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Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Children's literature'
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O'Sullivan, Emer. "Comparative children's literature /." London [u.a.] : Routledge, 2009. http://bvbr.bib-bvb.de:8991/F?func=service&doc_library=BVB01&doc_number=018910995&line_number=0001&func_code=DB_RECORDS&service_type=MEDIA.
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Caracciolo, Dana Andriana. "Children's Literature and Diabetes." Thesis, Virginia Tech, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/31824.
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My studies consider the genre of children's literature, specifically picture books, and their treatment of the topic of diabetes. I frame my argument with an examination of diabetes, the psychological effects of diabetes on the child, the need of thorough education about diabetes. I argue for the use of the picture book as an effect tool in educating and socializing the diabetic child. I first explore the implications of diabetes and the long term complications caused by one's poor control of the disease. I then explore the psychological ramifications of a chronic illness on the young child. Next I assert the need to combine the physiological and psychological factors of diabetes into a responsible text for children, one which both serves as an educating tool and a source of comfort in difficult times with the disease. I conclude my studies with critiques of existing materials in the limited genre and compare them to the story I have written for children about diabetes.Master of Arts
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Weikle-Mills, Courtney. "The child reader and American literature, 1700-1852." Columbus, Ohio : Ohio State University, 2007. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc%5Fnum=osu1181758570.
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Mattson, Christina Phillips. "Children's Literature Grows Up." Thesis, Harvard University, 2015. http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:17467335.
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Children’s Literature Grows Up proposes that there is a revolution occurring in contemporary children’s fiction that challenges the divide that has long existed between literature for children and literature for adults. Children’s literature, though it has long been considered worthy of critical inquiry, has never enjoyed the same kind of extensive intellectual attention as adult literature because children’s literature has not been considered to be serious literature or “high art.” Children’s Literature Grows Up draws upon recent scholarship about the thematic transformations occurring in the category, but demonstrates that there is also an emerging aesthetic and stylistic sophistication in recent works for children that confirms the existence of children’s narratives that are equally complex, multifaceted, and worthy of the same kind of academic inquiry that is afforded to adult literature.
This project investigates the history of children’s literature in order to demonstrate the way that children’s literature and adult literature have, at different points in history, grown closer or farther apart, explores the reasons for this ebb and flow, and explains why contemporary children’s literature marks a reunification of the two categories. Employing J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter novels as a its primary example, Children’s Literature Grows Up demonstrates that this new kind of contemporary children’s fiction is a culmination of two traditions: the tradition of the readerly children’s book and the tradition of the writerly adult novel. With the fairy tales, mythologies, legends, and histories that contemporary writers weave into their texts, contemporary fictions for children incorporate previous defining characteristics of children’s fantasy literature and tap into our cultural memory; with their sophisticated style, complex narrative strategies, and focus on characterization, these new fictions display the realism and seriousness of purpose which have become the adult novel’s defining features.
Children’s Literature Grows Up thus concludes that contemporary children’s fiction’s power comes from the way in which it combines story and art by bringing together both the children’s literature tradition and the tradition of the adult novel, as well as the values to which they are allied. Contemporary writers for children therefore raise the stakes of their narratives and change the tradition by moving beyond the expected conventions of their category.Comparative Literature
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Semizu, Yukino. "Adultness in children's literature : toward the awareness of adults' presence in children's literature." Thesis, University of Nottingham, 2013. http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/13130/.
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This study focuses on the notion that adults’ response to children’s literature is profoundly different from that of children, and aims to identify a pattern in texts by which adults’ response can be systematically explained. The study suggests that adults respond to certain elements in the text that resonate with their assumptions about children’s literature. On this basis, the concept of adultness is introduced to refer to these textual elements, and the way in which they can be identified in the narrative is investigated. This study concentrates on literary books, mostly published after 1960, since the issues discussed are more directly relevant to literary works than to popular fiction or classic children’s literature. Brief surveys of historical development of children’s literature and changes in the social perceptions about the relationships between adults and children are undertaken in order to understand the backgrounds of adults’ assumptions about children’s literature. Discussions about adults’ perceptions of children’s literature today are also reviewed. Texts from a wide range of children’s literature are examined within the theoretical framework of narratology with a particular reference to the functions of the narrator. The examination has identified two types of adultness: direct adultness which is largely related to adults’ ideas about childhood, and indirect adultness which is related to adults’ interest in what may be relevant to the child readers of the book. The third type of adultness is termed as Haddon’s ring, which refers to the textual features that are used by authors to keep the narrative safe for child readers. It can be used without losing the narrative integrity or it can be used to manipulate the narrative development. The study concludes that adults’ response could be explained by referring to the three types of adultness. Adultness can be broadly understood in terms of the textual signs that indicate the presence of the mutual understanding between the author and the adult reader on what has been left out from the text and why the author has held it back.
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Carter, Victoria Chillik. "An Approach to Authoring and Publishing Children’s Literature." Ohio University / OhioLINK, 2007. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1185390312.
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Stewart, Susan Louise Trites Roberta Seelinger. "Genre, ideology, and children's literature." Normal, Ill. Illinois State University, 2004. http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/ilstu/fullcit?p3172884.
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Thesis (Ph. D.)--Illinois State University, 2004.Title from title page screen, viewed November 22, 2005. Dissertation Committee: Roberta Seelinger Trites (chair), Karen Coats, C. Anita Tarr. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 242-256) and abstract. Also available in print.
