Customer Reviews

Through The Eyes of a Child: An Introduction to Children's Literature

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

If you plan to teach a children's literature course, then this book possesses nearly all of the information, history, and important milestones that you need...if you can get by the stilted language.

It reads well for someone like me who studies/collects children's literature as a personal hobby; however, for the average reader? Get ready for a painful struggle.

I would suggest using it in conjunction with two other books: Jacob & Tunnell's more classroom-focused CHILDREN'S LITERATURE, BRIEFLY and Rebecca Luken's more historcal/applicable balanced CRITICAL HANDBOOK OF CHILDREN'S LITERATURE.

It is hard to imagine a book that could take the wonder of children's literature and more thoroughly destroy it. The cover illustration makes you feel momentarily safe. Then the texts begins and hope is slowly and mercilessly trodden into the dust. Take this for example:

"Another approach to the study of art is recommended by Stephen F. Eisenman and Thomas Crow, who use art criticism that focuses on the relationship between art and ideology, the economic and social conditions expressed in the art (a Marxist approach to criticism)."

Now pause briefly and consider this is a book about *children's* literature. Let us continue to some questions that should be used in this analysis:

"What role does class play in the work of both the artist and the viewer?

In what way might the artwork serve as propaganda?

What is the dominant ideology that the artist challenged?"

I'm now preparing to write a whithering review of the oppression inherent in the "Cat and the Hat".

All of this wouldn't be so bad if books were actually presented. Instead we get lots of small type with a reference to a random children's title in every other paragraph and the impression that children's literature is either dominated by the enlightened academic class or club wielding classist Neanderthals. You know, the kind that make you read books like "Through the Eyes of a Child".

DO NOT USE THIS IN YOUR CLASS. You will be torturing your students in a manner not allowed by the constitution. Hopefully, that at least, will carry some weight.

I usually like to read my textbooks cover to cover, but for the first time I find a text book unbearable to read. My physics textbooks are more entertaining than this book. The author simply writes thousands of three sentence summaries of children's books and places them in an obtuse sections. When the author is not doing these three sentence summaries she is filling up the book with citing any little idea some random person had. For the love of god just use a footnote and paraphrase so it is at least half readable.

This book has very shiny pages and thin print. It is very difficult to read because of this. You would think that a book about literature would be published cognizant of the need to actually READ it.

I just got finished using this book for a course in Children's Literature, and it was extremely informative.

Since I am interested in children's literature (to read, and possibly to write), it was great to find out about all the different facets of literature for children, from historical children's lit, to multicultural lit, to award-winning literature.

If you are a teacher and haven't taken a course on children's literature, this book is a must-read (it even includes helps for the classroom at the end of each chapter). If you want to write for children, check this out -- it's a veritable goldmine of information to get your book noticed & published.

I have to agree with another review, this is a boring book; however, there is a lot of information in the book that may help you develop book lists for your classroom. Lots of resources cited and listed. The only reason I purchased this book was because of course requirements. I'll keep it on hand for future reference.

This is by far the most boring text book I have ever read. I can't stomach it. It reads like one long boring bibliography. There are so many lists of children's books and their authors that any meaningful information gets lost. The authors of this book overload you with too much information and research that they are obviously very proud of but which puts a strain on your mind. I wanted to learn about the history of children's literature but I just couldn't get past the many, many, many list of children's books that litter the text. I just think that the lists should have been at the end of each chapter for those want to know that stuff. For those who just want the facts, like me, the book is useless. But that's my opinion.

Norton has once again done the impossible-- making her best-selling text on children's literature even better. The newest edition provides concise yet helpful summaries of the finest in children's books, and offers an updated CD-ROM tool to help teachers search and discover just right books. I heartily recommend it to all elementary teachers!

The book arrived on schedule and as advertised. It is exactly what I needed for my college Lit course. Thank you!

This text covers the basics that one needs to know about children's literature. Would be good for teaching a course for school librarians or literature teachers of elementary or middle school. Just okay for teaching librarians geared towards public service, even children's librarians. Language is dry, definitely needs to be supplemented with professor knowledge. This text is good as a supplement to a talented and knowledgeable educator, but cannot stand alone ... textbooks are not supposed to. There are probably some better texts out there, but there are also many, many worse ones than this.