ENG 372: Contemporary Literature for Young People
Text list for Jan Susina's course taught in Spring 2012:
L. Frank Baum. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Dover Evergreen Classics edition
A. A. Milne. Winnie-the-Pooh. Illustrated by Ernest Shepard. Penguin/Puffin.
Virginia Lee Burton. Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Laura Ingalls Wilder. The Little House on the Prairie. Illustrated by Garth Williams. HarperCollins.
Maud Hart Lovelace. Betsy-Tacy. Illustrated by Lois Lenski. HarperCollins.
Margaret Wise Brown. Goodnight Moon. Illustrated by Clement Hurd. HarperColllins.
E.B. White. Charlotte’s Web. Illustrated by Garth Willliams. HarperCollins.
Dr. Seuss. The Cat in the Hat. Random House/Yearling Books.
Maurice Sendak. Where the Wild Things Are. HarperCollins.
Louise Fitzhugh. Harriet the Spy. Random House/Yearling.
Roald Dahl. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Illustrated by Quentin Blake. Penguin/Puffin.
Virginia Hamilton. The House of Dies Drear. Simon and Schuster.
Shel Silverstein. Where the Sidewalk Ends: The Poems and Drawings of Shel Silverstein. HarperCollins.
Beverly Cleary. Ramona the Brave. Illustrated by Tracy Dockeray. Avon Camelot Books.
Russell Freedman. Lincoln: A Photobiography. Houghton Mifflin.
Jon Scieszka. The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs! By A Wolf. Illustrated by Lane Smith. Penguin/Puffin.
J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Illustrated by Mary Granpre. Scholastic.
Recommended Text:
Joseph Gilabldi. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 7th Ed. MLA.
Spring 2012 Materials for course:
David Macaulay
Roman City: PBS show on YouTube (55 min)
"Building a Roman City" animated section from "Roman City" by Macaulay on YouTube (6:49 min). The first part of Roman City starts here on YouTube.
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. 
David Macaulay
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
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)
Judy Blume's Are You There God? It's Me Margaret
Disney's "The Story of Menstruation" sponsored by Kotex. on YouTube. (10:16 min)
Cynthia Leitch Smith interviews Judy Blume.
Interview with Judy Blume (YT 4min)
Clever book promo created by students for book (YT 1:14)
Just for fun, Will Arnett reading a paragraph from Margaret on the Jimmy Fallon show. Hulu clip (1:37)
Are You There Vodka, It's Me Chelsea preview for TV show about the book with interview of Chelsea Handler (YT 1:37)
Blog posts about adults remembering reading Margaret:
- Liz Shannon Miller, including notes about how the book was updated
- Third Coast Digest on how she was the only girl in fifth grade to receive the book from her mother
- Jezebel magazine has Lizzie Skurnick tackle the classic test with people writing comments as well.
S. E. Hinton's The Outsiders
YouTube videos
- S. E. Hinton on location in Tulsa (7 min)
- from The Outsiders (1983) film "Nothing Gold Can Stay" (1:17 min)
- from The Outsiders film "Stay Gold" (4:33)
- from The Outsiders film. Original ending, without soundtrack.
- West Side Story. Tony's Death. Final Scene (in English with Polish or Czech subtitles) 6:19 min
S.E. Hinton's website
cast from the 1983 film The Outsiders
The Outsiders, official website for film and book
"Outsiders Forty Years Later" by Dale Peck in The New York Times. Sept. 2007.
"S.E. Hinton reflects on The Outsiders" in Book Rag website
Blog quiz. Which "Greaser" are you most like (from The Outsiders)? with comments.
