Children’s

Literature
“A little nonsense now and then is relished
By the wise man.” --Willy Wonka
 Why Children’s Books?
• A bedtime story to help a child wind down

• Key for brain development

• Helps a child learn abstract thought

• Helps children imagine objects and create

images

• Connects adult and child to magical places

“There are many little ways to enlarge your child’s

world. Love of books is the best of all.”
--Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
 What is Children’s Literature?
• A book created for children right?

• Huckleberry Finn
• Grimm Fairy Tales
• Gulliver’s Travels
• Watership Down

• These books, all initially written for children, eventually

gravitated to the adult world
• All of these stories are adult books that are read by
children (or at least young adults)
 What Makes a (kids) Book
Readable?
• Usually offers a fantastic reality…an
imaginative escape…a playful playground
• Usually about a child (or an animal)
• Usually a simple conflict
• With a definite and clear resolution

• Compelling illustrations
• Yet still filled with all the elements of story
 Characteristics
• Focuses on action

• Optimistic

• Fantasy

• Pastoral Idyll

• Viewpoint of innocence

• Didactic
 Elements of Children’s Stories
• Theme

• Characters

• Setting

• Plot

• Dialogue

• Word Choice
• Simile
• Repetition
• Metaphor
• Alliteration

• Imagery (and images)

 Plot
• Simple Plot

• Build through Conflict

• Offer a dilemma (moral and ethical?)

• Provide closure
 Conflict
• Balance between idyllic and didactic
• Teaching how to be a mature adult in the world
• Retain childhood and innocence

• Examples/ Home Vs. Away

• Communal concern vs. self- concern
• Good vs. Evil
It is through literature that we most
intimately enter the hearts and minds and
spirits of other people. And what we value in
this is the difference as well as the human
similarities of others: that way, as C. S. Lewis
put it, we become a thousand different
people and yet remain ourselves. A.
Chambers
 Character
• Protagonist
• Little child
• Animal
• Inanimate objects
Characters
 Traits of Protagonists
• Personal courage

• Caring for others

• Perseverance

• Resourcefulness

• A Belief in Others

• Optimism
 Word Choice
• Lemony Snicket

• Alligator Under my Bed

• Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

 Lively Language
• Simple • Alliteration

• Sophisticated • Rhyme

• Lively • Challenging Word

• Colorful • Simile

• Creative • Onomatopoeia

• Repetition
 Word Choice Activity
The big bear stood by the water. He
looked at his shadow in the big lake.
He thought that he looked nice. He
went to take a drink of water. A fish
went by. The bear wanted to eat the
big fish. He ate up the fish and went
away.
Revise the story by replacing precise, colorful
words with the red and underlined words. Share
your new more interesting story.
 Theme

Acceptance, devotion,
loyalty, and loss -- and a
spider and a pig!

Engaging the Enemy

Nazi occupation and

the escape to freedom!
 Common Themes
• Snugness

• Smallness

• Scariness

• Lightness

• Aliveness
• According to Feeling Like a Kid by Jerry Griswold
 Where Ideas Begin
• Many people will try to write like Dr. Seuss;
They try and they try, it just isn't much use

• Trust yourself…your siblings…your

cousins…the books you read as a child…

• What Do Kids Like?