I was so pleased with last week's professional and scholarly readings that I approached this week's reading with a high level of expectation and excitement. As Aidan Chambers explained in chapter 15: A Critical Blueprint of his book titled Introducing Books to Children, our histories and experiences affect our reactions to what we read (176). Unfortunately, my anticipated degree of delight from this weeks reading was not met.
Chambers had some good ideas and points. Disappointingly, he did not grasp the meaning of conciseness. Each point was over explored, yet at the same time he did not fully explain things. For example, he introduces the idea of levels of reading. Apparently, there are four levels of reading, yet he only touches on three levels and one of the four is never presented (177).
Other parts of Chambers' chapter I was displeased with were the following sentences:
"But the child who has the advantage of being brought up enriched by hearing stories and reading books will have added and much greater pleasure playing the game, airing his knowledge, re-experiencing the pleasure of the nursery stories, and finding a whole new story based on those familiar tales and verses" (179).
"Indeed, when a book calls strongly on another book, and the reader lacks the knowledge of the source, then part of the books pleasure is lost" (180).
I feel that it is quite silly to assume that a child's pleasure from a book that has many allusions will be increased if he or she is familiar with the works the book at hand has alluded to. I feel that the quoted sentences above are void of the points the author previous made. For example, as previously stated the author points out that we bring "our own personal histories" to texts; therefore, a child who is familiar with tale of Little Red Riding Hood and remembers it being told by his or grandma while his or her parents were having a violent fight in the background may not derive more pleasure from the film Hoodwinked than a child who is not familiar with the Little Red Riding Hood. Additionally, if the book or film in question alludes to another work and a child is not familiar with the book or film, a book talk could spark the child’s interest in the alluded work; therefore, pleasure is derived from a work that "calls strongly on another book."
I also thought it to be quite self-serving that he plugs another work of his in this chapter: "In my essay 'The Reader in the Book,' included in The Signal Approach to Children's Books I have explored in more detail this aspect of reading" (182).
I also feel that Chambers made a strong statement that does not ring true, "'What is it that makes me I and feel as I do - why am I impressed"' then the text will in any case slowly reveal itself" (182). I have read T. S. Eliot’s “The Wasteland" and I have reflected on my thoughts and feeling that I experienced when I read the poem. The text has yet to reveal itself to me. Or, perhaps since 1997 it is still "slowly revealing itself"??
What I did gather from the reading by Chambers is:
-Discussing books with children is important
-Reader's advisory is important in children's literature and as a youth librarian
-There is a need to pay attention to how expectations and personal histories affect our interpretations of what we read
-Some believe that he or she is so prolific or the authority on a topic that he or she should plug his or her other published items in his or her works
** (Most important!!) Anyone can get published
Chambers, Aidan. 1983. A critical blueprint. In Introducing books to children, 2d.ed., 174-193. Boston: The Horn Book.
Sunday, September 24, 2006
Sunday, September 17, 2006
Loved the readings
A HISTORY OF THE LILLIAN H. SMITH and OSBORNE COLLECTIONS
Prior to the readings required for today, I was in dark. Though this semester marks the beginning of my final year of my graduate studies at FIS, still, I am not certain of my desired career path. Furthermore, I did not think that I, a person who does not wish to baby-sit, bear or adopt children, would be so interested in youth/children's librarianship.
While reading Margaret Crawford Maloney's, "Public Trust: Special Collections of Children's Material", I became intrigued. I was unaware how rich Toronto's history of children's librarianship truly is. Being a lover of history this reading appealed to me.
Not having previous courses that dealt with the subjects of collection development or rare books, I found it useful that the author defines many terms. For example, Maloney defines something of rarity as, "intrinsic merit, significance within a field of study or research and scarcity in relationship to desirability" (144).
I knew that our upcoming field trip was to visit the Lillian H. Smith and Osborne Collections, but I had no idea the story behind these collections. Maloney's reading gave me the much needed insight. Furthermore, this reading sparked my interest in Judith St. John's The Osborne Collection of Early Children's Books, a Catalogue and Lillian H. Smith's The Unreluctant Years.
My journey to and through information studies was sparked by an interest in information policy, specifically, public access; therefore, I was pleased to read that, "Identification, organization and ultimately the detailed cataloguing demanded by the nature and use of rare materials is needed to maximize public access" (Maloney 145). For all those who are skeptical, 1320 is not an out-of-date class, as the aforementioned sentences states, it is integral to the understanding of public access.
I found it fascinating and awesome how much emphasis is put on respecting the benefactor's gift by preserving it and providing access to the gift.
I look forward to touring this PUBLIC TRUST! This essay was the perfect appetizer to the main course.
A HISTORY OF CHILDREN'S BOOKS AND LITERATURE
Zena Sutherlan detailed and commented on the history of children's literature. My favorite line in "Chapter 3: The History of Children's Books" from Children and Books is, "We need perspective in judging children's books. We need to look at the past with modern eyes and view the present with the accumulated wisdom of the past" (41). I feel that that advice/statement is applicable to many areas of study and life.
From this reading I learned a lot about children's book history. It is interesting that many of the titles regarded as children's literature I thought to be adult literature. Some titles include:
- Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
- Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
- Sarah Plan and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan
Similarly, today, though a different medium, there are many children's films that seem to have humour directed at adults opposed to the intended audience, yet children still laugh. The previous sentence relates to children's book history which Suterlan outlines children enjoying the stories (literature) that were intended for adults. One could concluded that there can be a blurred line between what is deemed children's literature (entertainment) and what is adult literature (entertainment).
