ENG 271: Literature for Young Children
Syllabi for Spring 2018
Research paper links
- Click here to link to the American Library Association's list of Caldecott Medal Winners.
- Link to .pdf of Mark I. West's "Key Reference Works Related to Children's Literature" from Everyone's Guide to Children's Literature. Ft. Atkinson, WI: Highsmith Co., 1997.
- Research & Writing Resources for Children's Literature. A list I've compiled to help you on your research papers. Includes links to online resources, journals and more, plus a list of books.
- If you are struggling to write a literary analysis paper, read "How to Write a Research Paper in Literature" by Geoff Baker at Chico State University (.pdf format)
- Check out the 60Second Recap video page on How to Write a Paper. Informative, lively points about writing academic papers. Can your paper pass all the tests?
Resources about children's literature for research
- Link to .pdf of Mark I. West's "Key Reference Works Related to Children's Literature " from Everyone's Guide to Children's Literature.
illustration by Quentin BlakeGuide to Research in Children's and Young Adult Literature at the University of Illinois. Many resources are also at Milner Library. Thorough, well annotated lists of books.
- Resources from universities: Children's Literature Pathfinder for Parents and Teachers at Univ. of South Florida. Humboldt State Univ. library's resources. Michigan State library's resources.
- Online Children's Literature Journals
- Journals that publish articles on children's literature research & criticism. Compiled by Wally Hastings & Michael Joseph
- Children's Literature Resources on the Internet from School Libraries Online.
- Children's literature book awards and Victorian Literature resources on this website.
MLA Guide, in .pdf format. How to write and format your papers. Important to look at before you hand in the final version of your research paper.
Fairy Tales
The following are selections from Andrew Lang's Blue Fairy Book. If you are having trouble finding the book M.C. Waldrep's Favorite Fairy Tales, read these fairy tales online. (updated August 2016) Cinderella, reinterpreted in Vogue, 9/13
Story 7: Cinderella
Story 5: Little Red Riding-Hood
Story 27: Toads and Diamonds
Story 14:The Master Cat, or Puss in Boots
Story 11: Beauty and the Beast
Story 6: The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood
These versions correspond to the ones in Waldrep.
- Snow Drop [Snow White]
- Rapunzel
- Rumplestilskin
- The Goose Girl
- Little Red Cap (#26)
- "Little Red-Cap" in .pdf format
- Hansel and Gretel
- Cinderella
Little Mermaid, as reimagined in Vogue 9/13
Fairy Tales in general
- Additional fairy tales not in M.C. Waldrep's Favorite Fairy Tales, a .pdf
- Fairy Tales reprinted from Andrew Lang's color book series
- Gustave Dore images, including most fairy tale books
- Embracing the Child. Fairy Tales, Folk Tales, Myths and Legends
- Folktexts: A library of folktales, folklore, fairy tales and mythology. Extensive. Edited by D. L. Ashliman, University of Pittsburgh. Find one tale, and then find its multiple recreations in other cultures.
French Fairy tales
- Andrew Lang's Blue Fairy Book (Univ. of Virginia Library)
- Perrault's "The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood"
- Modernized Perrault fairy tales from Canadian educational site.
- Essay on literary French fairy tales.
- Modernized Perrault fairy tales from Canadian educational site.
- History of Sleeping Beauty, from SurLaLune Fairy Tales
Fairy Tales collected by the Grimm Brothers and German Fairy Tales
- German Folk Tales reading: "Little Red-Cap" in .pdf format
- Grimm Brothers' Home page. lots of links and details.
- Gustave Dore site, with many images including those to Grimm's
- National Geographic's 12 "unvarnished" stories from 1914 edition of Grimm's Fairy Tales
- Tenggren's illustrations for Grimm's Fairy Tales from Hollywood Animation Archive
- Annotated Hansel & Gretel at www.SurLaLunaFairyTales.com
H. C. Andersen
Hans Christian Anderson Fairy Tales
- "The Princess and the Pea" also called "How to Tell"
- "The Ugly Duckling"
- "The Swineheard"
- "The Snow Queen"
- "The Nightingale"
Hans Christian Andersen literary fairy tales
- "The Princess and The Pea" (1835)
- "The Nightingale" (1844)
- "The Ugly Duckling" (1844)
- "The Emperor's New Suit "(1837)
- "The Little Mermaid "(1836)
- "The Swineherd" (1842)
- "The Brave Tin Soldier" (1838)
- "The Little Match Girl" (1846)
H.C. Anderson materials
- "Emperor's New Clothes" link to a .pdf version. Link to a different translation.
