LSSL

Realistic Fiction is sometimes known as contemporary or modern realistic fiction. These stories are set in contemporary or modern times. Realistic fiction gives an accurate portrayal of life today. Realistic fiction includes all the same elements of fiction but the elements are set in the real world and must be believable.  To be considered Realistic Fiction, everything must be consistent with the real world in which contemporary kids live. The way the characters speak, their behavior and all other elements must be believable.  It is important when we consider these books that we take note to gender and cultural elements to avoid stereotyping. We must evaluate that the theme naturally emerges gradually throughout the story and that it is not explicit. Within the plot there can be more than one theme. Realistic Fiction books should deal with issues that modern readers will deal with or are dealing with when reading. They should be able to connect and relate to these situat...

Summary Depending on the reader, historical fiction can be viewed very differently. What one reader considers historical fiction may not be the same for another reader. This happens because historical fiction is any story that is set in the past. Older readers might consider 100 years to be the past but younger children might think of a few hours being the past. It’s very important that we take students ages into account when we label our books that are set it a different time. Another important thing to remember is that when children read historical fiction they are able to live through the experience of another and imagine what life was like to live in another time. Adapted from C harlotte Huck's Children's Literature: A Brief Guide we are better able to understand what criteria is used when evaluating historical fiction. The criteria includes: ·          Does the book tell a good story that effortlessly blends the history in the story...

There are many misconceptions when it comes to Poetry. It is frequently viewed as the most ignored forms of literature. As librarians, it is important that we remember that Poetry is not a genre but a form of literature. Many times, children are being forced to analyze poem, instead of reading them for enjoyment. This is a huge disservice to children because they lose the interest to read poetry when they are forced to read poems. Reading and writing go hand and hand, so it is important that we have students not only read poetry for fun but also write their own poetry. Writing poetry is less tedious, because they don’t have to follow a certain format or idea. This is also a wonderful way for children to express their feelings and themselves. When having children write poetry it is vital to remember the difference between the type of poetry children enjoy reading versus writing. Depending on style some children may struggle when writing poetry and we must remember to keep it fun so the...

Printz (Michael L. Printz Award)  – This award is given for works that exemplify literary excellence in young adult literature. The award-winning book may be fiction, nonfiction, poetry or an anthology. As many as four honor title can win in each year. January is when a winner and honor titles are selected. Recent winners and finalists for this award include March by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell.   YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction   – this award honors the best nonfiction book published for young adults (ages 12-18) during a Nov. 1 – Oct. 31 publishing year. The winner is announced at the ALA Youth Media Awards. Recent winners and finalists for this award include  March:  Book Three by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell and Hillary Rodham Clinton:  A Woman Living History by Karen Blumenthal. Great Graphic Novels for Teens  – This is a recommen...

Literary Elements Ø   Antagonist- The opposite character to the protagonist. This character causes inner and outer conflict for the protagonist. Ø   Character- The person or animal in the story. Ø   Conflict- The problem that the main character faces in the story. Ø   Mood and Tone- The feelings that the narrator wants the reader to feel when reading the story. Ø   Plot- the main events in the story that are in sequential order. Ø   Protagonist- The main charqact4er in the story. Ø   Setting- Where the story takes place or time period. Ø   Themes- what is learned from the story by the reader. Literary Devices      Ø   Allegory- a representation of symbolism in which greater ideas or feelings are explored through concrete objects or ideas. For example, the island represents the whole world.      Ø   Allusion- a figure of speech when the author mentions a person, place, or idea in...

Physical Development: Puberty When the body is changing and students have hard time understanding these changes. Students physical development will be different for each one of them, but a common question asked during this time is: Am I normal/Is this normal? (teeth, boobs, hair, etc) As a librarian we need to remember that they are going thorough many changes and it is not an easy time. There are many books that insure students about these changes. Intellectual Development: Piaget Theory Previously the age at when children move from concrete way of viewing things to abstract was at age 10, but it occurs around 14. Development Stages: Havighurst Another developmental theorist, which discuss stages children and young adults go through. When we get to the adolescent stage we begin to choose friends based on mutual interest like music, clothes etc. This is also they stage where relationships with opposite sex changes as well and developing moral and values. Moral Dev...

In 1983, a study was conducted by Mertz & England that identifies ten elements that are seen in Young Adult novels. They include: The novel includes a youthful protagonist or young adult. The novel uses the point of view in which we see the protagonist’s adolescent view of the event(s) There is a directness of exposition or some sort of direct confrontation There is some sort of significant change that occurs in the main character’s life The protagonists is highly independent There is some sort of gradual or incremental change (with an incomplete growth) in the main character There are concerns over contemporary issues that mirror society The main character must deal with the consequences of a (potentially bad) decision or action The story involves a very limited setting, in a short period of time, and has a set of a few fully developed characters that may play a significant role in the story The...

In this chapter, we learn that genres “might not be what you think”. We tend to mislead students when teaching genres. Here is why: There are essentially two Genres fiction and nonfiction . Fiction has two subgenres: realism and fantasy. Realism is than broken down into realistic: modern contemporary and historical. Fantasy is then broken into modern and traditional. These two can both be specified. The modern side includes high fantasy, soft science fiction, hard science fiction and low fantasy. Hard science fiction is when science is the main part of the story, where as soft science fiction is when the character plays a big role in the story. High fantasy is when whole worlds are created like languages. Low fantasy books are books that include fantasy but its children are able to recognize more of the setting.   Traditional consist of folktale, fairytale, myth, fable and legend. Nonfiction is broken into many informational sets like Biography, autobiography, memoir, ...

Children’s literature is divided into four categories. Those categories include Children’s Literature, Middle Grade/Tween, Young Adult, and New Adult. Children’s literature (0-8) Wordless pictures, Easy readers, regular picture books, illustrated chapter books early chapter books and some novels like Charlotte Web and because of Winn Dixie. Middle Grade/Tween (8-12) This is a tricky category because there is a misconception between middle grade and middle school. Middle grade books deal with issues that are age-appropriate for ages 8-12 whereas middle school might deal with issues that are not age-appropriate for an 8-9-year-old. Young Adult (13-18) These novels are going to deal with tough issues like sex, gangs, drugs and will not be age appropriate for all ages that fall into the YA age range. A novel that is a suitable YA option for a 17-18-year-old senior might not be an appropriate book for a 14-year-old. New Adult (18-30) These novels are for older tee...

There are many reasons why we share literature with children. The first and primary reason is because it is fun! I always share with my students that when we are reading we have the whole world in our hands…and at first, they are bit confused but when I explain to them that they can learn, explore or imagine anything with a book, their eyes start to gleam with thoughts and curiosity. In chapter one, I really connected with the information about how when we like something, we make time for it which is very true. Dr. Lesesne shared an example of that when comparing exercising and reading. Studies show that reading is instrumental in the achievement and development of language, particularly in young children. A study shows that children who read for twenty minutes a day, are exposed to over 1.8 million words and typically score in the 90 th  percentile on standardized tests. Basically, the more books children read and listen to, the more words they are exposed to. It’s nice...