HEAD START
NATIVE AMERICAN CHILDREN'S LITERATURE
CULTURAL SENSITIVITY WORKSHOP
Introduction | Children's Literature Definition | Selection of Native American Children's Books | Children's Magazines | Literature Resources | Ordering Books Online
| CHILDREN'S LITERATURE DEFINITION |
"Literacy begins in hearts, not heads; children who have never thrilled to hearing or speaking words will remain indifferent to reading them" (Sloan, 1995, p. 3).
Children’s Literature includes:
"Literature is more than a piece of writing that clarifies; it gives the child pleasue as well as understanding" (Lukens, 1990, p. 9). Literature is expressed in words through poetic form, themes, characters, elements of fiction, and the style of the artist (Lukens, 1990).
"Literature at its best gives both pleasure and undertanding. It explores the nature of human beings, the condition of humankind" (Lukens, 1990, p. 9). From a child's perspective, literature explores:
Above all, literature is an expression of what makes us human as we try to understand ourselves and each other.
Introduction |
Children's Literature Definition | Selection of Native American Children's Books | Children's Magazines | Literature Resources | Ordering Books Online
Sources Sloan, G. (1995). Questions of definition, pp. 2-9. In Teaching with Children's Books: Paths to literature-based instruction by Sorenson, M & Lehman, B. (Eds.). Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English.
Goforth, F. (1998). Literature & the learner, pp. 2-9. Albany: New York: Wadsworth.
Lukens, R. J. (1990). A critical handbook of children's literature. New York: HarperCollins.
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Created on 22 May 2004 by Frances Vitali, Ph.D.
Last Updated on 23 May 2004
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