I could not help laughing out-loud when I read that some believe that the first children's book was on table manners. I did not snicker at the belief, but that the first book intended to be read by children was not about having fun or being young, but about etiquette.
I thoroughly enjoyed the section on Puritans and children's literature. With some of the literature the Puritans had their children reading I was surprised that Jonathan Edwards, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" was not on the list. I found it quite humorous that as Sutherlan notes, a happy child was not defined according to the Puritans as a child that smiled and seemed cheerful, but “This meant [in order to make children happy their] being [was] secure in the avoidance of Hell and the assurance of Heaven" (45).
As if the Puritan's belief of what defined children's literature was unbelievable, it is hard to imagine that 300 + years ago marks the first appearance of the picture book. Furthermore, I think that it is lunacy that only since 1744, "marks the beginning of English books [being read] for their delight" (Sutherlan 47).
I learned a lot about the history of children's literature from Sutherland. I also learned her viewpoint on tradition of didacticism.
I enjoyed reading about the history though I am baffled by her deeming pedantical writings as "oppressively informative" (Sutherlan 53)???
------------------------------REFERENCES---------------------------------------
Maloney, Margaret Crawford. 1990. Public trust: Special collections of children’s materials. In Lands of pleasure: Essays on Lillian H. Smith and the development of children’s libraries, eds., Adele M. Fasick, Margaret Johnson and Ruth Osler, 143-151. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow.
Sutherland, Zena. 1997. Chapter 3: History of Children's Books. In Children and books, 9th ed., 41-61. NY: Longman.
Prior to the readings required for today, I was in dark. Though this semester marks the beginning of my final year of my graduate studies at FIS, still, I am not certain of my desired career path. Furthermore, I did not think that I, a person who does not wish to baby-sit, bear or adopt children, would be so interested in youth/children's librarianship.
While reading Margaret Crawford Maloney's, "Public Trust: Special Collections of Children's Material", I became intrigued. I was unaware how rich Toronto's history of children's librarianship truly is. Being a lover of history this reading appealed to me.
Not having previous courses that dealt with the subjects of collection development or rare books, I found it useful that the author defines many terms. For example, Maloney defines something of rarity as, "intrinsic merit, significance within a field of study or research and scarcity in relationship to desirability" (144).
I knew that our upcoming field trip was to visit the Lillian H. Smith and Osborne Collections, but I had no idea the story behind these collections. Maloney's reading gave me the much needed insight. Furthermore, this reading sparked my interest in Judith St. John's The Osborne Collection of Early Children's Books, a Catalogue and Lillian H. Smith's The Unreluctant Years.
My journey to and through information studies was sparked by an interest in information policy, specifically, public access; therefore, I was pleased to read that, "Identification, organization and ultimately the detailed cataloguing demanded by the nature and use of rare materials is needed to maximize public access" (Maloney 145). For all those who are skeptical, 1320 is not an out-of-date class, as the aforementioned sentences states, it is integral to the understanding of public access.
I found it fascinating and awesome how much emphasis is put on respecting the benefactor's gift by preserving it and providing access to the gift.
I look forward to touring this PUBLIC TRUST! This essay was the perfect appetizer to the main course.
A HISTORY OF CHILDREN'S BOOKS AND LITERATURE
Zena Sutherlan detailed and commented on the history of children's literature. My favorite line in "Chapter 3: The History of Children's Books" from Children and Books is, "We need perspective in judging children's books. We need to look at the past with modern eyes and view the present with the accumulated wisdom of the past" (41). I feel that that advice/statement is applicable to many areas of study and life.
From this reading I learned a lot about children's book history. It is interesting that many of the titles regarded as children's literature I thought to be adult literature. Some titles include:
- Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
- Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
- Sarah Plan and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan
Similarly, today, though a different medium, there are many children's films that seem to have humour directed at adults opposed to the intended audience, yet children still laugh. The previous sentence relates to children's book history which Suterlan outlines children enjoying the stories (literature) that were intended for adults. One could concluded that there can be a blurred line between what is deemed children's literature (entertainment) and what is adult literature (entertainment).
I could not help laughing out-loud when I read that some believe that the first children's book was on table manners. I did not snicker at the belief, but that the first book intended to be read by children was not about having fun or being young, but about etiquette.
I thoroughly enjoyed the section on Puritans and children's literature. With some of the literature the Puritans had their children reading I was surprised that Jonathan Edwards, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" was not on the list. I found it quite humorous that as Sutherlan notes, a happy child was not defined according to the Puritans as a child that smiled and seemed cheerful, but “This meant [in order to make children happy their] being [was] secure in the avoidance of Hell and the assurance of Heaven" (45).
As if the Puritan's belief of what defined children's literature was unbelievable, it is hard to imagine that 300 + years ago marks the first appearance of the picture book. Furthermore, I think that it is lunacy that only since 1744, "marks the beginning of English books [being read] for their delight" (Sutherlan 47).
I learned a lot about the history of children's literature from Sutherland. I also learned her viewpoint on tradition of didacticism.
I enjoyed reading about the history though I am baffled by her deeming pedantical writings as "oppressively informative" (Sutherlan 53)???
------------------------------REFERENCES---------------------------------------
Maloney, Margaret Crawford. 1990. Public trust: Special collections of children’s materials. In Lands of pleasure: Essays on Lillian H. Smith and the development of children’s libraries, eds., Adele M. Fasick, Margaret Johnson and Ruth Osler, 143-151. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow.
Sutherland, Zena. 1997. Chapter 3: History of Children's Books. In Children and books, 9th ed., 41-61. NY: Longman.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
