Online Class: Children's Literature: Picture Books

presented by Beth Gallaway, Metrowest
Next session: March 2007

Description: Examine the criteria of what makes great picture book, familiarize yourself with picture book awards, learn the essential illustrators and authors to know, and discover resources for review and reader's advisory.

Access to the Internet is required. A Gmail account for Google Groups access is required. The successful participant has 3 hours a week to dedicate to readings, discussion, and online assignments. A certificate for 10 hours of attendance or PDP's will be awarded upon completion of class expectations.

NEW: Final Projects from September & May sessions!
Carrie Bearse, W. Barnstable Elementary School (amazon)
Jenny Caron, Watertown Free Library (.ppt)
Kathy Cushing, McGlynn Middle School, Medford (ppt)
Ita Dennehy, Cary Memorial Library, Lexington MA (.htm)
Joyce Kamsler, Goodnow Library, Sudbury (.doc & Flickr photos)
Eve Peabody, Hanscom Air Force Base Library (.ppt)
Ellen Reynolds, Pioneer Library System, NY (librarything)
Lisa Rogers, Hardy Elementary School, Wellesley (.pdf)
Catherine Saines, Coolidge Corner Branch, Brookline Public Library (.htm)
Jean Whooley, Hanscom Air Force Base Library (.ppt)


Course syllabus and suggested reading follows.

Register for the class listserv at http://groups.google.com/group/mwpicturebooks by emailing Beth at bethg@mmrls.org

CLASS EXPECTATIONS:

  1. Participants will follow the Ten Basic Rules of Netiquette.
  2. Participants will identify themselves in all comments and posts with a signature file that includes name and location.
  3. Pace yourself. Plan on spending 2-3 hours a week on readings and assignments.
  4. To get your 10 attendance hours for participating, you must:
    • respond to discussion questions via the listserv twice in each week - once to present your own ideas and comments, and a second time to follow up with a classmates comment.
    • complete a Final Assignment by APRIL 30 2007 and share it with the group.
HELP & SUPPORT
Online Office Hours:
Mondays 3/5, 3/12, 3/19 from 10AM-4PM
Wednesdays 3/8, 3/15, 3/22 from 8-11 PM

Contact
email: bethg@mmrls.org
phone: 781-398-1819
AIM: bethatmetrowest

Google Talk: bethatmetrowest
Yahoo!:metrowestmrls

~SYLLABUS~

WEEK 1


Listening/Reading/Viewing:

Required reading:
Schwarzwalder, Jami. "Online Classes." YALSA Blog. 3/15/06. http://blogs.ala.org/yalsa.php?title=online_classes&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1. March 1, 2007.

Matulka, Denise I. "What is a Picture Book?" Picturing Books. http://picturingbooks.imaginarylands.org/using/definition.html. March 1, 2007.

In addition, choose ONE of the following to read:
Stuaffer, Marilyn. Art in Picture Books. University of South Florida. http://nosferatu.cas.usf.edu/lis/lis6585/class/art.html. March 1, 2007.

Sciezka Jon. "Design Matters." The Horn Book. March 1998. http://www.hbook.com/publications/magazine/articles/mar98_scieszka_leach.asp. March 1, 2007.

Week 1 Assignments: Please discuss via the Google Group!

  1. Reading Response:
    • What is your definition of a picture book? What characteristics and elements are you starting to pay more attention to, as a result of your reading?
    • What article did you read? What is one thing you took away from your reading?
  2. Picture Books: Read 2 picture books (that you have never read!) on the New York Public Library's list of 100 Picture Books Everyone Should Know. For discussion:
    • How many titles out of 100 have you read? How many have you heard of?
    • Share ONE book you read with the group by writing a brief (less than 200 words) review that includes plot synopsis and critical analysis. What makes each one deserving of it's position in the top 100? Refer to Kay Vandergrift's "Picture Book Analysis" or Denise Matulka's "Evaluating Picture Books" if you need some help getting started.

WEEK 2: Evaluating Picture Books


Listening/Reading/Viewing:

Required:
Matulka, Denise I. "Artistic Media." Picturing Books. http://picturingbooks.imaginarylands.org/palette/media.html. March 1, 2007.

Matulka, Denise I. "Artistic Style." Picturing Books. http://picturingbooks.imaginarylands.org/palette/style.html. March 1, 2007.

In addition, choose ONE of the following to read:
Arnold, Renea. "It's a Gift to Be Fancy." School Library Journal, July 2006. http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6348381.html. March 1, 2007.

Saylor, David. "Look Again." School Library Journal. http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA153127.html. March 1, 2007.

Schubert, Leda. "Best in Show." The Horn Book. July/August 2006. http://www.hbook.com/publications/magazine/articles/jul06_schubert.asp. March 1, 2007.


Week 2 Assignments: Please discuss via the Google Group!

