Chapters 1-5

CHAPTER 1: Why Do We Share Literature With Kids

Summary:

Chapter one was about why we share literature with kids, and of course because it is fun. As humans we tendto engage in things that we like and find exciting, for this reason we share books that we find entertaining with children. The second reason that was given, was that sharing literature with kids aids in the aquisiton of language and language development. It has been shown thtat between birth and five years of age children show the largest growth in vocabulary development. In other words, read to your children because it exposes them and help them develop new words. Literature has also been shown to develop emapthy in children, by giving them an insight into how someone or something might feel. We need children to develop this early on, because empathetic people understand how it feels when something happens. It is mentioned in the video that these kids will more than likely not cut in line, or cut you off when they start driving. Sharing literature with children also helps support life long readers, in other words, it helps grow readers. A good way to help children become life long reader is through series books and reading ladders. Reading ladders exposes children to a variety of  books that they like, but might not have known existed. Exposing children to literature produces an uncouncious delight. Sharing literture with children also helps expose them to reading autobiographially, ore mirror reading. This type of reading provides opportunities, like a mirror, for children to see themselves in a book. For example, It is important for the child that comes from a single parent house hold to be able to read about people who have a family unit like themselves. Literature also exposes children to vicarious experiences, or a window into someone elses life. Through this type of reading children get to experience what happens  in different situations, with out actually go through it. This type of reading exposes them to how others are, and how they live. Kids are know to ask questions and question everything around them. When you share literature with children, it exposes them to philosophical speculation. Kids are heavy thinkers, and read book to help them figure out how they feel about thins in their life. Some sample questions that they might be contemplating are:

- Why am I the way I am?

- Who am I?

-Where is my place in the world?

-Why things happen in normal every day life?

Literature also exposes children to aesthetic experiences, which is a major reason why most readers read. We read because of the joy and pleasure the we get from reading. Literature also helps develop imagination. It was mentioned that the government in Russia was once pushing only academic reading, and the starting to notice that the rate at which inventions were being generated were on a decline. They attributed this to the lack of exposure that kids were having to literature the made them ask a question. The main question that was not being asked was:

-What would happen if...............

In todays world, one of the final reasons that we share literature with kids is to transmit culture. There are many diverse books today that help transmit many cultures. As librarians it is important to pay attention to the books we are featuring. We need to share books about all culture on a regular basis, and not just during special days of the year.

Reflection:

I knew that there were many benefits to reading with children, but I did not know the explicit detail of each, or that there were names for the various types of reading that one is exposed to. I can't believe that I had never made a connection between literature and the importance of autobiographical reading and philosophical speculation. In a world where everyone is trying to fit in, I think that it is important for a library to carry literature that children can relate to. This type of literature lets them know that they are normal, and that they are not the only ones in the world going through what they are. I can definetly see the benefits that this plays in a childs life, especially in the middle school years. Children are trying to find their place in the world, and this would help them in their endeavor for self discovery and acceptance. I think that knowing why we share literature with children will help me a great deal in my current classroom, and as I venture into the world of being a librarian. I will often refer back to this information when I am building my future libraries collection. It will help me place an emphasis on the community that I am serving, so that I can build a collection that will better serve them. I do not think that I will look at Martin Luther King Day or Cinco De Mayo the same again after being exposed to this information. As teachers we tend to highlight certain books through out the year, instead of doing it year round. I can forsee myself exposing my students to more books that will expose them to the culture around them.

CHAPTER 2: Division Of Young People's Literature

Summary:

This section talked about the four divisions of young people's literature and how each was broken down. 

Children'e Literature is for 0 - 8 years old and consists of the following:

-Wordless picture books

- regular picture books

-easy readers

-illustrated chapter books

-early chapter books

-Romona Quimby is included in this section (novel)

-Charlotte's Web, and Because of Winn Dixie is also included in this window.

Middle Grade/ Tween 8 - 12 years old

-This can consist of graphic novels such as Roller Girl, George, The Thing About Jellyfish, and Raymie Nightangale

-People usually confuse middle grade books with middle school .

-Some example of middle school books would Drama, Lilly Dunkin, and Gary Schmidt.

- Middle school books usually take place in a middle school setting, and have to do with romance, transgender issues, or LGBT. These kids of books deal with tougher issues that kids in middle school  face. 

Young Adult 13 - 18 years old

One has to be careful with young adult literature, because not all of it is acceptable for use in the middle school. Some might deal with issures that are not appropriate. Some of the issues that the characters come face to face in the book might be for an older audience. For example in the book Firsts, the topic of sex comes up, and a girls mission to make sure that she teaches young boys the proper technique. This would bot be a good bood  for an eight grader to read, it is ment for children who are in high school. Some other examples of young adult literature are Pushing the Limits, Nimona, and Grasshopper Jungle.