- The Little Mermaid, complete text, translated to English
- The Hans Christian Andersen Center at the University of Southern Denmark
- An Annotated "Little Mermaid" at surlalunefairytales.com site.
- Biographical information about Andersen from endicott-studio.com
- World of Tales page for Hans Christian Andersen, with links to texts of stories
- Annotated Web-o-graphy for Andersen. Detailed with links
Emperor's New Clothoes
The Little Mermaid sculpture in Copenhagen harbor is 100 years old in 2013
Arabian Tales
- "Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp" from The Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang.
- "The Forty Thieves" by Andrew Lang and "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" translated by Richard F. Burton
English Folk Tales
- Walt Disney Fables: Pied Piper video
- reading: "The Story of the Three Little Pigs" in .pdf format.
- "The Three Little Pigs" variations, from BGSU
- "Pied Piper of Hamlin" by Robert Browning with illustrations by Kate Greenaway
- Variations on "Pied Piper of Hameln"
- "Jack and the Beanstalk" variations, from Bowling Green State U
English Fairy Tales
- "Jack and the Beanstalk," as recorded by Andrew Lang
- "The Ratcatcher "by Andrew Lang from The Red Fairy Book (also known as The Pied Piper of Hamelin)
- "The Story of the Three Little Pigs"
Walt Disney and Children's Culture
- Disney and Fairy Tales. short essays about history of fairy tales and interpretation by Disney
- Disney's "Three Little Pigs" from Silly Symphony series (1933) YT
- "Snow White" on Disney wikia
- Snow White and the Seven Dwarves: The Creation of Classics exhibit at the Walt Disney Family Museum. Additional information on the Snow White exhibit
- The Walt Disney Story YouTube
- Little Mermaid "Kiss the Girl" with words
- Snow White. Scene where Snow White finds the dwarf house
- Snow White. Scene where Snow White cleans the house.
- Snow White "Whistle While You Work"
- Aladdin "Friend Like Me"
- Cinderella "Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo"
Fairy Tales as re-interpreted by American popular culture
From the Fairy Tale Fashion exhibit at FIT Museum
- Cinderonce, Cinderella told through Beyonce tunes as imagined by Toderick Hall.
- Similarly re-imagining Disney's Beauty and the Beast in the video "Beauty and the Beat"
- Fairy Tales as re-interpreted by fashion photographers for December 2013 Fashion magazine
- Drew Barrymore in Vogue 2005 recreating "Beauty and the Beast"
- "Fairy Tale Fashion" an exhibit at The Museum of the Fashion Institute of Technology. 2016.
"The Snow Queen" & other influences on Disney's Frozen
- "The Long Cold Story Behind Disney's 'Frozen' " by Stephanie Chase for contactmusic.com. A detailed article about how Disney had been trying to bring "The Snow Queen" to film for nearly 70 years.
- "Adaptations and Loose Interpretations: Frozen vs. The Snow Queen" from Operation Awesome blog with info about Vicki L. Weavil's Crown of Ice.
- "Frozen: Jane Austen meets The Snow Queen" by Carol Borden on The Cultural Gutter blog.
- "Some Say Frozen Ripped Off a Japanese Anime: Here's Why" by Brian Ashcraft from the Kotaku website
- "Frozen vs. The Snow Queen" a 15-page guide to use both in a homeschool setting.
