ENG 271 - Literature For Young Children

Dates: 08/18/2025 - 12/06/2025

Location: Adlai E. Stevenson Hall 221B (STV 221B)

Instructor: Mary Jeanette Moran

Class Notes: Think back to the first book you can remember, whether you read it yourself or someone read it to you. Most likely you have strong feelings about this book, and probably they’re positive. Most likely, too, this book was written for an audience of young children. Many people assume that children’s texts are simple, shallow, and unimportant because of their relatively limited vocabulary and plotlines. However, when we stop to consider the influence that children’s texts have had on our own lives, we start to get a sense of how this literature can influence the psychological, moral, intellectual, and emotional development of individuals and communities. Because of this incredible influence, adults spend a lot of time, in public and in private, debating what kinds of books children should read. In this course, we’ll be furthering our sense of the richness of children’s literature by analyzing, through writing and discussion, samples of a variety of genres written for and read by young children. It is my hope that you will leave this class better able to discern how children’s texts function, whether you use that discernment to enjoy the literature yourself, choose books for any children in your life, or participate in debates about the societal and personal benefits of complex and diverse children’s literature. We will analyze a variety of works written for young children (what are now considered standard reading levels for ages five to nine), including multicultural picture books, fairy tales, poetry, and chapter books. Texts will include variations on Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, and Snow White tales; Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith’s picture book The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Fractured Tales; Duncan Tonatiuh’s picture book Pancho Rabbit and the Coyote; Sharon Creech’s verse novel I Hate That Cat!; and Remy Lai’s illustrated novel Pie in the Sky. Whether you are hoping to be a teacher or parent, or you intend your direct interactions with children to be minimal, the goals of this course include the development of writing, speaking, and analytical skills that will benefit you in other courses as well as your life beyond college. As you revisit some familiar tales and encounter new ones, you’ll find that there’s a good chance you’ll appreciate these texts as much or even more now than you did when you were young!

Dates: 08/18/2025 - 12/06/2025

Location: Adlai E. Stevenson Hall 221B (STV 221B)

Instructor: Mary Jeanette Moran

Class Notes: Think back to the first book you can remember, whether you read it yourself or someone read it to you. Most likely you have strong feelings about this book, and probably they’re positive. Most likely, too, this book was written for an audience of young children. Many people assume that children’s texts are simple, shallow, and unimportant because of their relatively limited vocabulary and plotlines. However, when we stop to consider the influence that children’s texts have had on our own lives, we start to get a sense of how this literature can influence the psychological, moral, intellectual, and emotional development of individuals and communities. Because of this incredible influence, adults spend a lot of time, in public and in private, debating what kinds of books children should read. In this course, we’ll be furthering our sense of the richness of children’s literature by analyzing, through writing and discussion, samples of a variety of genres written for and read by young children. It is my hope that you will leave this class better able to discern how children’s texts function, whether you use that discernment to enjoy the literature yourself, choose books for any children in your life, or participate in debates about the societal and personal benefits of complex and diverse children’s literature. We will analyze a variety of works written for young children (what are now considered standard reading levels for ages five to nine), including multicultural picture books, fairy tales, poetry, and chapter books. Texts will include variations on Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, and Snow White tales; Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith’s picture book The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Fractured Tales; Duncan Tonatiuh’s picture book Pancho Rabbit and the Coyote; Sharon Creech’s verse novel I Hate That Cat!; and Remy Lai’s illustrated novel Pie in the Sky. Whether you are hoping to be a teacher or parent, or you intend your direct interactions with children to be minimal, the goals of this course include the development of writing, speaking, and analytical skills that will benefit you in other courses as well as your life beyond college. As you revisit some familiar tales and encounter new ones, you’ll find that there’s a good chance you’ll appreciate these texts as much or even more now than you did when you were young!