Books in the Digital Age: Children’s Literature Past, Present, and Future

Eliza T. Dresang

Eliza Atkins Gleason Professor

College of Information

Florida State University

Description of Workshop

Match ages and stages with topics and trends in best books for children.

• Part One: Explore a wide array of literature for babies through emergent readers
• Part Two: Investigate classics to contemporary literature for the middle-to-older school-age child.

Along the way, experience pop-up pauses to delve into enticing issues and uncover fascinating facts. Discuss and decide what makes a good book good.

A Question Throughout the Workshop

What makes a good book good?

Dresang. Radical Change: Books for Youth in a Digital Age (HO #6)

• Interactivity, Connectivity, Access
• Changing Forms and Formats
• Changing Perspectives
• Changing Boundaries

Symbols in Black & White

• Robbers
• Newspapers
• Trains
• Cows
• Masks
• Singing

Combine these (as possible) into a story

Caldecott Award Books (HO #7)

Selection criteria: what makes a book good?

List of Caldecott winners since 1938 when initiated

Babies, Behaviors, and Brains

• Bruer & Gopnik (on HO#4) (Neuroscience)
• Piaget (HO #13) (Behavioral Science)
• The Developing Brain (NPR Science Friday) http://www.sciencefriday.com/kids/sfkc20040521-1.html#summary
• Inside the Teenage Brain (PBS) http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/teenbrain/
• BrainWonders: Helping Infants & Toddlers Grow & Develop (US Government)

Brain Quiz (Zero to Three)

• Basic brain connections are laid down before birth (T)
• A human baby's brain has the greatest density of brain cells connectors (synapses) by age 3 (T)
• Babies are born with the ability to learn all the languages in the world (T)
• After age 3, the "window of opportunity" closes (F)
• (and 6 other questions & answers)
• http://www.zerotothree.org/brainwonders/quiz.html

BOARD BOOKS

What is a board book?

• Odean. Great Books for Babies & Toddlers (HO #4)
• Odean. “Choosing Effective Board Books” (Selected bibliography) (Unnumbered HO --Book Links article)

What’s a Good Board Book?

• Large typeface
• Simple pictures against plain background
• Bright contrasting colors or black & white
• Brief text
• Familiar subjects
• Simple rhyme or rhythms (sometimes)
• Sturdy flaps to open & close (sometimes)
• Usually the most successful board books are original in this format, not simply copies of larger picture books (not always)

Board Books with African American Children

Up-to-date board books with African American characters (authors & series):

• Andrea & Brian Pinkney (Family Celebration Board Books)
• Shaped Little Nugget Books
• Cheryl Willis Hudson & George Cephas Ford (What-a Baby Board Books)
• Paula Dejoie (Black Butterfly Board Books)
• Dessie Moore & Chevell Moore (A Jump at the Sun Board Books)
• Natasha Tarpley I Love My Hair!
• Joyce Carol Thomas. The Angels Lullaby

An Important Part of Story Time Programming!!

• Born-to-Read (HO #5)
• Every Child Ready to Read at Your Library (HO #5)
• Materials can be ordered to share with parents and to conduct parent workshops
• Ideas for incorporation of early literacy activities into story time.
• Excellent infant-toddler bibliography on the Born-to-Read website (HO #5)

Quick Q&A
Lapsit Programs (Recommended Resources):

• Ernst, Linda L. Lapsit Services for the Very Young: A How-to-Do-It Manual I (1995). ISBN: 155570185X
• Ernst, Linda L. Lapsit Services for the Very Young: A How-to-Do-It Manual II (2001). ISBN: 1555703917
• Straub, Susan and KJ Dell'Antonia. Reading with Babies, Toddlers, and Twos (2006). ISBN: 1402206127 (Family oriented)

What is a good picture book?

