Textbook Reflections 1-5

“Literature develops the imagination.”  I loved hearing this because I feel as though today so many kids are watching TV or playing a video game to develop some sort of imagination.  I remember as a child reading and imagining what was going on in my head. I would always want to draw a picture of what I thought it would look like.  In the first part of our textbook we went over 10 reasons what we should share literature with children.  The most important one is that we want to create lifelong readers.  We as teachers and librarians have to be the ones that show our students it is fun to read and you can find a book on anything.  Reading for others experience is so important because there are so many kids that don’t even leave the city that they grow up in.  We have to show them all the different things that are out in the world through books.  We have to provide the window for them to see out of; so maybe one day they will take risk and chances to explore the world.  Something else that is really important for our kids to read is autobiographically.  Our kids need to know that other people experience the same things they do and that it is completely normal.  One more that really stuck out to me was transmit culture.  This is about us sharing different cultures with our students.  We shouldn’t just share cultures a couple times a year; we should be sharing it all the time.  All books were written for a reason and we have to share all the goodness with our students.  You need to encourage them and help them in any way you can, so they want to read! They should be reading 20 minutes a day. 

There are 4 divisions of Young People’s Literature.  You have Children’s Literature, which is 0 to 8 years old.  This starts with wordless pictures books all the way to little chapter books with few illustrations.  Second, you have Middle Grade/Tween (8-12), not to be confused with Middle School.  This division is a little tricky because your 12 year old might get bored with some books, but your 8 year old doesn’t need to be reading some books that would be in a middle school.  Next, you have then Young Adult Books (13-18).  In my opinion this is kind of a wide range because a 13 year old is so different than an 18 year old.  You as the librarian have to know where you need to lead kids based on the interest and what they are looking for. Last, in the New Adult (18-30).  A lot of these books will deal with the next chapter after high school.  All about the new that happens then like independence, relationships, and adult issues.

“Might not be what you think” This was a perfect quote to describe genres and formats.  You have to be very careful when organizing your library if you choose to organize it with subjects or categories. Some subjects and categories are horror, sports, war, humor, mystery, and so on.  You might think a book is romance when really someone else might think it is a mystery.  There are really only two genres, fiction and nonfiction. These two lead into more subgenres that are more detailed as to what kind of book you are reading.  You then have formats. Some formats are poetry, drama, novels, chapter books, short stories, picture books, and graphic novels.  Whatever way you organize your library, make it in a way that your students have to browse a little bit.  You will be able to lead them in the right direction and help them, but give them a reason to look around and maybe find other books that might interest them. 

When you have students entering into reading Young Adult Literature you might want to explain it a little bit to them.  Young adult books have different points of view and change a little bit from what they have been reading. 

At first when I saw the title of the chapter, “How do Adolescents Develop,” I wondered in how many ways will this have to do with reading. It has everything to do with reading, what books they choose, why they choose those books, and just how they are growing.  In this part of the book it talked a lot about different theorist and the way we grow and mature.  This is important to librarians because you have to think about the questions you are going to ask kids to assist them in finding the book they want.  Also, they are always searching for answers and a lot of their answers might be in a book they are going to read.  It could be a fiction book or a nonfiction book.  They want to know that they are normal and they are starting to be curious about what they are going to do in life.  Teens are constantly changing and they are all different.  Everything happens at different times.  You want to find books that speak to where kids are in their life.  Have a conversation with them, know that there are no limits, and just do your best to meet their needs.  

After hearing all the different views of Young Adult Literatures I am more understanding of some of the text.  Some that I have already read I have thought that it is too much or too graphic.  Now, I see that it is where some kids are and they are experiencing some of these same experiences.  All books have a purpose and might be the perfect book a student needs to read to cope with something that they are going through.