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Meisner, Jessica. "Effects of gender stereotyped children's literature on preschool children's attitudes /." Norton, Mass. : Wheaton College, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10090/8395.
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Lyons, Reneé C. "Appalachian Children’s Literature as Multicultural Literature." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2013. https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-works/2394.
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Carter, Victoria Chillik. "An approach to authoring and publishing children's literature." Ohio : Ohio University, 2007. http://www.ohiolink.edu/etd/view.cgi?ohiou1185390312.
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Young, Penelope M. "Witch images in Australian children's literature." University of Southern Queensland, Faculty of Education, 2001. http://eprints.usq.edu.au/archive/00001527/.
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In this dissertation it is argued that the European witch trials that took place between 1450 and 1700 have resulted in a legacy of stereotypical themes in Australian children's literature. Those accused of witchcraft were almost always women who were old, without protection, and physically ugly. They were accused of consorting with the devil, making harmful spells, flying through the night on a magic staff and exhibiting malevolent intent towards others. An analysis of this period forms the contextual framework for identifying themes that appear in contemporary Australian children's literature. A survey of twenty-three books, identified as stories about witches, was conducted to ascertain whether the stereotypical witch from the European witch-hunts continues to be characterised in Australian children's literature. The findings suggest that the witch figure in Australian children's literature mirrors the historical evidence from the European witch trials, but has evolved into a more powerful and proactive character than that identified in the historical literature. The characterisation of the witch in the books for older readers is powerful and evil, compared to the witch as a trivial and diminished figure in the books for younger readers. Gender is also a major influence in the characterisation of the witch, with all readers exposed to themes that may influence their expectations regarding the behaviour and role of women. The representation of the witch in the books reinforces the misogyny of the witchcraft era, and weaves patterns of meaning in the texts that construct undesirable female images. Readers of all ages can link these images to the social world beyond the text.
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Catt, Lindsay Joanne. "Quest : finding form in children's literature." Thesis, Royal Holloway, University of London, 2012. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.586731.
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The thesis will situate the novel Quest within the context of children's literature. It will refer to popular children's books with similar themes and styles, specifically J.M. Barrie's Peter and Wendy (1911), The Neverending Story (1983) by Michael Ende, and J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series (1997-2007). Quest is a fantasy novel aimed at nine to twelve year olds; it tells the story of Max, a boy who uses his imagination as an emotional shield. After a perilous journey from island to island, each one more fantastical than the next, Max learns to reconnect with his absent father. The critical element examines the role of heroes and villains within children's literature, while also looking at the contradictory figure of the 'heroic-villain' and other relevant elements of character. I take an essentially Formalist perspective in order to analyse Quest on a structural level, hoping to demonstrate that complex character arcs and themes can be realised from a strict foundation of basic rules.
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Knowles, George Murray. "Language and ideology in children's literature." Thesis, University of Birmingham, 1998. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.606381.
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This study investigates the relationship between language, ideology and literature in popular children's fiction over the last one hundred and fifty years. In Chapter One criteria are established for the compilation of a computerised database of Victorian and Modern texts. The usefulness of computational techniques for linguistic analysis is demonstrated and discussion of genre, social institutions and writer / reader relationships follows. Chapter Two sets out to consider ideology in general and from the perspective of adults and children in particular. A framework for the operation of ideology in society is then discussed and examples of its 'modes and strategies' are given from the corpora. A 'toolkit' for linguistic analysis, notably, but not exclusively, collocation and transitivity, is then presented. Chapter Three is the first of the chapters concerned with detailed language description. Selected nineteenth century boys' texts are presented and analysed in respect of their religious and imperial 'messages'. Chapters Four and Five concentrate on Modern Children's Fiction. In Chapter Four the work of Nina Bawden and Roald Dahl is discussed and texts from both authors analysed. The 'realistic' novel for adolescent readers is the focus of Chapter Five. I consider, there, the representation of subjects formerly taboo in children's fiction such as sexual relationships. Chapter Six summarises the results of the investigation and notes that although children's narratives reflect major social changes they are still powerful carriers of ideology. Recommendations for further comparative and contrastive studies are made.
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Williams, Karen Elizabeth. "Humour in children's literature, 1800-1840." Thesis, University of Roehampton, 2017. https://pure.roehampton.ac.uk/portal/en/studentthesis/humour-in-childrens-literature-18001840(68a38fe1-1c46-423f-923a-17633825c305).html.
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By reclaiming a wide range of comic works in key literary genres, my thesis proposes that contrary to prevailing critical discourse, humour was a widespread, intrinsic and valued part of children’s literature in the period 1800-1840. Histories of children’s literature in this era are inexorably tied to an antithetical configuration of instruction versus amusement. Although in recent criticism this binary has been challenged, the critical discussion of amusing texts remains limited to a narrow canon of works operating in opposition to the moral tale and other instructive texts. My thesis widens the scope for humour in this period by interrogating juvenile works and wider print culture in four under-researched areas: the ‘papillonnade’ poetry of the first decades of the nineteenth century, the new phenomenon of the juvenile Christmas annuals, chapbooks for children, and drama as related to the child. Such an approach embraces literature that was accessible to children across the social spectrum and accordingly reveals both synergies and tensions in attitudes towards humour and the use of the comic across the class divide. Underpinning my analysis, is a rich heritage of philosophical and historical approaches to laughter that reveal a complex and dialogic relationship between comedy, the child and these wider perspectives. This critical link allows for a nuanced reading of humorous texts that cements the placement of laughter within the history of children’s literature and anticipates the later humour of better-known works by Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear in mid-century.