- "Disney's Peter Del Vecho on Frozen, Treasure Planet & More" an interview on Den of Geek website
- "Ice Cold Girl Power: The Snow Queen and Frozen" by Hannah Gomez on YALSA's The Hub website
Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith's The Stinky Cheeseman
Reading Rockets (WETA) interviews of: Jon Sciezka and Lane Smith
Interview with Jon Scieszka, from Library Sparks, about The Stinky Cheeseman (in .pdf form)
Video Interview with Lane Smith and Molly Leach (2008) 5:08 min
Reading Rock Stars of Reading by Mark Levis interviews Lane Smith and Molly Leach
- Part 2. Lane Smith's studios
- Part 3. Lane Smith's studios
- Part 4. Final segment on Lane Smith's studios
- Part 1: Beginning of road trip, ends with meeting Lane Smith
Jon Scieszka, with design by Molly Leach, in The Hornbook on "Design Matters" in Stinky Cheeseman and other books. (March/April 1998)
YouTube video of interview with Jon Scieszka from Barnes & Noble
Reading Rockets Guys Read with Jon Scieszka. YouTube
Great video of Stinky Cheeseman by John Gillam. good animation of images with nice voices. YouTube 4:52
Jon Scieszka reads The True Story of the Three Little Pigs. YouTube
"Guys and Reading" by Jon Scieszka (.pdf)
Modern revisions and rewriting fairy tales in film and books
- Fractured Fairy Tales: "Sleeping Beauty"
- Fractured Fairy Tales: "Three Little Pigs" on YouTube
- Disney's "Big Bad Wolf" (1934) on YouTube. 9:03
Muppets' Classic Theatre "Elves and the Shoemaker"
- Muppet's Classic Theater "The Elves and the Shoemaker" 9:27
- Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre "The Frog Prince" part 3/6
- Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre. Introduction on YT 1:26
- Faerie Tale Theatre's "Little Mermaid." YT 50:26
- Into the Woods by Stephen Soundheim. "Agony" performed by the princes of Cinderella and Rapunzel. Greenville Little Theater 2006. "Agony Reprise"
- Green Jelly "Three Little Pigs Official Video"
- Cool School "The Three Little Pigs" with Miss Booksy 6min
- "The Fairy Tale Struggles to Live Happily Ever After" .pdf link to NPR article from Jan 12, 2011
- Contemporary Fairy tale related films. In 2013: Jack the Giant Slayer, Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (and 3 more Hansel & Gretel films). In 2014: Disney's Maleficent (starring Angelina Jolie and Elle Fanning). In 2015 Cinderella (dir. Kenneth Branagh. with Cate Blanchett), Arabian Nights (with Liam Hemsworth and Dwayne Johnson). The Guardian article on fairy tale related films.
Aesop's Fables
Joseph Jacobs' The Fables of Aesop. Here are 2 electronic versions of the texts we are using.
- Aesopica has Jacobs' collection of Aesop fables.
- Bartbleby books online has Jacob's collection and several more Jacobs' books
Multiple illustrations to "The Stork and the Fox" (La Fontaine (1900), versions from 1400, 1500's, 1600s, 1700s, 1946)
Aesop's Fables Illustrated. comprehensive site listing each fable and illustrations from various sources.
Allposters.com link to 14 illustrations of various Aesop's Fables
History of Aesop
Leader of the Chorus. By God, I never knew that before!
Pisthetaerus. That's because you are ignorant and heedless and have never read your Aesop”
-- from Aristophones' "Birds"
Aesopica; Aesop's Fables in English, Latin, & Greek
Aesop's Fables illustrated by Univ. of Massachusetts art students, includes text.
Cartoon Stock's collection of cartoons that reference Aesop's Fables
Just for fun: Aesop's Fables crossword puzzles
Mother Goose
The Real Mother Goose by Blanche Fisher Wright. text for Fall 2014. Many versions including: HTML, ePub, and Kindle.
The Only True Mother Goose Good Melodies by Unknown. free e-book,various formats. Here is another online version that looks okay as well
The story of Boston's Mother Goose.
A visit to Mother Goose's grave
Mother Goose rhymes and illustrations from the 1916 book by Blanche Fisher Wright
Mother Goose: A Scholarly Exhibit at Rutgers University
Arnold Lobel's Frog and Toad
Essay on good qualities of a picture book by Arnold Lobel (in .pdf format)
"A Swim" from 1985 Claymation animation Frog and Toad are Friends YouTube video. 3:19 min.
"The Letter" from 1985 Claymation animation Frog and Toad are Friends. YouTube. 4:07 min.
"Behind the Scenes" 1985 from John Clark Matthews on how the Claymation Frog and Toad videos were made. YouTube. 9:25 min.Frog and Toad children's playground in Boston Commons
A Year with Frog and Toad segment from the musical presented here by Arden Theater company, 2009. YouTube video 3 Min.
"Merry Almost Christmas" segment from Frog and Toad musical. Pretty good high school production. Song comes in at 2 min.YouTube video. 3:31 min.
"I look funny in a bathing suit" segment from Frog and Toad musical. YouTube video 5 min.
Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art link to exhibitions, including one on F&T
Rubric for teaching Frog and Toad in second grade. There are numerous teaching guides for F&T on the web
Arnold Lobel biography page from publisher HarperCollins
Materials about "Frog and Toad Together" play for teachers and students related to the play (pdf format. needs Adobe Acrobat)
biographical essay on Arnold Lobel
Adrianne Lobel, daughter of Arnold, on an early book The Frogs and Toads All Sang that was rediscovered and she colored. YouTube video 2:53 min.
