LSC 300 L
Literature for Children
Department of Library Science and Instructional Technology
Southern Connecticut State University, New Haven CT

CONTENTS:
Child Development Home

Relating theories of development to selecting books for children

PSYCHOSOCIAL CRISIS THEORY (Erikson)

Infancy Early
Childhood		 Middle
Childhood		 Late
Childhood		 Adolescence
This child needs to begin to be exposed to a variety of experiences, through books, of trust and mistrust (the good stranger -- The Care Bears; the bad stranger -- Little Red Riding Hood). This child seems to like books that deal with relationships between parent and child.

Stories in which the characters experience conflict when their actions throw them into opposition with others are important.

This child will learn through characters what it is to take on more responsibility for their actions.

Literature is a testbed where the child can safely experience life. Offer the child a good balance of realistic fiction and fantasy.

[NB: Erikson marks late childhood as 7-11 years].

Informational books which teach mastery of new tasks are very important..

Children like to read of other childrenıs struggles to prove, for example, to their father, that they are competent in some area.

[N.B. Erikson marks adoles-cence as 11 years and up].

Literature includes a range of realistic fiction which can give them a chance to interact with situations in which other teenagers are searching for identity..

Stories in which characterization is worked out with enough depth so that charactersı fears and joys are evident throughout as they strive to discover themselves and to experience success.

COGNITIVE STAGE THEORY (Piaget)

Infancy Early
Childhood		 Middle
Childhood		 Late
Childhood		 Adolescence

This child needs to hear language.

Basic needs (warmth, companionship) can be established with cuddling during reading books aloud.

Discovery of the physical self can be facilitated with books such as Dr. Sessı The Foot Book.

Books can be used to help develop large motor skills.

 This child likes concept books dealing with time (before-after), distance (near-far), size (tall-short), mass (big-small), color, shape, differences between "between" and "through," the nature of love, death.

This child likes nursery rhymes and folk tales that humanize animals.

 Interested in realistic fiction particularly w/ characters child can relate.

Loves fantasy and stories that relate human characteristics to animals.

Expose to many kinds of stories so child can test out his or her growing knowledge.

Can introduce more fully developed characters that talk about feelings and motives.

Sees characters in absolutes: all brave, all cunning, etc.

 This child like mysteries and puzzles in stories.

This child can handle historical fiction and biographies of real people.

Stories with flashbacks and future time.

Chapter books.

 Stories that require the reader to suspend disbelief and enter into a story that is far removed physically from their lives but which embodies the universal concerns and beliefs of which they are becoming aware.

Books that expand their view of the world.

MORAL STAGE THEORY (Kohlberg)

Infancy Early
Childhood		 Middle
Childhood		 Late
Childhood		 Adolescence
There is not been research to establish that value formation does occur as a result of experience with literature. Nevertheless, children can be exposed to a wide variety of good literature--all "good" literature essentially deals with values--so they can learn to empathize with the difficulties of people of many cultures in decision making.

SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY (Bandura)

Infancy Early
Childhood		 Middle
Childhood		 Late
Childhood		 Adolescence
This theory suggests that children may be able to experience vicarious learning through books.

ZONE OF PROXIMAL DEVELOPMENT (Vygotsky)

Infancy Early
Childhood		 Middle
Childhood		 Late
Childhood		 Adolescence
Combined with the Social Learning Theory suggests that children may be able to gain achieve some assisted performance through well written and instructive books.

 

 

           

                       

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