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Hay, Jody L. "Native American women in children's literature." Thesis, The University of Arizona, 2002. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/291972.
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This thesis focuses on the roles of Native women in children's literature. The study explores the works of five Native women writers in the United States that have successfully published adult literature and at least one children's book since 1990. The purpose of the research is to gain a better understanding of what these writers reveal about the roles of Native women in their literature for children. The data was collected using content analysis on the books and a questionnaire to determine (1) what roles the Native writers convey in their children's literature; and (2) what these women are writing in this field and their perspectives on the writing process. The findings of this research discuss these writers' portrayals of the complexity of Native women's roles as well as offer insight into their craft.
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Klassen, Jonathan M. Trites Roberta Seelinger. "Narrative distancing in literature for youth." Normal, Ill. : Illinois State University, 2006. http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=0&did=1276405151&SrchMode=1&sid=3&Fmt=2&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1202154634&clientId=43838.
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Thesis (Ph. D.)--Illinois State University, 2006.Title from title page screen, viewed on February 4, 2008. Dissertation Committee: Roberta Seelinger Trites (chair), Karen Coats, C. Anita Tarr. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 258-267) and abstract. Also available in print.
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Borhan, Burcu. "Gendered narratives in Victorian literature identity formation in empire-focused children's literature /." Fairfax, VA : George Mason University, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/1920/3246.
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Thesis (M.A,)--George Mason University, 2008.Vita: p. 101. Thesis director: Amelia Rutledge. Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies. Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Aug. 27, 2008). Includes bibliographical references (p. 97-100). Also issued in print.
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DeWitt, Amy L. "Parental Portrayals in Children's Literature: 1900-2000." Thesis, University of North Texas, 2005. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc4884/.
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The portrayals of mothers and fathers in children's literature as companions, disciplinarians, caregivers, nurturers, and providers were documented in this research. The impact of time of publication, sex of author, award-winning status of book, best-selling status of book, race of characters, and sex of characters upon each of the five parental roles was assessed using descriptive statistics, cross-tabulation, and multinomial logistic regression techniques. A survey instrument developed for this study was completed for each of the 300 books randomly selected from the list of easy/picture books in the Children's Catalog (H.W. Wilson Company, 2001). To ensure all time periods were represented, the list was stratified by decades before sampling. It was expected that parental role portrayals would become more egalitarian and less traditional in each successive time period of publication. Male authors were expected to portray more egalitarian parental roles, and the race and sex of the young characters were not expected to influence parental portrayals. Award-winning books were expected to represent more egalitarian parental roles. Books that achieved the Publisher's Weekly all-time best-selling status were expected to portray parents in less egalitarian roles. Secondary analyses explored the prevalence of mothers' occupations, parental incompetence, and dangerous, solo child adventures. While the time of publication affected role portrayals, the evidence was unclear as to whether the changing roles represented greater egalitarianism. The race and the sex of the young characters significantly affected parental role portrayals, but the sex of the author did not influence these portrayals. While award winning and bestselling texts portrayed parents differently than books that did not achieve such honors, most did not provide enough information to adequately assess parenting roles. Half of the mothers who worked in the texts worked in conjunction with their husbands rather than independent of them. Over 10 % of mothers and fathers acted incompetently. The time of publication and the sex of the author was associated with the prevalence of solo, dangerous, child adventures. Subsequent implications and recommendations suggest the inclusion of stronger parental characters in children's books. Many of the parents are portrayed as inactive, incompetent, or neglectful. The concern is that children are exposed to these picture book portrayals during the primary years of identity acquisition.
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Tyson, Cynthia A. ""Shut my Mouth wide Open:" African American Fifth Grade Males Respond to Contemporary Realistic Children's Literature." The Ohio State University, 1997. http://catalog.hathitrust.org/api/volumes/oclc/39271566.html.
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Smith, Jennifer S. "Mining the mountain of Appalachian children's literature : defining a multicultural literature /." The Ohio State University, 2002. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu148640254459101.
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Sainsbury, Lisa Anne. "The postmodern carnival of children's literature : necessary playgrounds and subversive space in the protean body of children's literature." Thesis, University of Surrey, 1998. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.246056.
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Onyango, James Ogola. "Masculinities in Kiswahili children's literature in Kenya." Universitätsbibliothek Leipzig, 2012. http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:15-qucosa-91156.
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Children's literature affects the child's socialisation process, including the shaping the gender roles. But despite this, up to now children have featured less in gender scholarship. Against this backround, this paper seeks to critically interrogate the physical, social, economic and political manifestations of masculinities in selected Kiswahili children\'s books from Kenya. By analysing these works, we hope to demonstrate that power and ideological aspects of masculinites are rooted at childhood. Since special attention will be paid to the ideological and power basis of the masculinities, the analysis of the selected works is done in the encompassing prism of Critical Discourse Analysis revealing hegemonic masculinities.
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Varma, Manju. "Multicultural children's literature, storytelling the Canadian identity." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 2000. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk1/tape3/PQDD_0016/NQ53715.pdf.
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Goldstein, Jaime Elrath. "The integration of children's literature into mathematics." [Denver, Colo.] : Regis University, 2007. http://165.236.235.140/lib/JEGoldstein2007.pdf.
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葉淑蘭 and Sook-lan Yap. "A study of Zhang Tianyi's children's literature." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 1992. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B31211057.