Little Bear by Else Minarik and Maurice Sendak
"Birthday Soup" from Nickelodeon Little Bear show. YouTube. 7 min.
"I'm Going to the Moon" from Nickelodeon's Little Bear show. YouTube. 7:27 min.
HarperCollins site for Little Bear books. Brief biography on Else Minarik
New Hampshire Public Radio interview of Minarik from 2003. (Requires Windows Media player or Mac adapter for Quicktime.)
Links on book editor Ursula Nordstrom. Review of Dear Genius: The Letters of Ursula Nordstrom by Rebecca Pepper Sinkler (New York Times March 22, 1998) Review of Dear Genius by Katherine Wolfe in Salon April 13, 1998. Hornbook's obituary of Nordstrom by Mary Stolz (1988)
Nursery RhymesRain, Rain, Go Away
A Rhyme a Week: Nursery Rhymes for early childhood literacy. Numerous texts for rhymes with directions on using with young children.
Mama Lisa's House of English Nursery Rhymes. Many images, text and sound files.
Nursery Rhymeland Revisted. Cool graphics of traditional nursery rhymes.
Cute photos of Pre-K kids in Pennsylvania dressed up for nursery rhymes, with the rhymes' text.
"Nursery Rhymes Put Kids 'At Risk.' " BBC article Dec. 10, 2003
Poetry for children
"Serious Play: Reading Poetry with Children" a short essay and links to many good poems for children on poetry.org, from the American Academy of Poets.
Poetry month teaching ideas for children using poetry by Shel Silverstein and others.
GigglePoetry.com "The #1 fun poetry site for kids" Lots of resources and ideas for getting kids excited about poetry. This site and next recommended by poetry.org
Poetry4kids.com Kenn Nesbit's enthusiastc site on poetry for children, mostly with his poems. Cheerful!
Scholastic's site on poetry for children. Focus on Jack Prelutsky, Karla Kuskin and Jean Marzollo.
the Poetry Archive. Mainly children's poem with a U.K. emphasis. Most poems have audio of poet reading their works aloud.
Poetry Zone, from England mainly focused on poems by Roger Stevens. amusing.
"Songs My Teacher Taught Me" lesson plans and ideas for discussing poetry in high school from poetry.org
They Might Be Giants, including links to podcast and videos.
- "The Alphabet of Nations" song by TMBG in YouTube video.
- YouTube video "Can You Find It?" about missing letters.
- Video Family Podcast special Pirate Edition including "Pirate Girls Nine" on YouTube.
- TMBG talk on WNYC about children's music in this YouTube video.
Ralph's World website (from Chicago's famed Old Town School of Folk Music)
Dan Zanes website. YouTube video of "All Around the Kitchen" (popular on Disney Chanel)Dan Zanes sings American music for families
Trout Fishing in America website (also check out the cool treehouse)
Little Richard in YouTube video of "Rubber Duckie"
Laurie Berkner's video on YouTube of "Victor Vito" (she once entertained for Madonna's children)
RaffiNews.com Site for music and news about children's singer Raffi.YouTube video of Raffi singing "Baby Beluga" A kindergarten class singing and moving to "Baby Beluga"
KiddieRecords: a similar sight with hundreds of children's albums, including covers, details about music and mp3s
National Children's Folk Song Repository. Looks like the website has good intentions. You can record yourself singing a folk song.
Best Children's Music. com Website with good collections (for sale) of children's music. Includes mp3 samples.
FreeKidsMusic.com Good selection of mp3s of up and coming singers/songwriters for kids.
Songs for Teaching. "Using music to promote learning" Songs about atoms, multiplication, phonics & history.
Instruction with delight: An educational revision of Beyonce's "Single Ladies" to "Scholar Ladies" Sweet. For Hope Christian schools in Milwaukee.
Alphabet Books
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom book in song format
"Alphabet of All Nations". performed by They Might Be Giants.
50 Alphabet Books for children reviewed.
Common Core lesson plan for Alphabet Books for first graders
Pop up alphabet book, show in video
Video of numerous alphabet books. 3 min
Perry Nodelman's Words About Pictures
Read this section on "The Relationship of Pictures and Words" from Nodelman's book.
Beatrix PotterBeatrix Potter and Benjamin Bunny, on a lead.
