Places of literature in the life of children and of an adolescent

I. Definitions
a) Values- are individual beliefs that motivate people to act one way or another. They serve as guides for human behavior. Generally,
people are predisposed to adopt the values that they are raised with. People tend to believe that those values are right because they
are the values of their particular culture. Values vary among individuals and across cultures and time. However, values are
universally recognized as a driving force in our ethical decision-making.

II. functions of children's literature on the values of children and adolescents.

A. Provide pleasure- following a rabbit down a rabbit hole or walking through a wardrobe into a mythical kingdom
sounds like fun. There is nothing wrong with admitting that one of the primary values of literature is pleasure, and
there is nothing wrong with turning to a book to escape or to enjoy an adventure with new or old book friends. Time
is enriched, not wasted when children look at beautiful pictures and imagine themselves in new places. When
children discover enjoyment in books, they develop favorable attitudes toward them that usually extend into a
lifetime of appreciation.

B. Develop emotional intelligence- stories have the power to promote emotional and moral development. Children’s
literature “contains numerous moments of crisis, when characters make moral decisions and contemplate the
reasons for their decisions” an important skill for children to see modeled. (Norton, 2010) It also encourages children
to think deeper about deeper about their own feelings. (Daniel goal man, 1995) identify 5 basic emotional
intelligences that a child need:
a. Self-awareness
b. Managing emotions
c. Handling anxiety in appropriate ways
d. Motivating oneself
e. Sensitivity towards others
C. Language development- Norton’s says that for children “wordless picture books are excellent stimuli for oral and
written language”. Children reading wordless books like will be able to analyze the illustrations and develop their own
dialogue for story. This strengthens children cognitive functions in being able to form opinions on their own and to
express themselves through language in summarizing the plot of a wordless book.
D. Stimulate aesthetic development- role that literature plays in nurturing and expanding the imagination. Children’s
literature promotes the development of student’s internal imaginations.
E. Understand and value cultural heritage -
Books are the major means of transmitting our literary heritage from one generation to the next. Children’s literature
provides an avenue for students to learn about their own cultural heritage and the cultures of other people. It is
crucial for children to learn these values because “developing positive attitudes toward our own cultures and for the
culture of others is necessary for both social and personal development.” (Norton 2010) children are very
impressionable during the formative years, and childrens literature can help them develop into caring, intelligent,
and friendly people. Developmental psychologist jean piaget says that when students move from the pre-operational
to operational stage of cognitive development they become less egocentric.
however, when teaching children about the cultural heritage of others one should be very careful in selecting which
books to recommend to young readers. There are some folktales, which contain blatant stereotypes and in
accuracies about certain cultural groups.

III. Situations that affect the development of values among children and adolescents.
A. Exposure to stimulating stories and books.
a. Appreciation of good literature
b. Developing into citizens and well-rounded personalities
c. Fulfill basic emotional need
B. Dearth of reading materials- because of dearth of reading materials children turn to anything that is accessible to
them, like comics, song books, and magazines that are done hardly in good taste especially the local comics that
abound in magazines stands on practically every corner. They watch mediocre TV shows and listen to the soapbox
operas and other humdrum radio programs. Movies that claim to be of social relevance are nothing more than
glorification of the feats of infamous characters endowed with folk-hero appeal and are nothing more than
exercises in erotica.
a. Depraved child with questionable values in life

C. Learning environment