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McGavock, Karen Louise. "Children's literature and the deconstruction of childhood." Thesis, University of Glasgow, 2004. https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.439182.
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Commentators such as Neil Postman (1989) and journals such as the Critical Quarterly( 1997) announced the "death" of childhood towards the end of the twentieth-century, two hundred years after it was reputedly "born". Philosophers such as Jean Jacques Rousseau and John Locke constructed modern childhood in the eighteenth-century. Their construction of childhood radically differed from the previous construction of childhood. Instead of representing children as miniature adults and original sinners, Rousseau and Locke constructed the child as sentimental, innocent, natural, special and separate from adults. The modern sentimental construction of childhood corresponded to the rise of consumerism in the eighteenth-century. Childhood was commodified by the consumer society so that adults regarded children as an investment, an object of desire and a civil saviour. Though the child was represented,in this Romantic construction, as in need of protection, childhood was exploited, separating childhood from adulthood therefore created a gap between categories, which provided a niche to be exploited in the marketplace. Rousseau forged a connection between the innocence of the word and of the child. The rise of the child corresponded to the rise of print media resulting in the commodification of childhood through fiction. Texts such as Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) were the first generation of texts to be created after modern childhood had been constructed. Instead of reinforcing and stabilising childhood through the medium of children's literature, however, Carroll's texts undermined the construction and destabilised childhood. The tensions present when childhood was conceived, the child being protected and yet exploited, valued as subject and yet rendered object, are therefore manifested in this fiction. This thesis contends that childhood began to "die" as soon as it was "born". In other words, childhood began to deconstruct as soon as it was constructed. This thesis will explore texts published at fifty-year intervals over one hundred and fifty years, spanning the period from the "birth" to the "death" of childhood. In addition to Carroll's Alice books, J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan or the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up (1904) will be explored, along with C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia (1950) and J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series (1997-). Each text has been chosen since it is deemed to be central to the genre of children's fiction and considered to stabilise the notion of childhood, yet ironically, each undermines and destabilises this notion. Through mapping the deconstruction of childhood from its birth to its death, this thesis will attempt to illustrate the ways in which children's literature has deconstructed childhood since its construction. Particular attention will be given to tensions within and between childhood and adulthood, the ways in which these tensions are represented in the language and characters of the texts, and the extent to which they address and "resolve", "dissolve" or "evade" these tensions. Investigation will be made into the closure of the gap between childhood and adulthood over this period. Since each text is concerned with deconstruction and fragmentation, each is considered to be postmodern. Despite being "seminal" to, and "canonised" as works of children's fiction, they are not religious or moralising texts. Instead this thesis contends that they are theodical in their exploration of conflicts, such as existential dilemmas, the fear of time, death and absence of meaning, and help to negotiate the space between childhood and adulthood. Corresponding to contemporary thought regarding the dismantling of the whole notion of the canon, I argue that childhood is also destabilised. Through utilising a different approach to their predecessors, who attempted to rid children of original sin by didacticism, each text considered in this thesis contributes to the process of cultural, particularly educational, reform, and theories of development. Unlike their predecessors, these writers allow readers spaces to explore themselves, they show rather than tell, confront rather than escape difficulties, and allow child characters to speak directly to the reader without the medium of an adult character. The central character and form of each work symbolises process. Each work can therefore be regarded as a catalyst for change in the construction of childhood and adulthood. This thesis will therefore argue that children's literature was instrumental to the deconstruction of childhood. It will conclude with an analysis of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series and offer the suggestion that since the "death" of childhood in the twentieth-century, children have reverted to being represented as miniature adults. Childhood and adulthood have imploded, lost their signifiers and have become homogenised due to the volatility of tensions within and between these constructions. Children have become empowered in the marketplace as "consumers" rather than the "consumed". The twenty-first-century is therefore heralded, as Philippe Ariès (1962) implied, as the privileged age of adulthood, with emphasis on adults over the child. Ironically, the consumer society, which constructed childhood in the eighteenth-century, is also responsible for deconstructing childhood in the twenty-first-century. Thought will be given to the prospect of childhood being resurrected and reconstructed as postmodern.
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Onyango, James Ogola. "Masculinities in Kiswahili children's literature in Kenya." Swahili Forum 14 (2007), S. 245-254, 2007. https://ul.qucosa.de/id/qucosa%3A11506.
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Children''s literature affects the child''s socialisation process, including the shaping the gender roles. But despite this, up to now children have featured less in gender scholarship. Against this backround, this paper seeks to critically interrogate the physical, social, economic and political manifestations of masculinities in selected Kiswahili children\''s books from Kenya. By analysing these works, we hope to demonstrate that power and ideological aspects of masculinites are rooted at childhood. Since special attention will be paid to the ideological and power basis of the masculinities, the analysis of the selected works is done in the encompassing prism of Critical Discourse Analysis revealing hegemonic masculinities.
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Smart, Kirsten. "National consciousness in Postcolonial Nigerian children's literature." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/22880.
