What I learned in class: Materials for Children

I took two courses this summer session, one was Materials for Children. The purpose of the class was to learn how to select books and other materials for children from preschool age through middle school.

Initially I was afraid I would never look at another picture book without evaluating the style of the illustrations, and that might be a bad thing. Now, I'll never look at another picture book without evaluating the style of the illustrations, and that's a good thing. Many children's books are illustrated with watercolor and/or pencil, but I found several illustrated with Photoshop and collages. It lends another level of appreciation to the books, especially those who won Caldecott Awards or received Caldecott Honors.

I read books, and listened to one audiobook, from 30 different awards categories. Many of the awards are administered by various divisions of the American Library Association but there are also awards from writers' groups and even an award selected by North Carolina school children. One of the best books was The Rock and the River by Kekla Magoon, reviewed in another blog entry. Magoon is a first-time author, winner of the John Steptoe Award for New Talent. I cried harder in reading this book than I did when I watched "The Notebook" when I was seven months pregnant.

Of the 40-50 books that I read for my review list, I can't say that I read a bad one. Most of them were difficult to put down. Many of the stories, while they had satisfying endings, were sad, which led me to wonder what goes on in the lives of today's children, that they relate so well to characters living through such tragedies.

I also listened to some children's CDs, of which my favorite was "Baby Loves Jazz" (really good version of "Wheels on the Bus" on that one); the Putumayo World Music CDs are excellent as well. Interestingly enough, of the children's DVDs that won awards, I could not find any of them in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Library. Sorry, fellow parents of preschoolers, Nick Jr and PBS Kids shows don't tend to win awards. The award winning DVDs were none that I had heard of.

The American Library Association Notables lists are probably the best source; they combine books and other materials from several other awards lists. They can be found here.

It was an interesting course, taught by a professor who has been a school media coordinator in several schools from Wasilla, Alaska to the Virgin Islands, and has written several books. Looking forward to taking Materials for Young Adults in the fall under this same professor.