L. Frank Baum's The Wizard of Oz
The Wonders of Oz, episode 5. YouTube clip
W.W. Denslow, Oz illustrator
L. Frank Baum, creator of Oz
from the 1939 film, directed by Victor Fleming
Link to Warner Bros. 70th anniversary re-release of The Wizard of Oz film
A. A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh
Link to A. A. Milne's poem "Teddy Bear"
A. A. Milne, his son, Christopher Robin and Edward, the bear who inspired Winnie-the-Pooh 
Gate to Hundred Acre Woods at sunset
Photograph of A.A. Milne. Illustration by E.H. Shepherd of Christopher Robin and Winnie-the-Pooh
Original Christopher Robin toys
"Drawing the Line in Mississippi" by Clifford Berryman, 1902. Click to link of larger image
E. H. Shepherd illustration of Winnie-the-Pooh
Link to Just-Pooh site, with info and links
Christina Lindsey's photos from Hundred Acre Wood in Sussex, England
Eyore's gloomy place
Pooh sticks bridg 
Plaque at woods
Overview of area from a clearing
Laura Ingalls Wilder's The Little House on the Prairie
Site about Wilder and links to Helen Sewell's cover illustrations
Link to site of Laura Ingalls Wilder home in Mansfield, Missouri. Good information
Publisher HarperCollins' very contemporary official series site to Little House series books
Laura Ingalls when she was a young woman
Ingalls sisters, Laura in middle
Pa's fiddle
Laura Ingalls Wilder signing a Little House book
Little House on the Prairie, 1935. Illustration by Helen Sewell
a Garth Williams' illustration
Side-by-side comparisons of illustrations by Sewell and Williams Little House art
For a bigger map and an article about traveling to L.I. Wilder places in the Midwest, click on photo
Virginia Lee Burton's Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel
Houghton Mifflin's office Mike Mulligan site
The Little House, a Walt Disney short film from 1952. YouTube (8:19 min)
Opening to HBO series Weeds with "Little Boxes" YouTube (5:58 min)
Podcast of interview of director and producer of documentary on Virginia Lee Burton (22 min)
Documentary about Virginia Lee Burton, A Sense of Place (2008)
Virginia Lee Burton exhibit at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art (.pdf format)
Vogue article about Virginia Lee Burton from May 2008.(.pdf)
LLibrarian Elizabeth Bird's blog about Virginia Lee Burton's The Little House. includes the Disney animated video (8 min) based on the book. Bird, writing on Publisher's Weekly site, is also fond of Mike Mulligan.
Virginia Lee Burton in her studio in Cape Ann, Massachusetts
Fish Tail design by Virginia Lee (Burton) Demetrios. Click on link to Folley Cove Designer website. Check out Life magazine article
Caldecott winner
The first book in the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
- Trailer for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone from Warner Bros. YouTube
- The Harry Potter Lexicon website. Keeps track of spells, characters, etc. Recommended by Rowling.
- Rowling's official website
- The Boy Who Lived, a U.K. fan website with lots of details
- The Scholastic website for Harry Potter.
- BBC biographical information about Rowling
- An interview and profile of Rowling from Oct. 2000
- A negative review of the first film in The New York Times by Elvis Mitchel
- A unit on the different covers for The Sorcerer's Stone book.
- from The New Republic online, a 1999 essay analyzing the Harry Potter the first books, making links to other children's texts. by "Harry Potter and the Spirt of the Age" Lee Siegel
Jon Scieszka
- Jon Scieszka's website: Facing tomorrow's challenges today
- Guys Read. Scieszka's website encouraging boys to read. Started from his book Guys Read.
- Walt Disney presenting "The Three Little Pigs" YouTube video
- Disney's 1933 "Three Little Pigs" from Silly Symphonies. 7:58 min. YouTube video
- Green Jello's "Little Pig, Little Pig" YouTube video. 5:49 min
- Green Jello's "Three Little Pigs (Swine Flu Survival Guide). YouTibe video. 4:22 min.
- "Agony" reprise, male duet of princeses in Into the Woods. Here performed by Brandon Albright and Steve Huntsman. YouTube. 3:02 min.
- "Agony" Greenville Little Theatre, Oct. 2006. Will Ragland and Peter Simms. Dialogue & song. Humorous with audience along laughing. YouTube video. 3:14 min
- Reading Rockets page including good video interview of Scieszka talking about his life, teaching, etc., biographical material, and links
- NPR interview with Scieszka. Also includes excerpt from Knuckelhead.
- Baloney Henry P. Website of Scieszka and Lane Smith. Animated with games.
- Washington Post interview with Scieszka "Author Works to Prevent Reading's 'Death Spiral'." March 24, 2008. by Valeria Strauss
“Someday I might write for adults, but I think kids are the greatest audience for a writer. No one can believe a story or love one as much as a kid does.” – Jon Scieszka
Russell Freedman's Lincoln: A Photobiography
- Teacher's Guide to using the Lincoln book in class. Includes many good links to Civil War sites on web.
- Russell Freedman about the Library of Congress' 2001 Book Fest. A video of him reading from Lincoln book
- Blog notes about audiobook of Freedman's book.
- Detailed biographical info about Freedman and his works More biographical info with reviews of books
Shel Silverstein's Where the Sidewalk Ends
Here's a .pdf of the 30th anniversary edition of Where the Sidewalk Ends
Official Shel Silverstein website. High bandwidth version is all in Flash. Low bandwidth less flashier, maybe easier.
Shel Silverstein performs his poems, accompanied by animated illustrations, on YouTube
A teacher's guide on poetry and Silverstein, from the official SS website, in .pdf format
Shel Silverstein wikipedia entry. Includes quotes from his few interviews and material
Shel Silverstein about his many passions.
