey, Joe Levine, 2008-02-01 To the astonishment of the bus driver, Henry and Rosie are able to give their complete address, right down to their hemisphere, their planet, their solar system - and beyond. My Place in Space is the perfect way to introduce children to the wonders of astronomy. Originally published in 1989, this brand new edition will enthral a whole new generation of stargazers.
  childrens literature themes: The Continuum Encyclopedia of Children's Literature Bernice E. Cullinan, Diane Goetz Person, 2005-01-01 Provides articles covering children's literature from around the world as well as biographical and critical reviews of authors including Avi, C.S. Lewis, J.K. Rowling, and Anno Mitsumasa.
  childrens literature themes: Exploring Children's Literature Nikki Gamble, Sally Yates, 2008-02-20 This book is based on the belief that deep subject knowledge of language and literature provides a foundation for effective teaching and learning. It provides a comprehensive guide to the range of genres and characteristic features of English language fiction written for children. It will help readers to: o develop their understanding of literature within social, cultural and political reading practices o extend their knowledge of language features and conventions of different genres o develop skills in analytical and critical reading. The scope of the first edition has been expanded from solely fiction to cover a range of contemporary literature, including poetry, plays and picture books. The case study material, investigative activities and practical exercises promote an active approach to learning. The second edition focuses on a range of fiction relevant to the National Curriculum for England and the National Literacy Strategy. It provides examples from a range of world literature written in English. Examples from work in translation are also included. It also addresses the requirements of the primary curriculum for ITT English. This book is essential reading for student teachers on PGCE, and undergraduate teacher education courses, and for teachers undertaking CPD in English, literacy or children's literature. It provides useful support material for language coordinators, SCITT coordinators and literacy consultants.
  childrens literature themes: Children's Literature for All God's Children Virginia Thomas, Betty Davis Miller, 1986-01-01 The themes, words, and concepts in children's literature speak to the whole Christian community. Virginia Thomas and Betty Miller have examined children's literature and designed an extensive annotated list of children's stories, poems, folk tales, and fiction that express faith, belief, theology, and Christian principles. This unique resource/reference handbook gives the church the opportunity to function as a united community of believers. Children and adults have the chance to study and learn together -- grow as a whole community.Thomas and Miller offer a practical approach to children's literature that gives background and theory, an evaluation of techniques, how-to guidelines, suggestions for use, lists of books, two annotated bibliographies, and indices: subject and themes, genre, and book awards. Explains: why children's literature is a good resource for Christians where to find good stories how significant themes are adapted for different age levels how to evaluate stories how to use them Parents, teachers, and ministers will delight with children in this new approach to sharing, learning, teaching, and worship. The bibliography of books for all ages is a treasure-house of information. Features basic book information, summary, and themes values. This is an educational tool that provides a new avenue to understanding our faith.
  childrens literature themes: Comparative Children's Literature Emer O'Sullivan, 2005-03-05 Emer O'Sullivan traces the history of children's literature studies, from the enthusiastic internationalism of the post-war period - which set out from the idea of a world republic of childhood - to modern comparative criticism.
  childrens literature themes: Cultural Encounters in Translated Children's Literature Helen Frank, 2014-04-08 Cultural Encounters in Translated Children's Literature offers a detailed and innovative model of analysis for examining the complexities of translating children's literature and sheds light on the interpretive choices at work in moving texts from one culture to another. The core of the study addresses the issue of how images of a nation, locale or country are constructed in translated children's literature, with the translation of Australian children's fiction into French serving as a case study. Issues examined include the selection of books for translation, the relationship between children's books and the national and international publishing industry, the packaging of translations and the importance of titles, blurbs and covers, the linguistic and stylistic features specific to translating for children, intertextual references, the function of the translation in the target culture, didactic and pedagogical aims, euphemistic language and explicitation, and literariness in translated texts. The findings of the case study suggest that the most common constructs of Australia in French translations reveal a preponderance of traditional Eurocentric signifiers that identify Australia with the outback, the antipodes, the exotic, the wild, the unknown, the void, the end of the world, the young and innocent nation, and the Far West. Contemporary signifiers that construct Australia as urban, multicultural, Aboriginal, worldly and inharmonious are seriously under-represented. The study also shows that French translations are conventional, conservative and didactic, showing preference for an exotic rather than local specificity, with systematic manipulation of Australian referents betraying a perception of Australia as antipodean rural exoticism. The significance of the study lies in underscoring the manner in which a given culture is constructed in another cultural milieu, especially through translated children's literature.