Frederick Warne, official pubblisher of Beatrix Potter Information on Potter, games, news, eating healthy.
Beatrix Potter's life in Cumbria. Lots of info about her life there, many book suggestions, photographs, and info about the film Miss Potter
"The Tale of Miss Potter" Daily Telegraph article about the film Miss Potter and her life in England. (16 Dec. 2006)
Beatrix Potter, Fabulist. Online exhibit from Cotsen Children's Library at Princeton. Click on the images on top of the screen.
A biography of Potter from University of Pittsburgh site.
The Beatrix Potter Society website.
The National Trust's homes of Beatrix Potter and links to more information about her.
Crockett Johnson
The Carrot Seed by Crockett Johnson
Harold and the Purple Crayon. Weston Woods video on YouTube.
Mies van der Rohe information. "Less is More"
Carrot Seed record information with album cover art and mp3
Brief biography of Crockett Johnson on Lambiket.net
Sony Pictures' website for the TV series Harold and the Purple Crayon. includes brief video promo.
Margaret Wise Brown's Good Night Moon
Margaret Wise Brown informationMargaret Wise Brown
HarperCollin's 60th anniversary site for Good Night Moon
Link to every MW Brown book with illustrations & bibliographic info
YouTube related videos
- Good Night Moon video. read by Susan Sarandon
- Goodnight iPad by Ann Droyd.
- Samuel L. Jackson reading Go the F to Sleep. One minute introduction, then he begins with illustrations.
The Little Island (under Golden MacDonald pen name). Illus.Leonard Weisgard Clement Hurd
Wait Till the Moon is Full. Illus. by Garth Williams A few books by Margaret Wise Brown
from Martha Pichey. "Bunny Dearest", Vanity Fair Magazine, Dec. 2000, pp.172-18
Dr. Seuss
Snafu videos from World War II on YouTube
- Private Snafu - Spies (1943)
- Private Snafu Fighting Tools
Dr. Seuss book
Random House's website for Dr. Seuss
Dr. Seuss Goes to War. The Mandeville Collection
"The Political Dr. Seuss." a presentation on PBS' Independent Lens
Dr. Seuss National Memorial in Springfield, Massachusetts. History of Ted Geisel
Snopes message board with people commenting on Dr. Seuss' political cartoons
A Ted Geisel poster from World War II (The Chase Group/Dr. Seuss Enterprises)
5000 Fingers of Dr. T film links
- Promo video for 5,000 fingers of Dr. T (YouTube)
- "Ten Little Fingers" song from 5,000 Fingers from Dr. T movie. (YouTube)37 sec. Catchy tune.
- "Just Because We're Kids" song. from 5,000 Fingers. (YouTube) 1:52.
- Climax of movie when kids revolt at pianos. from 5,000 Fingers
Opening to animated version of "The Cat in the Hat." version co-produced by Dr. Seuss. YouTube. 2:09 minutes
What it would sound like if Led Zepplin sang Dr. Seuss books. Mike Rayburn sings in this YouTube video. 1:04 seconds. Amusingly smart.
Maurice Sendak
Getting to Know Maurice Sendak: 1985 interview on video.
Maurice Sendak, In His Own Words: Where The Wild Things Are. Video.
Rosenbach Collection. Museum in Philadelphia
- There's a Mystery There: Sendak on Sendak exhibition.
- Link to three videos of Sendak talking about his work
Animated videos of Sendak's work
- "In the Night Kitchen." YouTube video of 1970 book. by Weston Woods (updated 3/2016)
- "Where the Wild Things Are." Youtube video of the popular book. Stop action video from Weston Woods.
Sendak talks about his work, include reading part of Where the Wild Things Are. YouTube video
Really Rosie video, from YouTube. Carole King tune with animation
Carole King "Chicken Soup with Rice," from YouTube video
Carole King "Alligators All Around," from YouTube video
Blog about upcoming "Where the Wild Things Are" directed by Spike Jonze. scheduled for May 2008, then October 2008, then 2009...? script by Spike Jonze and Dave Eggers
Sendak's interview in The Believer. Nov./Dec. 2012. "I refuse to cater to the bullshit of innocence."
More information on Sendak on my website.
Diversity in Children's Picture Books
Ezra Jack Keats' The Snowy Day
Ezra Jack Keats Foundation. Official website.
Ezra Jacket Keats virtual exhibit, from the deGrummond collection
Art Exhibition: The Snowy Day and the Art of Ezra Jack Keats at The Jewish Museum in New York.
