This booklet was prepared for use as a staff development presentation in response to an official statement by International Reading Association's "Executive Board that literature (and the reading and writing that goes with it) must be the foundation of the language arts curriculum. The purpose of the booklet is to provide alternatives to conventional teaching methods that not only require more reading and writing on the part of the student, but which also get students to think, focus on meaning, and consider the literary elements of a story. Activities included are classroom tested, may be tailored to fit each selection, may be accomplished in small or large groups, and may be used as an end in themselves or as a means to an end. Included in the booklet are the following sections: (1) Rationale for Responses to Literature; (2) Engagement Activities, and (3) Management Issues. The contents of the booklet are germane to districts/divisions which are just beginning to use literature in classrooms or which are in the process of implementing a comprehensive literature-based reading program. They are designed as a package to be presented in small conferences or workshops; the three divisions of the package represent, respectively the "why,""what" and "how" for attendees. (MG)

The magic and wonder of winter’s first snowfall is perfectly captured in Ezra Jack Keat’s Caldecott Medal-winning picture book. Young readers can enjoy this celebrated classic as a full-sized board book, perfect for read-alouds of all kinds and a great gift for the holiday season. In 1962, a little boy named Peter put on his snowsuit and stepped out of his house and into the hearts of millions of readers. Universal in its appeal, this story beautifully depicts a child's wonder at a new world, and the hope of capturing and keeping that wonder forever. This big, sturdy edition will bring even more young readers to the story of Peter and his adventures in the snow. Ezra Jack Keats was also the creator of such classics as Goggles, A Letter to Amy, Pet Show!, Peter’s Chair, and A Whistle for Willie. (This book is also available in Spanish, as Un dia de nieve.) Praise for The Snowy Day: “Keats made Peter’s world so inviting that it beckons us. Perhaps the busyness of daily life in the 21st century makes us appreciate Peter even more—a kid who has the luxury of a whole day to just be outside, surrounded by snow that’s begging to be enjoyed.” —The Atlantic "Ezra Jack Keats's classic The Snowy Day, winner of the 1963 Caldecott Medal, pays homage to the wonder and pure pleasure a child experiences when the world is blanketed in snow."—Publisher's Weekly

The enigmatic origins of the stranger that Farmer Bailey hits with his truck and brings home to recuperate seem to have a mysterious relation to the weather. Could he be Jack Frost? "The author-illustrator has woven a thread of fantasy in and around his realistic illustrations to give the reader, once again, a story that stays in the imagination." -- Horn Book

Dozens of creative alternatives to the traditional book report including brochures, culture kits, story trees, greeting cards, tangram tales, and more. Includes easy-to-follow models.

Provides insight into children's responses to fantasy literature and ways adults can cultivate a children's positive experience with literature.

With the growing emphasis on theory in literary studies, psychoanalytic criticism is making notable contributions to literary interpretation. Sixteen chapters in this work explore the psychological subtexts of such important children's books as Carlo Collodi's Pinocchio, Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach, Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows, Louise Fitzhugh's Harriet the Spy, Mark Twain's The Prince and the Pauper, and E.B. White's Charlotte's Web. Drawing on the ideas of such psychoanalytic theorists as Sigmund Freud, Alice Miller, D.W. Winnicott and Jacques Lacan, it analyzes the psychological development of characters, examines reader responses, and studies the lives of authors and illustrators such as Beatrix Potter and Jessie Willcox Smith.

This timely volume presents a rich and absorbing selection of extracts from over two hundred leading literary critics of the last several decades, writing on many of the most widely studied literary texts in English, from Shakespeare to Toni Morrison. Structured chronologically, working through familiar literary periods, this book presents illuminating and stimulating examples of critical readings of familiar texts, demonstrating a variety of methods and approaches to critical practice. The range of critical voices represented – from Abrams and Adelman to Zimmerman and Žižek – provides students with eloquent and insightful models of how to read, think and write about texts so that they can form their own critical responses and develop as independent readers. The book also shows how criticism has developed over time and how it has always been intimately involved in wider cultural, social and political debates. Connections between criticism, culture and politics are explored in the book’s wide-ranging first chapter. In his warm, clear and engaging style, Richard Jacobs provides the perfect introduction to literature and criticism. Literature and the Critics is a book to which students will want to return throughout their courses as they read more widely and encounter new texts and critical voices.