The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a difference in the level of reading comprehension of young readers when one group of students read an interactive CD-ROM storybook and another group of students read the same story from a conventionally printed book. The participants were 39 second-grade students from two intact classrooms in an urban elementary school in the Midwest.Students from one classroom read the story from an interactive CD-ROM storybook; students in the other classroom read the same story from a conventionally printed book. Students reading the CD-ROM storybook could ask the computer for pronunciation of unknown words. Students reading the conventionally printed book could ask the researcher to pronounce words they did not know. Words for which pronunciation was requested were recorded automatically by the computer; the researcher recorded the words requested by the book group. Students reading the CD-ROM storybooks requested the pronunciation of more words than those students reading the conventionally printed books.The following hypotheses were tested at the .05 level of significance:Hypothesis I: There will be no significant difference between the mean scores of reading comprehension on oral retellings for students reading a traditionally printed storybook and students reading the same text from an interactive CD-ROM storybook.Hypothesis II: There will be no significant difference between the mean scores of reading comprehension on a comprehension test for students reading a traditionally printed storybook and students reading the same text from an interactive CD-ROM storybook.An univariate analysis of variance was used to test the hypotheses. There was no significant difference in mean scores on the retellings between the two groups, therefore hypothesis I failed to be rejected.There was a significant difference in mean scores on the comprehension test between the two groups, therefore hypothesis II was rejected. When comprehension was measured through the use of comprehension questions, students reading the CD-ROM storybook scored higher. Although results were mixed on comprehension measures, observations from this study indicate that the use of CDROM storybooks may be beneficial for young children, particularly those who are reading below grade level. / Department of Elementary Education

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Minnesota, 1997. / Also issued in print.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Minnesota, 1997. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record.

This paper aims to examine how sexuality is represented in six children's books who claims to be either norm critical and/or queer. I am using a qualitative method that consist of text and picture analysis designed by Stuart Hall, to examine what discourses and norms that the childrens depicts. I will also aid in the queer theoretical perspective to visualize and point out the heteronormative power structures and how they can be understood. The theoretical concepts like parenting, birth giving, biological aspect, family and stereotypes. The results of this paper shows that with help of theory, method and analysis that it is possible to determine that only one of the six chosen children's books is norm-critical and queer. The rest of the children's books shows more or less heteronormative structures and patterns that goes against the claimed norm-criticaland queer perception of the books. Not only are these five children's books recreating heteronormative structure, they are also cnhancing them. According to international research there seems to exist a trend within western children's literature whereas some sexualities are censored and placed in pecking order acoring to society's norms and values. Lastly it is therefore of crucial importance that pedagogues active in preschool continuously remain critical, analytical and evaluative toward the material they aim to acquire and use.

"In spite of being noted for their materialism, Americans have advanced further than any other country in both stimulating and satisfying children's curiosity and respecting their individuality by providing them with inviting libraries overflowing with good literature. In accomplishing this the United States has fostered the work of many foreign writers and artists, who have blended their own heritage and culture with modern American life. Among these foreign born author-artists of children's books is Kate Seredy, whose creative work in such books as The Good Master and The White Stag gives her a rightful place among the outstanding artists of this age. The purpose of this paper is to show how her early Hungarian life and her later absorption into American society influenced her stories and pictures to contribute to the vast wealth of children's books. This will be done by a brief biography of her life and a discussion of her works"--Introduction. / Typescript. / "January, 1955." / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts." / Advisor: Agnes Gregory, Professor Directing Paper. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 64-67).

This study aims to undertake a queer reading of four Swedish picture books, with the names: Punkpapporna, Kivi och Monsterhund, När mammorna blev kära and Regnbågsbesbisen. Furthermore its purpose is to explore the concept of family, and more specifically the rainbow family. This will be explored in the relations to previous research made in the field of queer kinship, children's literature, representation and silencing. Aditionaly this will be influenced by representational and queer theory. The methodical approach is as mentioned queer reading, but in combination with thematic analysis, where a few themes have been picked out. These themes will help in analyzing the representation of the rainbow family in the chosen books. The research concluded that rainbow families can be portrayed and represented in many different ways and how they are understood is completely dependent on the story in the books but also on the reader.

Not too long ago we believed that it was impossible to send men outside our planets gravitational force, let alone send them to the moon. As adults, we live in a world that believes in two possibilities, those goals that are possible as long as they believe in themselves and find new ways to accomplish each goal they are given. Slowly this thought process is leaving the students minds to make room for the latest information for best practices in formal test taking. There has been a huge decline in our imaginative and creative thinkers due to this overwhelming need as a nation to "raise our test scores." I agree that our students need to obtain as much information as possible, but I believe in the impossible. I believe that there is a way to incorporate imaginative and creative thinking into our classrooms today to allow for students to build this idea that their impossible ideas can become possible. I want to challenge our students to be those who believe that it is not so impossible to land on the moon, as long as they can use their imagination, and creativity to solve their problems. To do this, I have used this thesis as a basis for 6 lesson plans based on 11 impossible children’s book. This is to provide teachers with resources that match the standards they are already using and create lifelong imaginers and creative thinkers who can turn the most impossible idea into a reality.

No description available.

Children of African descent gather information about the world from various sources such as school, television, toys, and books. This research focuses specifically on books as an educational tool. The dominant focus of this work is to evaluate the ideas communicated to black children in books. Additionally, this is an Afrocentric work that is invested in black children's books that teach black children to resist white supremacy by achieving academic excellence, valuing their African culture, and having high self-esteem. Ultimately, these acts will lead children of African descent to reach their full potential. However, this cannot be done if the books read to and by black children have negative or minimal depictions of black people. To this point, this work demonstrates the efficacy of constructive representations of black people in children's books. It also examines how the authors' and illustrators' views about blackness are conveyed throughout the books. The ramifications of negative or positive ideas about black people illustrated in children's books are powerful and must be analyzed critically. This thesis explains why and how reading for black children should be utilized as a resource for development. / African American Studies

"The purpose of this paper is three-fold: to give a brief sketch of the life of James Daugherty and the development of his art; to summarize the contemporary criticism of his work as to his ability as an author-illustrator for children; and to assemble a bibliography of his contributions to art and literature. The portion concerned with critical analysis has been limited to those books both written and illustrated by Mr. Daugherty"--Introduction. / Typescript. / "August, 1955." / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science." / Advisor: Agnes Gregory, Professor Directing Paper. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 49-52).