- An article about the exhibit in The New York Times "Homage to a Picture Book Rebel" (12/8/11)
- Overview video of the exhibit by The Jewish Museum. YouTube 4:28 min
The Snowy Day read aloud on YouTube
Biographical video on Keats on YT (3:36)
Nancy Larrick's essay "The All White World of Children's Books." This is a pdf document that links to a copy of Larrick's essay originally published in The Saturday Review, September 11, 1965.
Faith Ringgold's Tar Beach
- Faith Ringgold's website.
- PBS website on Faith Ringgold. PBS Video interview with Ringgold
- Ringgold talks about creating the Tar Beach quilt. YT. 3:49
Ed Young's Lo Po Po
- Teaching guide for Lo Po Po by Ed Young
- About Ed, from edyoungart.com
- Interview with Ed Young, from TeachingBooks.com, in .pdf
Caroliva Herron's Nappy Hair
- A website from Caroliva Herron about Nappy Hair
- Nappy Hair controversy, from Washington Post article. Dec. 3, 1998.
- Herron interviewed by Roanoke Times newspaper in 2011
- Nappy Hair analyzed, on University of Michigan site.
Resources for Diversity in Children's Literature
- We Need Diverse Books Tumblr page
- We Need Diverse Books website (content is different from Tumblr)
- Celebrating Children's Diversity Through Children's Literature. numerous resources
- Diverse Voices: The Guardian's 50 Best Culturally Diverse Books from 2014
- "Milestones for Diversity in Children's Literature and Library Services" by Kathleen T. Horning. An article from Children and Libraries Fall 2015.
The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins by Barbara Kerley and Brian Selznick
- Field Museum celebrates a decade of Sue. YouTube
- Barney Theme Song. 32 seconds. YouTube
- Jurassic Park Trailer in HD. 3:27. YouTube
- Crystal Palace Dinosaur Tribute YouTube
- Dinosaurs of Crystal Palace: Lost Valley of London. YouTube
- Dinosaurs in Crystal Palace Park by Prof. Joe Cain. YouTube
- Paleantology & Politics: Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins and his New York City Paleozic Museum
- Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins on Brooklyn CUNY dinosaur site.
- Princeton's Art Museum has numerous paintings by Waterhouse of the dinosaurs in their habitat.
- Friends of the Crystal Palace dinosaurs. A group in London working to maintain the dinosaurs. A map of where the dinosaurs are in Crystal Palace Park.
David Macaulay
Section of video that is part of an exhibit on David Macaulay, especially his childhood. Second section of the video, which was initially prepared by Norman Rockwell Museum on Macaulay. Essay about this exhibit, with a few good illustrations by Macaulay.
David Macaulay discusess his work at a TED conference. 21 minute talk about his creative process and focusing on his book about Rome.
The Great Pyramid of Giza documentary
David Macaulay's website. Click on "watch video" for several short videos on how he works.
PBS series "Buiding Big" focuses on explaining architecture through Macaulay's work. This page features a transcript of an interview with him.
Educational ideas for using Pyramid in class, with many good links about Pyramids and Ancient Egypt
David Macaulay speaks at MIT about creating his books. 1hour talk.
Discovering more about Ancient Egypt
Tacoma Art Museum's exhibit on David Macaulay in 2009
David Macaulay receives the Eric Carle Honor Award in 2010. Article in Publisher's Weekly. Nov. 18, 2010
Series books: Time Warp Trio Not So Jolly Roger. Tim Warp Trio
Time Warp Trio website
Kidsread.com information about Time Warp Trio
The first Time Warp Trio television show about the Not So Jolly Roger. YouTube segment. 10 min.
Jon Scieszka's website
Fanfiction.com related to Time Warp Trio
"The Boys Have Fallen Behind" column in March 2010 by Nicholas Kristof in the NY Times. Books for Boys: Confessions of a Reluctant Reader blog.
Series books: American Girls
American Girls official website
Link to Jan Susina's article "American Girls: Barbies with a sense of history" in Children's Literature American Girl MollyAssociation Quarterly. Fall 1999. In Project Muse. (Accessible through Milner Library with ISU ULID)
Flavorwire essay on "What your American Girl doll says about you" Fun, slightly silly on how the dolls have changed.
