Childrens Literature

Objectives

1) To review the fundamental concepts of literary text.
2) To develop literary competence.
3) To reflect upon the features of children's texts.
4) To appreciate the aesthetics of children's literary texts.
5) To select texts appropriate to children of different ages.
6) To apply developmental strategies for reading.
7) To recognize the role of literature as being essential to children's development and their understanding of the world.

Program

1. The concept of literature. Delimitation of the literary field - problems and undefinitions. Modules and literary genders. Understanding literary texts. The importance of reading.
2. Status and nature of children's literature. Historical review of the concept of childhood and its literature.
Children's and juvenile literature within the literary system: institutional integration and recognition; literary communication's pragmatics.
3. Children's literary texts: special features of infantile experiences and their projection on literature. Relevant characteristics of the different literary modules. Critical review of the adequacy concept. Formal aspects of children's books: dialogue between verbal and iconic text.
4. Literature and education: Competences and reading strategies; literature appreciation during the personal, human and scholar development; literature and ideology, society and culture: understanding the differences, multiculturalism, and human and environmental values.

Teaching Methodologies

Classes are both theoretical and practical. The presentation of the theoretical content will follow studying children's texts. Critical and theoretical texts will be debated interactively (between teachers/students) and literary texts will be analyzed and commented by students. It will also be required from students that they work autonomously (with teacher guidance) in investigation, syntheses, debate, analyses/comments of texts, in order to use critically the acquired knowledge.
Assessment: Students will take two written tests, whose grade will constitute 80% of their evaluation. Oral participation in class and assignments will account for 20% of the final grade.

Bibliography

CERRILLO, Pedro e GARCÍA PADRINO, Jaime (coord.), Literatura Infantil y Enseñanza de la Literatura. Cuenca: Ediciones de la Universidad de Castilla la Mancha, 1992.
(2001) COLOMER, TERESA, Ensinar a ler, Ensinar a Compreender. Lisboa: ASA. 2001
GOMES, José António, Da Nascente à Voz: Contributos para uma pedagogia da leitura. Lisboa: Editorial Caminho,
1996.
HUNT, Peter, An Introduction to Children’s Literature. Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press, 1994.
RAMOS, R. y A. Fernández Mosquera Literatura infantil y juvenil y diversidad cultural / literatura para a infancia e juventude e diversidade cultural. Estudos.02 Vigo-Braga: ANILIJ. / CIEC., Universidade do Minho. Published in CDRom.
RAMOS, A. e MOCIÑO, I. (ed.) Crítica e Investigación en Literatura Infantil Y Juvenil. ANILIJ. /CIEC (Universidade do Minho); Vigo-Braga.
SILVA, Madalena T Silva e MOCIÑO GONZÁLEZ, Literatura para a Infância e Juventude e educação Literária. Porto: Deriva, 2013.