UNIVERSITY OF CALOOCAN CITY

Biglang Awa St., Corner Catleya St., EDSA, Caloocan City

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENT LITERATURE

 
SUBJECT CODE: 510
TOPIC OR LESSON: Introduction and Definition of Literature for
Children
WEEK: 1
SUB-TOPIC/S: The Birth of Modern Children Literature
Book Illustrations

 OVERVIEW OF THE TOPIC

LEARNING Children Literature is basically any literature that is enjoyed by children.

OUTCOMESThese are written and published for young people who are not yet interested in
adult stuff. They are also not expected to have a deeper understanding of a
reading material, therefore, they may or may not possess developmental reading
skills.

Giving children the access to literature is extremely important for their success
for the reason tha,t it will provide them with the opportunities to respond to literature.
By exposing them, appreciation to their own cultural heritage develops. Emotional
intelligence and creativity will also be honed. More so, personality and social skills will
be developed as well.

The age range for Children Literature is from infancy through the stage of early
adolescence (between 12-14 years old) covering relevance and interests to children of
those ages.

In this module, the history, content and quality of Children Literature will then be
discussed.

1 | Page
 LEARNING
OUTCOMES
Objectives:
A. Define and discuss the history and purposes of children’s literature.
B. Differentiate the genre of children’s literature.

LEARNING
OBJECTIVES
Objectives:
At the end of the lesson, the students should be able to:
A. Define and describe children’s literature;
B. Outline the birth of children’s literature;
C. Evaluate different book illustration; and
D. Present sample book illustrations.

ENGAGE

Answer the following questions.

Why do we need to have literature specifically written for

children?
What differences and similarities do you see between children's
literature and adult literature?

2 | Page
 EXPLORE

By using jamboard, answer and discuss the following:

1. What are the purposes for children to read literature?
2. What makes a good children's book? Please list all the important
elements.

EXPLAIN

Children Literature provides the following:

1. It provides them the opportunity to respond to a particular topic thus
developing their own opinion about it. This strengthens the cognitive
developmental domain as it encourages deeper thoughts.

Examine the image below:

Source: https://www.verywellmind.com/piagets-stages-of-cognitive-development-2795457

Jean Piaget believed that children play an active role in the learning process, making
and doing some experiments on their own to formulate conclusions as the product of
learning. This is also observed when children are being exposed to literature.

3 | Page
They continually add up and build new knowledge and generally adapt to new ideas in
every topic presented to them.

The Sensorimotor Stage

Ages: Birth to 2 Years

Major Characteristics and Developmental Changes:

 The infant knows the world through their movements and sensations.
 Children learn about the world through basic actions such as sucking, grasping,
looking, and listening.
 Infants learn that things continue to exist even though they cannot be seen
(object permanence).
 They are separate beings from the people and objects around them.
 They realize that their actions can cause things to happen in the world around
them.
The Preoperational Stage
Ages: 2 to 7 Years

Major Characteristics and Developmental Changes:

 Children begin to think symbolically and learn to use words and pictures to
represent objects.
 Children at this stage tend to be egocentric and struggle to see things from the
perspective of others.
 While they are getting better with language and thinking, they still tend to think
about things in very concrete terms.
The Concrete Operational Stage
Ages: 7 to 11 Years

Major Characteristics and Developmental Changes

 During this stage, children begin to thinking logically about concrete events.
 They begin to understand the concept of conservation; that the amount of liquid
in a short, wide cup is equal to that in a tall, skinny glass, for example.
 Their thinking becomes more logical and organized, but still very concrete.
 Children begin using inductive logic, or reasoning from specific information to a
general principle.
The Formal Operational Stage
Ages: 12 and Up

4 | Page
 Major Characteristics and Developmental Changes:

 At this stage, the adolescent or young adult begins to think abstractly and reason
about hypothetical problems.
 Abstract thought emerges.
 Teens begin to think more about moral, philosophical, ethical, social, and political
issues that require theoretical and abstract reasoning.
 Begin to use deductive logic, or reasoning from a general principle to specific
information.

2. It provides an avenue for the children to learn about their cuiltural heritage.
This is why it is important to be selective in choosing a reading material to be
given to children because it will give a direct impact on their social and
personal development.
3. It also helps develop children’s emotional intelligence. Stories have the
power to promote emotional and moral development. Children’s Literature
contains numerous moments of crisis where the main character has to reflect
and create decisions.
4. Children Literature nurtures creativity as it promotes the development of
children’s internal imagination.
5. It fosters personality and social development.
6. It is a timeless tradition of transmitting literary heritage from one generation
to next.