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This project highlights the role of locally produced children's written literature for ages six to fourteen in postcolonial Nigeria as a catalyst for national transformation in the wake of colonial rule. My objective is to reveal the perceived possibilities and pitfalls contained in Nigerian children's literature (specifically books published between 1960 and 1990), for the promotion of a new national consciousness through the reintegration of traditional values into a contemporary context. To do this, I draw together children's literature written by Chinua Achebe, Cyprian Ekwensi and Mabel Segun in order to illustrate the emphasis Nigerian children's book authors writing within the postcolonial moment placed on the concepts of nation and national identity in the aim to 'refashion' the nation. Following from this, I examine the role of the child reader in relation to the adult authors' intentions and pose the question of what the role of the female is in the authors' imagining of a 'new nation'. The study concludes by reflecting on the persistent under-scrutiny of children's literature in Africa by academics and critics, a preconception that still exists today. I move to suggest further research on the genre not only to stimulate an increased production of children's literature more conscious in content and aware of the needs of its young, (male and female) African readership, but also to incite a change in attitude toward the genre as one that is as deserving of interest as its adult counterpart.
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Bennett, Jessica. "National Identity in South African Children's Literature." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/3584.
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National identity is an important characteristic of a country and helps to create a sense of national unity between its citizens. Identity is a learned concept that develops at a young age from children's surroundings and interactions. According to Martyn Barrett, this sense of National identity is present as early as the age of 5, with children gaining greater understanding of the significance of national identity to the age of 11. During this time period, picture books play a major role in childhood development. Using picture books to help create a positive, unified sense of national identity and multicultural understanding can help a nation to create a socially stable environment that influences political and economic development. In the case of South Africa, national identity has shifted since the end of the apartheid era, but how it is reflected within children's picture books? This mini-dissertation examines six different children's picture books to ascertain whether or not elements of national identity are included and if these elements are able to create a positive shift in national identity within South African society. The elements of national identity to be examined include, but are not limited to, South African plants and animals that are native/ unique to South Africa, important South African figures, shared history, multiculturalism, and also hope for the future. By examining these elements and other external influences, an image of South African national identity as represented in children's picture books is explored. This leads to an understanding of the role that children's picture books can play in the South African education system and child development.
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Kahn, Leslie Joan. "Mathematics as life: Children's responses to literature." Diss., The University of Arizona, 1994. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/184903.
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This teacher research study gave me an opportunity to examine how my sixth grade classroom learning environment changed over time to support students' responses to literature across sign systems, and to develop collaboration among adults and students. Specifically, it looked at the ways in which students made mathematical connections in informal discussions as part of class read aloud experiences and how they used mathematics to communicate responses to literature. Over the course of a year I gathered data primarily by audio taping as I read to the class and the following total class discussions. I video taped presentations of literature groups. These literature groups responded to the read alouds using multiple sign systems which reflected and further developed their understandings of the texts. I also kept a reflective teaching journal and field notes throughout the year. The data analyses included a description of the classroom over the year, a re-creation of journal entries between me and collaborative others involved in the Holocaust study, and a qualitative analysis of the mathematics talk, "math talk," generated in the classroom. Math talk was present in my talk and the students' talk as well. The students' math talk showed that mathematics is used as students respond to literature in informal read aloud discussions and subsequent literature presentations.
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Gummow, Maureen Theresa. "Linking children's literature with multiculturalism and nutrition." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 1995. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/1017.
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Pini, Sara <1991>. "Holocaust postmemory in contemporary anglophone children's literature." Doctoral thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2022. http://amsdottorato.unibo.it/10406/1/Pini%20tesi%20dottorale%20.pdf.
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This dissertation discusses contemporary Anglophone children’s literature representing the Holocaust and it claims that, through the reading of historical novels, children can acquire a specific kind of postmemory, which I call ‘attitudinal postmemory’. The works analyzed have been written by ‘non-related’ authors, meaning writers who are not witnesses nor their descendants. Attitudinal postmemory is based on the readers’ establishment of a personal-emotional link with the Holocaust by means of narrative empathy towards the characters; it is an ‘active’ kind of memory because it will hopefully convert into an informed, respectful attitude towards peers that opposes the Nazi ideology.
The dissertation is structured into two main parts. Part One provides an overview of the origins and development of Holocaust memory in Western countries. Chapter 1 introduces two major historiographical-literary debates and the following chapter discusses three main issues concerning the representation of the Holocaust (naming, the need to represent, and the ‘right to’ represent) while considering the forms and genres traditionally used and considered ‘appropriate’. Focusing on the scope of literary narratives, Chapter 3 explains how the presence of a personal-emotional link is essential to acquire Holocaust postmemory and, in particular, attitudinal postmemory. The criteria adopted with regard to the case studies are described in Chapter 4.
Part Two discusses the process of interweaving historical truth with fiction and how historical fiction helps child readers acquire attitudinal postmemory. After a brief overview of the genre in Chapter 5, Chapter 6 probes how it is possible to meet the two main expectations of historical fiction while avoiding a disrespectful stance towards the Holocaust. Chapter 7 discusses the idea of empathy and some issues in the representation of Nazi evil, while Chapter 8 offers a comparative analysis of the case studies proposed, including authors from the UK, Ireland, Australia, and the USA.
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Mikarsa, Hera Lestari. "Economic inequality : parallels between children's understanding and children's literature in two cultures." Thesis, University of Surrey, 1992. http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/2253/.
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Campbell, Nick. "Children's Neo-Romanticism : the archaeological imagination in British post-War children's fantasy." Thesis, University of Roehampton, 2017. https://pure.roehampton.ac.uk/portal/en/studentthesis/Children’s-Neo-Romanticism(d8dd7f80-d6a7-4e02-a103-c627adc0fad1).html.