Kidsread.com site about Shel Silverstein for kids
Silverstein's bio on Legacy Recordings
Silverstein performing on "The Johnny Cash" TV show. He sings "A Boy Named Sue" with Cash and then sings "Daddy, What Would Happen" by himself. YouTube. 5:40 min.
Overview essay about Silverstein from Poetry Foundation about Shel Silverstein. By Jesse Nathan
Shel Silverstein material on the My Hero website. Features kids' thoughts on their Poet Hero.
Mahalo.com's website collection of Shel Silverstein material
"Shel Silverstein's Unlikely Rise to Kid Lit Superstardom" by Mark Peters from Mental Floss. Aug 8, 2009.
Jan Susina reading some of Silverstein's problematic poems from Where the Sidewalk Ends at the 2009 Banned Book Reading sponsored by ISU's Milner Library. YouTube video
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.
Virginia Hamilton's The House of Dies Drear 
Virginia Hamilton
Home page of Virginia Hamilton. She writes about what inspires her to write and the importance of libraries.
Short section of 1988 film based on book. YouTube. 2 min.
Glencoe Literature Library .pdf study guide (22 pages) for book along with connections to Frederick Douglass, Levi Coffin, Follow the Drinking Gourd folk song, and Charles Dickens.
Comprehensive site about folklore in Virginia Hamilton's works.
Three articles from HornBook about Virginia Hamilton
Ohio author biography of Virginia Hamilton
House of Dies Drear film
Avalon Projects on historic documents at Yale Law School. Documents on Slavery
National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, Ohio
National Geographic's interactive site about the underground railroad
Follow the Drinking Gourd, a cultural website
Map of underground railroad paths
Friends of the Underground Railroad website
Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Film adaptations of the book
Willy Wonka (1971) film starring Gene Wilder. Oompa Loompa song. IMDB.com link for film
Charlie & the Chocolate Factory (2005) starring Johnny Depp. Oompa Loompa song for Veruca Salt and Oompa Loompa song for Augustus Gloop. IMDB. com link for film.
Official Roald Dahl website
Roald Dahl
Roald Dahl fans website, rather comprehensive
Roald Dahl day in September, encouraged by British publisher Penguin Books
Roald Dahl Museum in Buckinghamshire, U.K. Informative and includes photos to his writing hut.
University of Missouri's College of Education site on ideas for teaching Charlie & the Chocolate Factory
Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are
Maurice Sendak's 1963 Where The Wild Things Are
Maurice Sendak
Rosenbach Museum & Library in Philadelphia, which has the best collection of Sendak materials.
Rosenbach Museum's DVD segment on Sendak on his work, childhood, inspiration. YouTube. 10 min. Sendak on what being an illustrator means. YouTube. 3 min. Sendak on his childhood and movies. YouTube. 1 min. Sendak on Images and Words. You Tube 2:25 min
Original Wild Things animated short. YouTube video 6:50 min.
Read Dave Egger's story Max At Sea, which appeared in The New Yorker, Aug. 24, 2009. Click on this link to open a .pdf document of the Max At Sea story. OR Click on this link to go to Max At Sea story by Dave Eggers on The New Yorker's website
Articles and promotions related to the 2009 film Where The Wild Things Are
Scene from upcoming Where The Wild Things Are film
- Featurette on making of Where The Wild Things Are, on imdb (mostly an interview with Sendak)
- Newsweek article "A Talk with the 'Wild Things' Creators" (Oct. 9, 2009)
- "Maurice Sendak and the Legacy of their 1963 rumpus." LA Times by Scott Timberg (Oct. 11, 2009). "Maurice Sendak Rewrote the Rules with Wild Things" also on LA Times site by Scott Timberg (Oct. 11, 2009)
- "Where the Wild Things Weren't" by Bruce Handy in The New York Times. (Oct. 8, 2009)
- Synopsis of HBO Documentary Tell Them Anything You Want: A Portrait of Maurice Sendak by Spike Jonze (first showing Wed., Oct 14, at 6 p.m. Central Standard Time)
Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak, 1963
"A Conversation with Maurice Sendak" by Jennifer Ludden on NPR, June 4, 2005, with additional links
Terrible Yellow Eyes, website devoted to other artists' renditions of Wild Things
MercuryNews article about Sendak exhibit at Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco (Sept. 3, 2009)
President Obama reading Wild Things at the 2009 Easter egg roll
Horn Book interview with Sendak. Nov./Dec. 2003 by Roger Sutton
Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
Purple Socks, an unofficial Louise Fitzhugh tribute site. Good collection of information.
"Unapologetically Harriet, the Misfit Spy" an NPR story by Neva Grant on March 3, 2008.
Louise Fitzhugh
A Walking Tour of Harriet's neighborhood in New York with maps, photos & descriptions. This Flickr site also has recent photos of Harriet's New York neighborhood.