• Words
• Pictures
• Relationship of words & pictures
• Design or composition (dominance, balance, etc)
• Artistic medium/media
• Style (Realistic, abstract, folk art, cartoon, etc.)
• Artistic elements (color, line, shape, texture, etc.)
• Literary elements (plot, character, setting, etc.)
• Accuracy
• How well all of these tell the story & how appealing or important the story is (holistic)

Artistic Medium/Media

• “Excellence of execution in the artistic technique employed” (Caldecott HO#7)
• Picturing Books: A Website about Picture Books (HO #5) -- Click on Palette/then Artistic Media
• Horning, Kathleen. From Cover to Cover Chapter 5 pp 110-116)(HO #4)

Picturing Books: Media & Examples

• Defines the term, then gives examples from children’s picture book artists who use that medium with covers from their books.
• For example, acrylic, gouache, tempera

What is a good picture book?

• Evaluating Black and White & Laughing Tomatoes
• Words
• Pictures

Relationship of words & pictures

• Design or composition (dominance, balance, etc)
• Artistic medium/media
• Style (Realistic, abstract, folk art, cartoon, etc.)
• Artistic elements (color, line, shape, texture, etc.)
• Literary elements (plot, character, setting, etc.)
• Accuracy
• How well all of these tell the story & how appealing or important the story is (holistic)

Cultural Content in Picture Books

• Is accuracy (and lack of bias) important & if so, why?
• How is cultural content evaluated?

(Pura Belpré & Américas & Coretta Scott King & Jane Addams Awards - HO #5)

Is having non-traditional (to children’s lit) cultural content good per se?

"Cite the Source: Reducing Cultural Chaos in Picture Books, Part One,"
School Library Journal, July 1993 (pp.22-27) http://people.lis.uiuc.edu/~hearne/cite.html

"Respect the Source: Reducing Cultural Chaos in Picture Books, Part Two,"
School Library Journal, August 1993 (pp.33-37) http://people.lis.uiuc.edu/~hearne/respect.html

International Children’s Digital Library (HO #5)

• Laughing Tomatoes (how successful as ebook?)
• What is the purpose and scope of the ICDL?
• Children’s Book Press (source of many multicultural resources -- use for preview as well as reading)

Some Raffi Songs in Picture Books

• Down by the Bay
• Shake My Sillies Out
• Wheels on the Bus
• Baby Beluga
• Five Little Ducks
• Spider on the Floor

Types of Picture Books

• Alphabet (Ehlert. Chicka, Chicka, Boom, Boom & Eating the Alphabet
• Counting
• Concept (Shape, Size, etc)
• Wordless (Day. Good Dog Carl)

Types of picture books

• Interactive (Sendak. Mommy)
• Folk and fairy tales
• Poetry
• Easy biography & other non-fiction

See Kiefer. Charlotte Huck’s Children’s Literature (HO #4)

See Children’s Literature Comprehensive Database (HO#16)

From Board Books to Picture Books

• One-Year-Olds (longer, more complex text, mixture of board books & picture books
• Two-Year-Olds (increasingly detailed illustrations, beginning of art appreciation)
• Three and beyond (anything goes -- until time for reading on own)

Emergent Readers

• The public library’s growing role in early literacy
• Every Child Ready to Read @ Your Library
• http://www.ala.org/ala/pla/plaissues/earlylit/earlyliteracy.htm

Emergent Readers

• Pre-talkers (ages birth through one)
• Talkers (ages two and three)
• Pre or emerging-readers (ages four and five)
• Readers (late fives and up)

Emergent Readers

• Theodor Seuss Geisel Award (HO #8)
• Publishers’ Series (Examples)
• Simon & Schuster (Ready-to-Read)
• HarperCollins (I Can Read)

Scholastic Early Literacy Materials

• Emergent Readers
• Henry and Mudge and the Great Grandpas (Rylant) (How does it stack up?)
• Use criteria for Geisel (HO #8)
• “Beginning with Books” (CCBC) (HO #14)

Contact Information

Eliza T. Dresang
edresang@mailer.fsu.edu
FSU College of Information completely on line program (master’s & specialist degrees; youth services certificate for 12 credits) http://www.ci.fsu.edu
FSU College of Information Project Lead leadership programs for media specialists
http://www.ci.fsu.edu/projectlead

A Special Thanks To Carol Baughman and her staff at KDLA -- for answering all the questions, having smoothly operating technology, preparing the notebooks for participants, and all the other logistics that make a conference successful.