HISTORY OF CHILDREN LITERATURE

Time Period                   Event                                                

Significance

Classical - Oral storytelling - kept ancient stories alive

World - Greek and Roman myths and epics - Children and adults shared a
500 BCE – - Aesop’s fables common literature
400 CE* (note)

Middle Ages - Religious tales / Biblical stories - set examples for children, for
476 CE – 1400 - Romantic tales / Legends a didactic purpose
  - created a mixture of realism 
and fantasy

5 | Page
 Renaissance - The printing press made it possible - promoted mass education
World to make multiple copies of books
1400 – 1700 - Rise of Educational books
* Orbis Sensualism Pictus
 
by John Comenius (1658) - the 1st
children’s picture book
* New England Primer
(1690 -1886) - the most famous
early school book
- Emergence of Chapbooks  (small
and cheaply made books containing
fairy tales
18th and early - John Newbery’s publishing of
19th Centuries children’s books
1700 – 1830  
- Rise of Moralistic Tales
 
 
- Revival of Folktales
* Tales of Mother Goose by Charles
Perrault in France (1697) and
translated in English (1729)
* Grimms’ Nursery and Household
Tales  in Germany (1812)
* Hans Christian Anderson’s Fairy
Tales in Denmark (1835)
The Victorians: - Rise of Modern Fantasy
Golden Age
1830 – 1900
* Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland 
6 | Page
 
- the emphasis was on
spiritual and intellectual
development; schooling
became important for a
Puritan child's upbringing
- emphasized giving lessons in
proper behavior for boys
- helped to keep interest in
traditional tales alive during
the Puritan Movement
- first successfully promoted
children's literature designed
to entertain children as well
as to teach them
- influenced by Rousseau’s
emphasis on proper moral
development; written mostly 
by women
 
- first written version of
folktales
 
- inspired a flurry of folktales
collecting throughout Europe
- first modern folktales
- more talented writers wrote
entertaining stories for
children
- first children’s masterpiece of
 (1865) by Lewis Carroll (England) modern fantasy (breaking the
 
* The Wonderful Wizard of Oz bonds of didacticism)
(1900) by L. Frank Baum (U.S.)
* The Tale of Peter Rabbit (1901) by - first classic U.S. modern
Beatrix Potter fantasy for children

- Rise of Realistic Stories

- early important modern
* Little Women (1868) by Louisa picture storybook in English
May Alcott (U.S)
* Treasure Island (1881) by Robert
- early family story of great
Louis Stevenson (England)
popularity (girls’ story)
- famous classic adventure
stories (boys’ story)
 
20th Century - Emergence of some of the most  
  notable fantasy writers of children's
literature - early classic personified toy
  * Winnie-the-Pooh (1926) by A. A. animal story
Milne (England)
 
- Popularity of  the publication of
Picture Storybooks  
- Popularity of Fantasy stories  and  
series books
* The Lion, the Witch and the  
Wardrobe (1950) and sequels by - early classic quest
C. S. Lewis adventure  for children
* Charlotte's Web (1952) by E. B.
White
- classis U.S. animal fantasy
- Rise of New Realism (after World
War II)
- a franker and more open
- A variety of world cultures approach to subjects in
presented in children's books children's books

- Emergence of awards for children's

- the field of children's
books (the earliest one was Newbery
7 | Page
 Medal in 1922, U.S.)
- Study of children's literature began
in the last quarter of the 20th
century
8 | Page
literature has grown
worldwide; heroes came in
all colors
- promoted the writing of
great works of children's
literature
- raised the status of
children's literature and
promoted the publishing of
children's books
 *Note: CE stands for “Common Era.” It is a relatively new term that is experiencing
increased usage and is eventually expected to replace AD (“Anno Domini” in Latin or
“the year of the Lord” in English). BCE stands for “Before the Common Era.” It is
eventually expected to replace BC, which means “Before Christ.”

ELABORAT
E

Should we expose children in this kind of stories? Share your thoughts. A link on a
google document will be provided.

EVALUATE

Answer the quiz by accessing the link below:

9 | Page
 https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdpHerRrHq9bPRWyNQnY3vLkwxMBE2
Zgm0OD_BHZzt3zaxSbA/viewform

REFERENCE
S

Crippen, M. (2021). The value of children literature. Retrieved from

https://www.luther.edu/oneota-reading-journal/archive/2012/the-value-of-
childrens-literature/
Cherry, K. (2020). The 4 stages of cognitive development. Retrieved from
https://www.verywellmind.com/piagets-stages-of-cognitive-development-2795457

ADDITIONAL
MATERIALS

PREPARED BY:

MS. ARLENE ALMAZAN

10 | Page