Essentials of Children's Literature

Clear, concise, direct narrative that combines lists, examples, figures, and tables with prose make this brief, affordable, straightforward book the perfect guide to sharing literature with children in the classroom. Written by a well-respected author team, this resource is ideal for pre-service and in-service teachers alike, and much appreciated for its wealth of hands-on suggestions and ideas. Selective, up-to-date lists of recommended books are conveniently organized by sub-genre; multicultural and international children’s literature is integrated throughout; and an up-dated color insert features recent illustrations from picture books (including examples of computer-generated art) and graphic novels.

Carl M. Tomlinson taught graduate and undergraduate courses in children’s literature and language arts at Northern Illinois University. As an elementary school teacher, he packed his classroom with good children’s books and read aloud to his students every day. His research interests are literature-based reading and international children’s literature. In addition to Essentials of Young Adult Literature, he has co-authored Essentials of Children’s Literature (Allyn and Bacon) and is the editor of Children’s Books from Other Countries (Scarecrow/USBBY).

Carol Lynch-Brown taught graduate and undergraduate courses in children’s and young adult literature, reading, and language arts education at Florida State University. She was a teacher in elementary school, grades 1, 2, and 4, and in middle school, grades 6 to 8, in St. Paul and Minneapolis Public Schools. She also taught English to young adults in French public schools. Literature was the foundation of her instruction in all these classroom situations. She is currently raising a teenaged grandson and seeing, once again, the benefits of literature in a young person’s life.

Kathy G. Short is a professor in Language, Reading, and Culture at the University of Arizona and was an elementary grade school teacher in Indiana. Her books include Creating Classrooms for Authors and Inquirers, Literature as a Way of Knowing, and Stories Matter: The Complexity of Cultural Authenticity. She is president of USBBY and the director of Worlds of Words, www.wowlit.org, an initiative to encourage the use of literature to explore global cultures.