  1. Reading Response:
    • Do you have a favorite medium? Favorite style? Favorite illustrator?
    • What article did you read? What is one thing you took away from your reading?
  2. Picture Books: Read 2 Caldecott Award books (that you have never read!) illustrated by ten different artists from the ALA/ASLC list of Caldecott Award Winners. For discussion:
    • How many titles have you read?
    • Share ONE book you read with the group by writing a brief (less than 200 words) review that includes plot synopsis and critical analysis. What made it worthy of the Caldecott award? Refer to Kay Vandergrift's "Picture Book Analysis" or Denise Matulka's "Evaluating Picture Books" if you need some help getting started.

WEEK 3: Authors & Illustrators to Know


Listening/Reading/Viewing:

Required:
Matulka, Denise I. Picture Books Timeline. http://picturingbooks.imaginarylands.org/using/timeline.html. March 1, 2007.

In addition, choose ONE of the following to read:
Lafo, Rachel Rosenfield. "Telling Stories with Pictures: The Art of Children's Book Illustration." Decordova Museum. September 13-December 28, 1997. http://www.decordova.org/decordova/exhibit/1997/stories/Default.htm. March 1, 2007.

Marcus, Leonard. "Picture Books Through Time." RIF. 2003. http://www.rif.org/art/timeline.mspx. March 1, 2007.

Week 3 Assignments: Please discuss via the Google Group!

  1. Reading Response:
    • What trends have you seen in picture books in the last ten years?
    • What article did you read? What is one thing you took away from your reading?
  2. Picture Books: Read 2 picture books (that you have never read!) by illustrators on one of the following lists:

Final Assignment Suggestions - choose ONE of the following to complete by April 30, 2007:

  1. Create a presentation of significant picture books (from ones read or discussed in class) that includes cover image and note about why you chose it in the form of:
    1. A powerpoint presentation
    2. A webpage
    3. An Amazon.com Guide
  2. Create a themed library display that includes brief reviews for each title and a printed annotated guide or bookmarks. Theme suggestions:
    1. books by one author/illustrator team or one illustrator or one author
    2. significant picture books (from ones read or discussed in class)
    3. Caldecott winners /honor books
  3. Create an annotated list of books or resources shared but NOT listed on the syllabus, from class discussion or your own additional research.
  4. Other? Your suggestions here! Refer to the September groups final projects for models.
    Quiz: What picture book illustration style are you (based on personality type)

Resources

Print:

Aspects of the Victorian Book. The British Library. http://www.bl.uk/collections/early/victorian/intro.html. March 1, 2007.

Carpenter, Humphrey and Mari Pritchard. The Oxford Companion to Children's Literature. New York: Oxford University Press, 1984.

Carpenter, Humphrey. Secret Gardens: A Study of the Golden Age of Children's Literature (1985)

Dresang, Eliza T. Radical Change: Books for Youth in a Digital Age. H.W. Wilson, 1999.

Only Connect: Readings on Children's Literature, second edition. 1980.

Nodelman, Perry and Mavis Reimer. The Pleasures of Children's Literature, 3rd edition. Allyn & Bacon. 2002.

Rose, Jacqueline. The Case of Peter Pan; or The Impossibility of Children's Fiction (1993).

Web
10 Quick Ways to Analyze Children's Books for Racism and Sexism. The Council on Interracial Books for Children. http://www.birchlane.davis.ca.us/library/10quick.htm. March 1, 2007.

ALA/ALSC. "Caldecott Medal Homepage." http://www.ala.org/ala/alsc/awardsscholarships/literaryawds/caldecottmedal/caldecottmedal.htm. March 1, 2007.

Brown, David. The Children's Literature Web Guide. University of Calgary. http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/%7Edkbrown/index.html. March 1, 2007.

Children's Picture Book Database at Miami-Dade University. http://www.lib.muohio.edu/pictbks/. March 1, 2007.

Cooperative Children's Book Center. http://www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/. March 1, 2007.

Criteria for Evaluating Multicultural Materials. North Central Regional Educational Laboratory. http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/content/cntareas/reading/li4lk26.htm. March 1, 2007.

Hendrickson, Linnea. Children's Books: A Guide to the Cricitism. http://www.unm.edu/%7Elhendr/. March 1, 2007.

Hurst, Carol Otis and Rebecca Otis. Carol Hurst's Children's Literature Site. http://www.carolhurst.com/. March 1, 2007.

Matulka, Denise I. Picturing Books: A Website About Picture Books. http://picturingbooks.imaginarylands.org. March 1, 2007.

One Hundred Books That Shaped a Century. School Library Journal. January 2000. http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA153035.html. March 1, 2007.

Silvey, Anita. "Is Publishing Going to the Dogs? SLJ Celebrates 50 years. " School Library Journal, November 2004. http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA475518.html. March 1, 2007.

Vandergrift Kay. Kay Vandergrift's Children's Literature Site. http://www.scils.rutgers.edu/~kvander/ChildrenLit/index.html.
March 1, 2007.

Visual Literacy and Picture Books. http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/picture.htm. March 1, 2007.

Evaluation for Online Class: Children's Literature: Picture Books (please complete an evaluation if you access any of the materials on this page)