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The focus of this study is a trend in British children’s literature concerning the ancientness of British landscape, with what I argue is a Neo-Romantic sensibility. Neo-Romanticism is marked by highly subjective viewpoints on the countryside, and I argue that it illuminates our understanding of post-war children’s literature, particularly in what is often called its Second Golden Age. Through discussion of four generally overlooked authors, each of importance to this formative publishing era, I aim to explore certain aspects of the Second Golden Age children’s literature establishment. I argue that the trend I critique is characterised by ambiguity, defined by the imaginative practice entailed in the archaeological view.
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Manno, Annette Christine. "Teaching about conflict and values through children's literature." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 1999. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/1526.
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Jeziorski, Carolyn Ann Marie. "The experience of reality and fantasy from books: the six year old child." Thesis, Boston University, 1994. https://hdl.handle.net/2144/27682.
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Boston University. University Professors Program Senior theses.PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you.
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Panaou, Petros Coats Karen. "Complex crossings European picture books and the construct of child-ness in national, European, and global contexts /." Normal, Ill. : Illinois State University, 2007. http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=0&did=1417799091&SrchMode=1&sid=6&Fmt=2&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1205257790&clientId=43838.
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Thesis (Ph. D.)--Illinois State University, 2007.Title from title page screen, viewed on March 11, 2008. Dissertation Committee: Karen Coats (chair), Jan Susina, Christopher Breu. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 289-303) and abstract. Also available in print.
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Bobo, Kirsti Ann. "Representations of Anglo-Saxon England in children's literature /." Diss., CLICK HERE for online access, 2004. http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/ETD/image/etd666.pdf.
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Owen, Christopher. "Systemic oppression in children's portal-quest fantasy literature." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/52890.
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This thesis investigates the representation of systemic oppression in Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Employing Foucauldian poststructuralism and critical discourse analysis, this research identifies how the social systems of the fantasy texts construct hierarchies based on race and gender, and social norms based on sexuality and disability. Privilege and oppression are identified as the results of the relaying of power relations by social institutions through strategies such as dominant discourses. This study questions the historically understood role of children’s and fantasy literature as socialization tools, and the potential negative consequences of this.Arts, Faculty of
Library, Archival and Information Studies (SLAIS), School of
Graduate
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Butler, Rebecca R. "Motor impairment in children's literature : perceptions and pedagogy." Thesis, University of Roehampton, 2014. https://pure.roehampton.ac.uk/portal/en/studentthesis/motor-impairment-in-children’s-literature(83b3a2a0-a718-4640-9bfc-2721099b651a).html.
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This project explores how pupils respond to disabled characters encountered in two fictional stories and considers the potential implications such reactions hold for teaching and learning in schools. The project reviewed three streams of literature, namely books for children in which disabled characters play a part, the literature of disability studies, and literature linked to inclusive education. The research data set was gathered at group sessions held with a total of 41 pupils in four mainstream primary schools and two schools for SEN pupils. The sessions were recorded on DVD. This data set was analysed using a cluster coding convention and grounded theory model. The pupils discussed issues raised by two excerpts from works of fiction in which motor impaired characters play a significant role. The pupils responded actively, coming to grips with complex issues, presenting their own views, discussing the views of others and completing a brief written exercise. The views expressed by the pupils were often supportive of disabled people but critical where the behaviour of the disabled people in the stories warranted criticism. They rarely used prejudicial language about disabled people and they appeared to be almost unaffected by anti- disabled prejudices. One group session was held with disabled pupils at a part-boarding, part-day school for disabled pupils from age 7 to 19. These pupils showed a greater awareness of the day to day realities of life for a motor impaired person. They also showed enthusiasm or the use of books to familiarise non-disabled people with disability. The project also demonstrated that fictional texts featuring motor impaired characters can be used to teach pupils about motor impairment and to encourage them to think about what it means to be thus disabled. It identified key characteristics of the methods used for research with children. It also identified an opportunity for improved teaching in the area of disability. The KS2 curriculum for Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) makes only one mention of disability. Disability could feature more prominently in the curriculum taught by schools and individual teachers.
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Granahan, Louise Margaret. "The selection and use of multicultural children's literature." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1999. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk1/tape7/PQDD_0004/NQ41165.pdf.
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Micklitz, Bill. "The censors' magic wand the disappearing children's literature /." Menomonie, WI : University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2006. http://www.uwstout.edu/lib/thesis/2006/2006micklitzw.pdf.
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Johansson, Viktor. "Dissonant Voices : Philosophy, Children's Literature, and Perfectionist Education." Doctoral thesis, Stockholms universitet, Institutionen för pedagogik och didaktik, 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-92106.