New Adult 18 - 30 years old

This type of literature first appeard on the scene in 2009, it was considered cutting edge fiction . The protagonists of the books were slightly older than those in young adult literature, and they appealed to an adult audience. Some examples of new adult literature are:

-This is Falling

-Sweet Home

-November 9

Special Note In This Chapter

It is mentioned that it is important to know the difference between middle school and middle grade. Middle school is a group of students who have a hard time finding out what they like and what they want. This particular age group has a problem, because some books may come across as to chidish for them, because they want to read about kids that are older than them. Once must find the perfect balance for this particular age group.

Reflection:

I already knew that there were various types of literature, but I was not aware of middle grade/ tween or new adult literature. I was also surprised that children in the middle grade/ tween division had a hard time associating them selves with a particular type of literatuare. I guess just like they are trying to find themselves, they are also trying to find books that are fitting their developmental needs. What I have learned about the middle grade/ tween, I will be putting to use in my future library. As a librarian I will me more intentional about the books that I select for this particular division. I will will have to pay special attention to the patrons that come into my library, so I can build a collection that is right for them. As far as New Adult literature, I was not even aware that it existed, it is nice to know that this division exists. I can envision myself building these into my collection, to use with students in their junior or senior year of school. This will help give an in sight in to college life, and some of the issures that might arise with out them actually having to go through them. Since I am not that familiar with this particular division, I can forsee myself reading books in this particualr division. It has changed my perspective and shown me the differences between young adult and  new adult literature.

Chapter 3: Anatomy of a Book

Summary:

This section of talked about what else, but the anatomy of a book. It discussed the six main parts of a book and described them them in detail. Endpapers are the two sheets of papers that live at the beginning and the end of a book. They often have patterns or color that enhance the design. It also discussed the casewrap, which is what ever is underneath the jacket of a book. It also mentioned that modern visual books use laminated paper as a casewrap, which allows desighner to print patterens , colors, and images on them. The book block is the main text or the body of the book, which sometime has a little flair added to the book edges. The gutter of the book is the blank space or inner margin that separates printing areas fro the binding. Books also contain something called the headband, which is the small decorative strip of textile used at the top and bottom of a casebound book to decoratively fill the gap between the spine and cover. Finally the last part of the book that was mentioned is the backbone. The backbone of the book is what connects the front and back covers, and is also known as the spine. This chapter also had additional information that provided useful vocabulary. A mock-up is a early "fake" version of a book or format, it is either made by the printer or posted up in-house. They are usualy used to represent titles for upcoming seasons while the finished products are still in production. A format was aso another word that was presented in this chapter. A format is an internal word for something that invites the recipients to interact with the product. Some examples of formats are games, journals, pencils, paper dolls, and temporary tattoos. Proof is also a word that was introduced. Proofs are press sheets printed before any binding happens to check for the consistency and accuracy of the images and color. Saddle stich was also mentioned, it is a binding method used to fasten booklets by stitching through the middle fold of sheets. Last but not least F & G, which stands for fold & gather. It is an unbound copy of a book, and it is typicall created for illustrated children's books.

Reflection:

I must say, I never really knew that a book consisted of so many parts. I knew that books had a cover page, verso, spine, and front and back cover, but that is about it. I do think that this is important information for a librarian to know. In a library I usually see a sign that reads "Book Hospital", to my understanding this is where books go to get repaired. I think that knowing the anatomy of a book will help a librarian repair these books. I was also surprised to know that such detail was placed on even the smallest part of the book, the headband. I love that the publisher goes to great lengths to fill the gap between the spins and cover. Books as a whole will not look the same to me after reading this chapter. I can forsee my self examing each book, to see where each section is located. I think this is information that I will share with my students, these are book facts that I think everyone should know. 

Chapter 4: Genres and Formats; They Might Not Be What You Think

Summary:

This chapter talked about the two types of genres, Fiction and Nonfiction. This chapter pointed out that everything else was a subgenre and not considered a genre. Fiction and Nonfiction were divided to include the following:

 Fiction was broken down into realism and fantasy. Realism included fealistic, modern, and contemporary literature, and also included historical literature. Fantasy on the other hand was divided into modern and traditional literature. Although realism is pretty straight forward with historical, ralistic, modern, and contemporary literature, fantasy was a little more complicated. Traditonal Fantasey could be broken down into the following sections:

-Folktales

-Ballads

-Fables

-Legends

-Myths

- Fairytales

Modern fantasy is broken down into Hard and Soft Science Fiction and High and Low Fantasy. Below are the differences between the four. 

