Name: Janelle M.

Brito
Year/Course: BSED English II-C

Research/study what is Children's Literature, its types and elements.

Children Literature
Children's Literature” is defined as material written and produced for the information or entertainment
of children and young adults. It includes all non-fiction, literary and artistic genres and physical formats.
Children's literature is important because it provides students with opportunities to respond to
literature; it gives students appreciation about their own cultural heritage as well as those of others; it
helps students develop emotional intelligence and creativity; it nurtures growth and development of the
students.

Types of Children Literature

Picture Books-Picture books are for young children or beginning readers. They can either have just
pictures, without words -- such as Raymond Briggs' "The Snowman" -- or have pictures with a small
amount of text, like in "Where the Wild Things Are" by Maurice Sendak. Picture books often feature
repetitive phrases, to help children who are learning to read. They can be any genre, and are classified
solely by their format.

Fantasy Fiction-Fantasy books are any novel -- or "chapter book," as they are often referred to in
children's literature -- that is based on fanciful or unrealistic events. Fantasy is widespread in children's
literature. Popular topics include magic or the occult, paranormal events, science fiction, animal-based
fantasy or unusual or parallel worlds, such as the world in J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy.
Perhaps the most famous children's fantasy books of the late 20th and early 21st centuries are the Harry
Potter novels.

Realistic Fiction-Realistic children's literature can either be set in contemporary times or in the past. As
the name suggests, the characters are realistic and the plot line follows something that could actually
happen. Realistic fiction can either be mostly for entertainment, featuring mysteries, adventures, sports
or humor, or can try to tackle sensitive issues, such as life and death, family problems, cultural diversity
or mental or physical illness. Realistic historical fiction uses real events from the past as a basis for the
story.

Traditional Literature- Traditional literature is the name given to any stories which originated orally and
were later written down. These include some fairy tales, folk tales, myths, legends, epics and fables.
Traditional literature stories can be found in books, but are the type of story that a parent may tell a
child from memory. Some of the best known traditional literature stories include "The Tortoise and the
Hare," "Cinderella," "Theseus and the Minotaur" and "Little Red Riding Hood."

Elements of Children Literature

According to Tompkins (1997), the elements of a story are characters, setting, plot, theme, and point of
view. Student responses were limited to characters, setting, plot, and theme. Only these four story
elements were addressed in the study because point of view would be too complex to code.