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Dissonant Voices has a twofold aspiration. First, it is a philosophical treatment of everyday pedagogical interactions between children and their elders, between teachers and pupils. More specifically it is an exploration of the possibilities to go on with dissonant voices that interrupt established practices – our attunement – in behaviour, practice and thinking. Voices that are incomprehensible or expressions that are unacceptable, morally or otherwise. The text works on a tension between two inclinations: an inclination to wave off, discourage, or change an expression that is unacceptable or unintelligible; and an inclination to be tolerant and accept the dissonant expression as doing something worthwhile, but different. The second aspiration is a philosophical engagement with children’s literature. Reading children’s literature becomes a form of philosophising, a way to explore the complexity of a range of philosophical issues. This turn to literature marks a dissatisfaction with what philosophy can accomplish through argumentation and what philosophy can do with a particular and limited set of concepts for a subject, such as ethics. It is a way to go beyond philosophising as the founding of theories that justify particular responses. The philosophy of dissonance and children’s literature becomes a way to destabilise justifications of our established practices and ways of interacting. The philosophical investigations of dissonance are meant to make manifest the possibilities and risks of engaging in interactions beyond established agreement or attunements. Thinking of the dissonant voice as an expression beyond established practices calls for improvisation. Such improvisations become a perfectionist education where both the child and the elder, the teacher and the student, search for as yet unattained forms of interaction and take responsibility for every word and action of the interaction. The investigation goes through a number of picture books and novels for children such as Harry Potter, Garmann’s Summer, and books by Shaun Tan, Astrid Lindgren and Dr. Seuss as well narratives by J.R.R. Tolkien, Henrik Ibsen, Jane Austen and Henry David Thoreau. These works of fiction are read in conversation with philosophical works of, and inspired by, Ludwig Wittgenstein and Stanley Cavell, their moral perfectionism and ordinary language philosophy.
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De, Greef Relinde. "Socialization and children's literature : the Netherlands, 1918-1940." Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London), 1993. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.398314.
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George, Carla Elizabeth. "Identity and the children's literature of George MacDonald." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/96975.
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Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2015.ENGLISH ABSTRACTThe Victorian period, often heralded as the golden age of children‘s literature, saw both a break and a continuation with the traditions of the fairy tale genre, with many authors choosing this platform to question and subvert social and literary expectations (Honic, Breaking the Angelic Image 1; Zipes, Art of Subversion 97). George MacDonald (1824-1905), a prolific Scottish theologian, whose unspoken sermons, essays, novels, fantasies and children‘s fairy tales deliberately engage with such issues as gender, mortality, class, poverty and morality, was one such author (Ellison 92). This thesis critically examines how the Victorian writer George MacDonald portrays the notion of a ‗self‘ in terms of fixed ‗character‘ and mutable physical appearance in his fairy tales for children. Chapter One provides a foundation for this study by studying MacDonald‘s literary and religious context, particularly important for this former preacher banned from his pulpit (Reis, 24). Chapter Two explores a series of examples of the interaction between characters and their physical bodies. This begins with examining portrayals of characters synonymous with their bodies, before contrasting this with characters whose bodies appear differently than their inner selves. Chapter Two finishes by observing those characters whose physical forms alter throughout the course of the tale. As these different character-body interactions are observed, a marked separation between character and body emerges. In Chapter Three, the implications of this separation between character and body are explored. By writing such separations between the character and their body, MacDonald creates a space where further questions can be asked about our understanding of issues such as identity and mortality. Chapter Three begins with an analysis of the observations made in the first chapter, posing that MacDonald crafted characters consisting of an inner self and a physical body. This was then further explored through images of recognition in the tales, finding that characters are expected to recognize one another despite complete physical alterations; the inner self is able to know and be known. Chapter Three concludes by studying mortality in the tales, particularly MacDonald‘s portrayals of the possibility of life after death.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die Viktoriaanseperiode, wat gereeld voorgehou word as die goue era vir kinderliteratuur, het beide breuke en kontinuïteit gehad met die tradisies van die genre van sprokiesverhale. Menigte skrywers het sprokiesverhale gekies as ‘n middel waardeur hulle sosiale en literêre verwagtinge kon bevraagteken en omseil (Honic, Breaking the Angelic Image 1; Zipes, Art of Subversion 97). George MacDonald (1824—1905) — 'n prolifieke Skotse teoloog, wie se onuitgesproke preke, opstelle, novelle, fantasieë en kindersprokies doelgerig kwessies soos geslag, moraliteit, klas en armoede getakel het — was een só 'n skrywer (Ellison 92). Hierdie tesis ondersoek krities hoe die Viktoriaanse skrywer George MacDonald die idee van ‗self‘ uitgebeeld het in terme van 'n vaste "karakter" en veranderbare fisiese voorkoms in sy sprokiesverhale vir kinders. Hoofstuk Een verskaf 'n fondasie vir hierdie studie deur MacDonald se literêre- en geloofskonteks te bestudeer. Hierdie is besonders belangrik, omdat hierdie gewese predikant voorheen van die kansel verban was (Reis, 24). Hoofstuk Twee ondersoek 'n reeks voorbeelde van die interaksie tussen karakters en hul fisiese gestaltes. Dit begin met 'n ondersoek van uitbeeldings waarin karakters sinoniem met hul voorkoms is. Daarna word 'n kontras getrek met karakters wie se uiterlike voorkoms verskillend is van wie hulle innerlik is. Hoofstuk Twee sluit af deur merking te maak van karakters wie se fisiese voorkoms verander deur die verloop van die verhaal. Soos hierdie verskillende interaksies tussen karakter en voorkoms ondersoek word, word 'n merkbare verdeling tussen karakter en voorkoms ontbloot. In Hoofstuk Drie word die implikasies van hierdie verdeling tussen karakter en voorkoms ondersoek. Deur so 'n verdeling tussen karakter en voorkoms uit te beeld, skep MacDonald 'n ruimte waarbinne verdere vrae gevra kan word oor hoe ons kwessies soos identiteit en moraliteit verstaan. Hoofstuk Drie begin met 'n analise van die opmerkings wat in die eerste hoofstuk gemaak is, waarin gestel word dat MacDonald sy karakters ontwerp het om te bestaan uit 'n innerlike self en 'n fisiese voorkoms. Hierdie word dan verder ondersoek deur te kyk na voorbeelde van gewaarwording in die verhale, waar daar gevind is dat daar van die karakters verwag word om mekaar te herken ten spyte van gehele fisiese veranderinge; die innerlike self kan ken en geken word. Hoofstuk Drie sluit af deur die moraliteit van die stories te bestudeer, veral MacDonald se uitbeelding van die moontlikheid van lewe na die dood.