Essay by Elizabeth Marshall "Marketing American Girls" in rethinkingschools.com (winter 2008/2009)
"American Girls taking over the country" by Rachel King in Fast Company (April 2009)
Notes and photos of a girls' book club that discusses and dresses up like the American Girls
Anthropology professor analyzes American Girls "The New 'American Girls'" in The National Review Sept. 2002
Kidsread.com Series books, an annotated listMadison Davenport, Abigail Breslin, and Brieanne Jansen in Kit Kittredge: An American Girl
"The Thinking Girls Barbie" Slate.com women discuss American Girls as a gateway to learning history
Preview of Kit Kittredge: An American Girl. YouTube video
Clip from Molly: An American Girl on the Homefront. YouTube
"I Like Your Style" music video from American Girl. YouTube video
A girl browses an American Girl store. YouTube video. An English girl goes to the American Girl store in New York. YouTube video.
A. A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh A.A. Milne and his son Christopher Robin
Origins of Winnie-the-Pooh. MojoWatch video. 4 min.
A.A. Milne reading from Winnie-the-Pooh in 1929. YouTube. reading begins at about :58. Here is another link to A.A. Milne reading, again begin at about :50
A. A. Milne's poem "Teddy Bear"
Winnie-the-Pooh read aloud. Chapter 7 (1-2) YouTube
Winnie-the-Pooh read aloud by a British cast including Stephen Frye as Pooh and Judi Dench as Kanga. Chapter 2. Illustrated video on YouTube. 8:14 min.
"Return to Pooh Corner" by Kenny Loggins. Video with Loggins singing the tune.
"The House at Pooh Corner" YouTube video taking the tune with an overlay of the images. one version with images from the Disney film. a second version with images from the book.
Link to Just-Pooh site, with info and links
From the 1968 Disney film Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day
- "The Rain Rain Rain (Came Down Down Down)"
- "The Little Black Rain
Gate to Hundred Acre Woods at sunsetCloud"
From 1966 Disney film Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree
Celebrating 75 years of Pooh in 2001 from Penguin. Classroom activities for teaching Pooh from Penguin
"Drawing the Line in Mississippi" by Clifford Berryman, 1902. Click to link of larger image
Christina Lindsey's photos from Hundred Acre Wood in Sussex, EnglandEyore's gloomy place
Pooh sticks bridge
Plaque at woods
Beverly Cleary's Ramona the Brave
The Ramona page, on a Beverly Cleary site.
Biographical information on Cleary at Scholastic site.
BookPage interview of Beverly Cleary
An NPR interview with Cleary on her 90th birthday, April 2006. An earlier interview with Cleary from Aug. 16, 1999.
Teaching Ramona, a detailed .pdf document on teaching ideas with Ramona
from the Canadian Ramona TV show: The Great Hair Argument. YouTube. 9 min.
Walking tour of Portland, home of Cleary and Ramona. brief article
Interview with Beverly Cleary in 2006. Set up as video, but only audio of Cleary. 18 min. She answers 13 questions from students on "Stop Everything and Read Day!"
Radio essay on Ramona, from Recess! radio show at University of Florida (6/30/2005)
Fourth graders present a "commercial" for Ramona, the Pest. YouTube. 1.22 min. cute
Selena Gomez has filmed Ramona and Beezus, to be released March 2010
Ramona the Pest is a band from Oakland, Calif.
Babymouse by Jennifer Holm and Matthew Holm
Babymouse by Jennifer Holm and Matthew Holm
Babymouse official website, housed at Random House
"The Classroom Cast" Babymouse video. YouTube
Bringing up Baby Mouse, a video by Katie Davis
Jennifer Holm's website. a co-creator of Babymouse
Matthew Holm's official website. a co-creator of Babymouse
Interview with Jennifer and Matthew Holm about their Babymouse series. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. June 24, 2008
Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
Official website of Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Diary of a Wimpy Kid website. Funbrain.com site begin here with FAQs
YouTube mashup of funny cartoons from Diary of a Wimpy kid accompanied by appropriate music.
A Fourth Grade play of Diary of a Wimpy Kid. short and cute.
Blog of Jeff Kinney. Diary of a Wimpy Kid's creator.
Jeff Kinney interviewed Oct. 22, 2009 on NPR. He answers kids' questions.
Washington Post article on how Jeff Kinney wrote and published the Wimpy Kid series. (March 3, 2009)
YouTube interview of Jeff Kinney from Barnes & Noble. YouTube interview with Jeff Kinney on first two books at Borders.