- Hard Science Fiction: Which is when science is the main part of the story, an example would be a space journey.

- Soft Science Fiction: Science is involved in the book, but the character is the big part of the story.

-High Fantasy: This type of fantasy includes the creation of new worlds and languages. A good example of this is The Lord of the Rings.

-Low Fantasy: These include fantasy stories that are more down to earth, but have elements that are not possible. Some examples of these elements can be talking animals, or fairies in New York City.

NonFiction was broken down into informational text, which was further broken down into Biographies, Narrative NonFiction, and Expository Fiction. The chapter went on to breakdown Biographies in Autobiographies and Memoirs. The difference between and Autobiography and Memoir is that an Autobiography is about the whole span of a person's life, and a Memoir is about a portions of a person's life.

The chapter was also quick to point out that the following were not types of genres, but subjects or categories:

- Chick lit

-Mystery

-Guy reads

-Horror

-Sports Fiction

-Action Adventure

- Paranormal

-War

-Classics

- Humor

-Dystopia

The chapter points out that these are used to the Genrefication of libraries. It also points out that when considering this for ones library, one must always way the pros and cons.

There are seven types of formats that are metioned in the chapter. Below is a list of these formats.

- Poetry

-Drama

- Novels

- Chapter Books

-Short Stories

-Picture Books

-Graphic Novels

Special Note: You might see these formats as genres in libraries that have genrefied their collections, but they are not. All of the above are types of formats. Below are some examples of various formats.

-Narrative Nonfiction in Graphic Novel Format

ex. Drowned City Hurricane Katrina

- Fantasy/ Low in Picture Book Format

ex. Meet the Dullards

-Fantasy/Low in Short Story Format

ex. Slasher Girls and Monster Boys

These stories take place in worlds that we recognize and focus on the character.

-Science Fiction / Soft in Novel Format

ex. Enders Game

These stories focus on the character, and not so much on the science fiction part of the story.

Reflection:

I new the difference between genres and formats, but I never knew that they where broken down into so many parts. I also never really paid close attention to libraries that were using formats as types of genres in libraries that had been genrefied. I was surprised to find out that fantasy was broken down into so many parts. I have heard about folktales, ballads, fables, fairytales, myths and legends, but I did not know they were classified under traditional fantasy. I had heard about modern fantasy, have never heard of the hard and soft science fiction, or high and low fantasy. I was happy that this chapter shared exaples of each, because it helped me pinpoint exactly what types of books they were talking about. I feel that in to days world, students are not educated on these types of fantasies, and they are all grouped into one category. As and educator and a future librarian, I can forsee myself conducting lessons that will introduce my students the the aspects of modern fantasy. The information in this particular chapter is going to help me through out my reading. I will be able to classify books in a whole new way, I know I will find myself questioning which genre and subgenre does the book belong to. Since I love to read about fantasies, I will also be looking at where I am reading low or high fantacy, and which format it is in. I think this chapter has helped me think more like a librarian, I will be reading for enjoyment, but at the same time be classifying the book as I go along.

CHAPTER 5: What Is YA Literature

Summary:

The main part of this section was what makes up young adult literature. The protagonist in this type of literature are youthful, and their point of view is that of an adolescent. The book had directness of the exposition and has direct confrontation as well. YA literature usually deals with a major change in the life of the main character. The main character is usually very independent, and is faced with many choices. This type of literature either shows the main character going through gradual and incremental change, or it may also show incomplete growth. YA books focus and mirror topics that are of concern in the lives of young adults. The books usually give the reader a window into which they can see the consequences that the main character is faced with because of his life choices. This type of literature focuses on a brief moment in time and it has very limited setting. YA literature has few fully developed charaters that are part of the structural conventions. Young adult literature's main focus is comes from the how adolescents develop.

Reflection:

I new that young adult literature focused on issues that had to do with how adolescents develop, but I didn't know how much emphasis was placed on creating a character that mirrored particular events or life choices that they are faced with. I also was surprised to read that the protagonist in YA literature were very independent, especially because many adolescents rely on their circle of friends for support. I think the information in this chapter will help me better serve me patrons. It will help me build a collection that suits 13 - 18 years old, and help me sort through the books that are most appropriate.  Since this class focuses on literature for young adults, the informatin that I have read  will help me analyze each of the books that I read. I will be takeing a closer look at the character, and the problems/ challenges that they are faced with. I will also be looking at how independent a charter is, and the consequences that they are faced with because of the life choices they make. I will also be looking for  more connections when it comes to text to self and text to world. These are books that will aid phylosophical speculation.