A Master Class in Children's Literature

Book excerpt: This collection discusses contemporary issues in children's literature and offers suggestions, strategies, and resources for teacher educators, teachers, and librarians. This collection of essays shares the dedicated work of educators who believe wholeheartedly in the power of literacy to shape young lives. This collection is for teacher educators who are interested in children's literature, teachers and librarians in children's literature courses, and everyone else who has a passion for children's books. Each chapter focuses on a contemporary issue in children's literature, providing suggestions, strategies, and resources for implementation and instruction. The first section, on laying the foundation of children's literature courses, includes chapters on how to structure such a course, hot topics in the field, and how to encourage a variety of responses to children's literature. The next section encourages teachers to broaden their reading worlds in chapters that focus on particular types or aspects of books, including illustration and design, books about mathematics, gender diversity, and multicultural and international literature. The final section addresses challenges and possibilities, such as the impact of new technologies, censorship, bestselling books, and keeping the love of literature alive in today's high-stakes testing environment.