Wake County, North Carolina, Library .pdf 7 page document for kids reading and thinking about Harriet the Spy, includes questions and list of similar books. Fans may like Harriet Spies Again, a 2002 continuation published by Random House.
Harriet the Spy -- 1996 movie, by Nickelodeon, featuring Rosie O'Donnell and Michelle Trachtenberg. Link to imdb page.
2009 review of Harriet in Scholastic's website Ink Splot 26
"I can see why this book is a classic, though. It is honest, frank, and kept me turning the pages. But I don't know many kids who would actually write such mean things down. Maybe it was a product of how she was rais
ed . . . Hmm." -- from review on Ink Splot 26 by Ratha, STACKS reviewer
The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss
Ad for Flit insect repellent
Bio of Ted Giesel on website about Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Gardens in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Advertising art work of Ted Giesel in the Univ. of California-San Diego library. Many images.
Official Random House site for Dr. Seuss
Dr. Seuss (Ted Giesel)A.O. Scott's essay in The New York Times magazine "Sense and Nonsense" (Nov. 26, 20000) about Dr. Seuss and children's literature
10 Facts about Dr. Seuss on the BBC's website on his 100th birthday.
PBS Independent Lens documentary on the political cartoons of Dr. Seuss. Scroll down for clip on connection between Cat in the Hat and subversiveness.
NPR's very informative page on "Fifty Years of 'The Cat in the Hat' " including article by Lynn Neary as well as images and links (March 1, 2007)
NCTE/IRA's suggested lesson plans for grades 9-12 to use The Cat in the Hat to write an essay using a psychoanalysis perspective. whew! Includes chart for psychoanalysis id, ego, and superego characters in the book.
New Yorker essay "Cat People" by Louis Menard (Dec. 23, 2002) on the creation of The Cat in the Hat, Sputnik, The Lorax, and with which character children identify.
Charlotte's Web by E.B. White
E.B. White
"The Lion and the Mouse: The battle that reshaped children's literature." essay in The New Yorker by Jill Lepore (July 21, 2008). Sources Lepore used for this essay, in pdf format.
"Children's Books" an essay by E. B. White in collection of essays One Man's Meat in pdf format
New York Times collection of info on E.B. White. Includes links to recordings of White reading from Charlotte's Web. (requires free registration with NY Times)
Quotations by E.B. White at goodreads.com. Quiz on quotations in Charlotte's Web.
Why Charlotte's Web is still a great book 50 years after publication. by Stephen Amidon in The Guardian
E.B. White essay in The Atlantic "The Death of a Pig" January 1948.
Interview by NPR's Melissa Block of E.B. White's relatives and author of annotated Charlotte Web about White's creation of the novel. (8-4-2008)
Link to "Natural History," an E.B. White poem about spiders from 1929
E.B. White in The New Yorker, May 23, 1953: "Walden is the only book I own, although there are some others unclaimed on my shelves. Every man, I think, reads one book in his life, and this one is mine. It is not the best book I ever encountered, perhaps, but it is for me the handiest, and I keep it about me in much the same way one carries a handkerchief - for relief in moments of defluxion or despair."
Betsy-Tacy series by Maud Hart Lovelace.
Illustrated by Lois Lenski
Maud Hart Lovelace
Betsy-Tacy Society site, filled with information
Lois Lenski
Milner Library's Lois Lenski site 
Lois Lenski illustration
Lois Lenski's map of Mankato, Minn.
Margaret Wise Brown's Good Night Moon
Margaret Wise Brown information
Margaret Wise Brown
HarperCollin's 60th anniversary site for Good Night Moon
Link to every MW Brown book with illustrations & bibliographic info
YouTube related videos
- Goodnight iPad by Ann Droyd.
- Samuel L. Jackson reading Go the F to Sleep. One minute introduction, then he begins with illustrations.
Clement Hurd
The Little Island (under Golden MacDonald pen name). Illus.Leonard Weisgard
A few books by Margaret Wise Brown
Wait Till the Moon is Full. Illus. by Garth Williams
from Martha Pichey. "Bunny Dearest", Vanity Fair Magazine, Dec. 2000, pp.172-18
Links and information from when the course was taught previously
ALA Banned Book Week. Sept. 28- Oct. 2, 2009
Link to American Library Association's page about 2009 Banned Book Week
Free downloads page of ALA. Scroll down to bottom for .pdf document of 2009 Challanged Book List
"A Library's Approach to Books that Offend" Article from The New York Times (Aug. 19, 2009) on how the Brooklyn Public Library handles requests for book censorship. Includes link to .pdf document showing patron's requests and the library's response to specific books and other media. Article focuses on Tin-Tin.