Children's Literature, Briefly (2nd Edition) [Paperback]

Michael O. Tunnell (Author), James S. Jacobs (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0130962147 | ISBN-13: 978-0130962140 | Publication Date: August 16, 1999 | Edition: 2nd

Written in a conversational tone, this brief book introduces readers to the nature and genres of children's literature and enumerates the authors' favorite books for various purposes. Expands the booklists at the end of each chapter to include Ten Picture Books, Ten Easier to Read, Ten of Our Favorites, and Twenty to Thirty Others We Like. Keeps booklists and other topics related to literature brief in order to allow time for reading children's literature. For educators and administrators.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Several students over the years have told me it was one of the few texts they took with them to their first year of teaching. It contained the criteria for making good judgments. They could quickly apply the principles outlined to other books. l find this one of the primary strengths of the text and it is one reason why I keep using it.

Jean Stringam, Missouri State University

 

This text provides a clear and concise overview of children’s literature. It does not overwhelm the students with too much information. The strengths are clear and concise information and the reading lists.

Rhonda L. Truitt, Catawba College

 

The concise and clever writing style works so well with the students taking this course.

Marianne Baker, James Madison University

 

I love the first chapter and how it positions the reader in seeing the value of reading. I also love the color insert that makes illustrations come alive.

Diane Barone, University of Nevada, Reno

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

From the Publisher

Unlike most children's literature texts--which offer a comprehensive, in- depth study of all available background information--this book sheds light on the actual literature itself and its interaction with children. It is a companion volume, to be used in conjunction with children's literature, that provides a practical framework and background information while keeping the spotlight on the literary works themselves. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 390 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall College Div; 2nd edition (August 16, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0130962147
• ISBN-13: 978-0130962140
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,346,657 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's a keeper., January 13, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Children's Literature, Briefly (2nd Edition) (Paperback)

The over 10,000 title database on the CD included with this book is alone well worth the price of the text. It is a welcome time saving tool for busy teachers. Not only can you perform searches to find books to match different topics, you can organize and enter information about your existing library, whether or not all of your titles are included in the database. You can add your own comments to the information stored for each title.

The book covers the different genres chapter by chapter. At the end of each chapter, the authors have compiled a very useful bibliography, including their ten favorite books in each genre. I'm glad I found this book--it's one I'll use for years to come. It won't be gathering dust on the shelf as some of my professional books have.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A student's review, May 5, 2008

By 

R. Colvin "book worm" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Children's Literature, Briefly (4th Edition) (Paperback)

The preface of this title describes it as "a children's literature textbook for people who don't like children's literature textbooks" (p. v) which sets the tone for the rest of the text. Tunnell and Jacobs, both instructors of children's literature from Brigham Young University, offer an introduction to children's literature that is entertaining and educational.

The book is divided into three parts: "The Magic of Books;" "The Books Themselves;" and "Books in the Classroom." The first section discusses the value of reading, why children don't read, how to distinguish between literary quality and personal taste, and how to recognize books that are well-written and well-illustrated. The second section tackles the history of children's literature as well as organization of children's books into nine separate genres: picture books, poetry, traditional fantasy, modern fantasy, contemporary realistic fiction, historical fiction, biography, informational books, and multicultural and international books. The third section describes controversial books and the most effective way to deal with challenges, how to motivate students to read, and teaching with children's books. The aim of the book is to provide "an overview to shed light on children's literature and its use with young readers" (p. v).

Throughout the text, many examples of quality children's literature are used to illustrate particular points the authors want to make. All book references are included at the end of each chapter and each genre's chapter features a list of "books we like," compiled by the authors, which provides bibliographic information as well as a brief summary of the work. Included with the book is a children's literature database CD which contains a listing of 20,000 children's books which can be sorted by title, genre, grade level, topics, author, illustrator, year, or publisher. Instructions on how to use the CD-ROM are located in the back of the book at the end of the last chapter and they include color graphics to illustrate what the database's interface looks like as well as the tools used to sort books into categories.

One of this book's greatest strengths is that it is written with humor, reads like a dialogue, and is organized in a logical way. The authors draw readers into the realm of children's literature with teasers excerpted from various titles, descriptions of interesting books, and providing interesting facts about children, their literature, and its history. Appended at the end of the book are "Guidelines for Building a Classroom Library;" book selection aids, a list of magazines for children, awards in children's literature, and information for anyone interested in publishing a children's book. The awards section and books selection section are particularly useful to anyone starting out in collection development (or those who have been doing it for a while) as well as those interested in finding award-winning books for children.

While this text is not an exhaustive look into the world of children's literature, it is not intended to be. It does, however, provide a stellar introduction to the subject and provides readers with enough information to distinguish quality literature from poor, to understand genre differences, and to be able to motivate children to read, which is the most important lesson of all.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great as a textbook, August 31, 2007

By 

crown of indica "buckethead noir" (saint paul,mn,usa) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Children's Literature, Briefly (4th Edition) (Paperback)

This was used as a textbook in my children's literature class and I'm glad it was! It really gets away from the conventional textbook by having the info relaying in an easy-going context.