  childrens literature themes: Thinking and Learning through Children's Literature Miriam G. Martinez, Junko Yokota, Charles Temple, 2017-04-18 Much of teachers’ attention these days is focused on having students read closely to ferret out the author’s intended meaning and the devices used to convey that meaning. But we cannot forget to guide students to have moving engagements with literature, because they need to make strong personal connections to books of merit if they are to become the next generation of readers: literate people with awareness of and concern for the diversity of human beings around them and in different times and places. Fortunately, guiding both students’ personal engagement with literature and their close reading to appreciate the author’s message and craft are not incompatible goals. This book enthusiastically and intelligently addresses both imperatives, first surveying what is gained when students are immersed in literature; then celebrating and explicating the main features of literature students need to understand to broaden their tastes and deepen their engagement, at the same time they meet external standards; then presenting a host of active methods for exploring all major genres of children’s books; and finally presenting suggestions for interdisciplinary teaching units grounded in literature. Created by noted leaders in the fields of children’s literature and literacy, the book is enlivened by recurring features such as suggested reading lists, issues for discussion, links to technology, and annotations of exemplary books.
  childrens literature themes: Children'S Literature And Computer Based Teaching Unsworth, Len, Thomas, Angela, Simpson, Alyson M., 2005-06-01 Provides information on ways to implement lessons and activities in children's literature through information and communications technology.
  childrens literature themes: Shakespeare in Children's Literature Erica Hateley, 2009-01-13 Shakespeare in Children’s Literature looks at the genre of Shakespeare-for-children, considering both adaptations of his plays and children’s novels in which he appears as a character. Drawing on feminist theory and sociology, Hateley demonstrates how Shakespeare for children utilizes the ongoing cultural capital of Shakespeare, and the pedagogical aspects of children’s literature, to perpetuate anachronistic forms of identity and authority.
  childrens literature themes: Critical Multicultural Analysis of Children's Literature Maria José Botelho, Masha Kabakow Rudman, 2009-05-07 Children’s literature is a contested terrain, as is multicultural education. Taken together, they pose a formidable challenge to both classroom teachers and academics.... Rather than deny the inherent conflicts and tensions in the field, in Critical Multicultural Analysis of Children’s Literature: Mirrors, Windows, and Doors, Maria José Botelho and Masha Kabakow Rudman confront, deconstruct, and reconstruct these terrains by proposing a reframing of the field.... Surely all of us – children, teachers, and academics – can benefit from this more expansive understanding of what it means to read books. Sonia Nieto, From the Foreword Critical multicultural analysis provides a philosophical shift for teaching literature, constructing curriculum, and taking up issues of diversity and social justice. It problematizes children’s literature, offers a way of reading power, explores the complex web of sociopolitical relations, and deconstructs taken-for-granted assumptions about language, meaning, reading, and literature: it is literary study as sociopolitical change. Bringing a critical lens to the study of multiculturalism in children’s literature, this book prepares teachers, teacher educators, and researchers of children’s literature to analyze the ideological dimensions of reading and studying literature. Each chapter includes recommendations for classroom application, classroom research, and further reading. Helpful end-of-book appendixes include a list of children’s book awards, lists of publishers, diagrams of the power continuum and the theoretical framework of critical multicultural analysis, and lists of selected children’s literature journals and online resources.
  childrens literature themes: International Companion Encyclopedia of Children's Literature Peter Hunt, 2004-08-02 Children's publishing is a huge international industry and there is ever-growing interest from researchers and students in the genre as cultural object of study and tool for education and socialization.
  childrens literature themes: Keywords for Children's Literature Philip Nel, Lissa Paul, 2011 This text presents 49 original essays on the essential terms and concepts of children's literature.