Children's Literature Websites

Here are just some of the websites I found that focused on children's literature.

1. Children's Book Council

http://www.cbcbook.org

This group puts out reading lists for teachers, librarians, parents, and booksellers. There are two sections on their mainpage. One section is for new books, while the other has a theme. The theme right now is fall and is called "Sounds and Sights of Autumn".

2. Reading Rockets

http://www.readingrockets.org

This sight is for teachers who are trying to teach children to read and also for children struggling to read. They break their books into different sections. Each section takes on a certain theme. An example being emotions and this category is divided into sections. An example of this would be the section under themes entitled "moving".

3. International Children's Digital Library

http://www.en.childrenslibrary.org

This site gathers children's books from across the world so that children who move have the ability to read books in their native language. This is to help further their understanding of their culture. These books are available to children all over the world.

4. KidLitosphere

http://www.kidlitosphere.org

This is a central site for bloggers who write on children's and young adult literature. Going through the blogs was neat because the bloggers do some pretty interesting stuff with the books they write about.

Banned Books

The class brought in many banned books that dealt with common sociopolitical issues. Two books that come to my mind is "Heather Has Two Mommies" and "Daddy's Wedding," both dealing with the issue of gay marriage and alternative families. In banning these books, it is saying that these families should not exist or it is wrong to be in an alternative family. Yet these books are important because it explains that there is not such thing as a "typical family" anymore. That being in an alternative family is not a bad thing. These books also allows children who are in alternative families to see themselves in literature. Taking it further, it allows the child to discuss what their family is like (in the classroom) to those who live in the stereotypical family.

A banned book that surprised me was, "Where the Wild Things Are." I assume the reason that the book was on the list is because it promotes running away and disobeying authority. The myth that seems to surround this type of banned book is that children will get the idea that they should disobey authority figures. Yet this book has the potential to be a great teaching tool for teaching about feelings and how we act on them. For example, the teacher could discuss what the students do when they feel upset. Do they ever feel like running away? Have they ever run away? This opens up the discussion to what are healthy ways to cope with anger and being upset. Instead of looking at the book in a negative light, it can be seen positively.

The majority of banned books are great teaching tools to talk about differences or feelings. In banning them, it seems as if society wants to become all the same and not recognize how great differences are.