Trailer for the Dairy of a Wimpy Kid film (2010). YouTube. :30 TV promo on YouTube
Jeff Kinney at a Borders pulling out books that he likes and talking about them, including Scott McCloud's book on comics. 3:30 min on YouTube
Barbara Park's Junie B. Jones series
Interview with Barbara Park, from Library Sparks (in .pdf form)
Children's Television
Zero to Eight: Children's Media Use Research from Commonsense Media. The 2013 report Zero to Eight: Children's Media Use Joan Ganz Cooney Center's link to the report and related studies.
Teletubbies hold hands segment.
Teletubbies dancing segment.
Barney & Friends segment. "When I Grow Up"
Arthur & Friends segments:" "Arthur Writes a Story, part 1" "Francine Frensky. Superstar"
Sesame Street. segments: from 1969: "Oscar and Trash" "I Love Trash" the 1991 version "Sing, sing a song" 1971 version. "John-John counts to 10" (short, 51 seconds). Bert and Ernie sketch from 1971, "Counting sheep."
Children's Websites
Club Penguin enables kids to be virtual penguins
Club Penguin, the virtual realilty world, now owned by Disney, with flocks of penguins
BrainPop is the household's favorite educational program.
Webkinz World, the popular virtual site connected to the fuzzy animals
Millsberry, popular virtual children's site owned by General Mills
Nick.com, Nickelodeon's website. Note: This site takes a lot of bandwidth, so may download slowly. Videos run automatically and can annoyingly slow site.
- Nicktropolis: the virtual site from Nick.com
PBS Kids, website for public television's children's shows
- Teletubbies website
- Between The Lions website
- Fetch, the science oriented tv show's website
Lego.com. All things Legos, including games and product promotions.
BBC Children's site. Very detailed site, click around.
Fun Brain, home to The Wimpy Kid and many other interesting kids' things
Disney.com. Website for all things Disney. One option is ToonTown, a game to download and interact in virtual reality.A Neopet
Dav Pilkey's extra-crunchy website o'fun. Captain Underpants and beyond.
GirlTech. A Mattel site for girls that's connected to high-tech toys.
Kidsreads. A website about kids' books, with reviews.
Neopets. Online pets and more that are linked to toys.
J. Otto Seibold site. Author's own site. Search around for games.
GigglePoetry. Hundreds of silly poems for children. Includes information about authors, poetry theater, etc.
Jan Brett's website. Children's author has created many web-based and printable activities for children and teachers related to her books. "4,173 pages of free activities, coloring pages, and projects."
Webbliword. A newer site for children with avatars. somewhat educational.
Time for Kids, website for children of Time magazine
Litle Clickers, a website with links to many educational sites.
Major League Baseball Site for Kids.
Monterey Bay Aquarium. site for the ocean-based aquarium in California. great example of a non-fiction science site.
Villainy, Inc. Thwarting World Supremacy Through Mathematics. Maryland Public TV site with math story.
Common Core State Standards
Common Core State Standards. This link goes to the home page. Under "Discover Common Standards," you'll find the English Language Arts Standards information.
Wikipedia entry explaining the Common Core.
California's Common Core information for schools and parents.
International Reading Association's response to the Common Core
Publisher Pearson's website with assistance for understanding the Common Core
Beatrix Potter
Peter Rabbit website, official Potter site from Frederick Warne & Co.
Link to official Peter Rabbit website page of letter to Noel Moore
Hear the Potter stories read aloud at official Potter site.
Animated version of 'Tale of Peter Rabbit", middle part, YouTube from BBC video
YouTube video of Beatrix Potter illustrations
YouTube video about producing Tales of Beatrix Potter ballet
Peter Rabbit with Japanese text. Note: click on the second to last line on each page to progress through the story
Wired for Books website, with lots of information about Beatrix Potter
Children's Television
introductory video to "Lazy Town" of "Bing Bang" song
Interview with Fred Rogers about his ideas on developing "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" 28 minutes in RealAudio (no video)
Interesting additional places
Children's Books Online. large collection of older children's books presented in images page by page
Children's Book Ilustrated Gallery nocloo.com
Stories to Grow By. educational site for children, teachers and parents with fairy tales and other stories
Little Lit, books of collections of comics by famous cartoonists for children
Video from Norman Rockwell Museum exhibit on "LitGraphic: The World of the Graphic Novel." Part 1. This segment features Peter Kuper, creator of "The System," and Mark Wheatley, co-creator of "Breathtaker"
Children's Books Online: The Rosetta Project. The largest collection of illustrated antique books online, they think.
Course guide for Spring 2017