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Minardi, Katherine Sublett. "Using Children's Literature: An Approach to Teaching Reading." UNF Digital Commons, 1994. http://digitalcommons.unf.edu/etd/84.
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The purpose of this project was to develop a thematic unit of children's literature that combines skills-based and meaning-based reading instruction. The curriculum guide was designed for use with third and fourth graders. Lessons concentrated on relating each story to previously read stories through guided questioning. Emphasis was placed on critical reading and thinking skills, as well as the integrating of reading, writing, listening, and speaking. The curriculum was reviewed by seven third and fourth grade inservice teachers from two schools. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected using a researcher-designed questionnaire. Results indicated that the teachers surveyed found the curriculum guide to be successful in combining children's literature into a thematic unit and that such a unit is an effective means of teaching reading. Also, the researcher concluded that the curriculum would be useful for teachers desiring to move toward a more holistic instructional approach. In addition, it was found that the curriculum effectively encouraged learner involvement and fostered higher-level thinking skills. Furthermore, the researcher concluded that the curriculum effectively integrated the four language art components in meaning-centered reading experiences which, in turn, enabled children to read, write, listen, and speak more often and at a higher level.
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Boudreaux, Becky. "The Representation of the Environment in Children's Literature." ScholarWorks@UNO, 2006. http://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/335.
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This study is a descriptive research project which examines a purposeful census of the best selling children's books for 0-8 year olds in the United States in 2003. This cross-sectional study of these social artifacts evaluates the extent to which the ideologies of the environmental movement have been inculcated into culture. It evaluates how the environment is represented in children’s literature and the extent to which children's literature meets the goals of environmental education. Through narrative semeiotic analysis of the themes, as well as the manifest (text) and latent (pictures) content, varying degrees of pro and antienvironmental ideologies reflected by these representations emerged. Analytic induction revealed that these representations reflected ideologies of human domination over nature. In addition, in most cases, the representation of the environment did not reflect or meet the goals of environmental education. This finding sheds light on the role children's books play in the environmental socialization of America's youth.
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Rudd, David Hilary. "Enid Blyton and the mystery of children's literature." Thesis, Sheffield Hallam University, 1997. http://shura.shu.ac.uk/20301/.
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This thesis examines Enid Blyton as a cultural phenomenon. It seeks to account for her enduring popularity, still immense some thirty years after her death in 1968. However, despite world-wide renown, there is comparatively little serious discussion of her work just as children's literature is itself a neglected area. This thesis uses Blyton as a case study of how cultural studies might open up this marginalised area. It brings together three, often separated lines of investigation textual analysis, production, and reception using the Foucauldian notion of 'discursive threads' to unite them. For textual analysis, three of Blyton's most popular series are examined: 'Noddy', the 'Famous Five', and, to a lesser extent, the 'Malory Towers' books, with other works discussed en passant. The study attends to the literary qualities, but seeks a much wider understanding of the discourses that constitute Blyton's texts, including contemporary events (the context) and other, literary pre-texts. Besides Blyton's own part in the 'production' of her texts (including herself as a text), the study looks more widely at the way Blyton and her work have been manufactured i.e. 'Enid Blyton' as a cultural icon and how this has endured, with amendments, over the generations. The debates around sexism, racism, Englishness and middle-class ethos, which are very much part of the Blyton icon, are closely examined. It is suggested that though there are elements of truth in some of these accusations, they are generally false and, at best, partial constructions. In particular, the Five books are shown to be questioning rather than 'sexist' about the relations between the genders. On racism, a critical analysis is undertaken of the way this whole debate has been constructed, with frequent distortions and misreadings of the texts in question; the terms of reference of such debates are therefore scrutinised, including the history of the golliwog character. In general, it is argued that focusing on these more incidental elements misses the main thrust of Blyton's work, which is largely concerned with another marginalised and disempowered group, children. This fact is most obviously seen in the way that children's own views on Blyton have been largely ignored. Consequently the 'reception' of the texts informs much of the above. Questionnaires were circulated to schools and elsewhere. They were also circulated amongst past readers of Blyton, both in England and abroad, using the Internet. This resulted in some 900 responses from readers, reaching back to those who first read her as children in the 1930s. Interviews were also conducted with contemporary groups of children in schools. These show the very real pleasures involved in reading Blyton, rather than the adult, 'ism'-ridden discourses. Against earlier 'literary' and 'educational' readings, two more apposite ways of reading Blyton are outlined: an approach which situates her in the oral tradition, celebrating the child-hero in a very participatory way, and a psychoanalytically informed reading, the latter showing how Blyton helps create a psychic space within which children can play at being masters of their destiny.
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Lesnik-Oberstein, Karin Beate. "Principles and practice in critical theory : children's literature." Thesis, University of Bristol, 1990. http://hdl.handle.net/1983/435ba144-6b16-4756-9c0c-03aceb151662.
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Moulton, Emily. "Confronting bullying : searching for strategies in children's literature /." Diss., CLICK HERE for online access, 2010. http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/ETD/image/etd2991.pdf.
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