why childrens stories

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 dev

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?

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

• 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)

• Simple Plot

• Build through Conflict

• Offer a dilemma (moral and ethical?)

• Provide closure

• 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

• 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

• Sophisticated

• Lively

• Colorful

• Creative

• Alliteration

• Rhyme

• Challenging Word

• Simile

• 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.

Engaging the Enemy

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

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?