"On a quest to read all of the existing Newbery award-winning books (est. 1921), a reading specialist examines the history of the books and the award itself. Considered the “most distinguished contribution to children’s literature,” the John Newbery gold medal, awarded by the American Library Association, is a high-water mark for upper elementary-aged children across the United States. The author’s two decades of teaching experience provide the analytical perspective and memoir-style investigation. Interviews with a book buyer for the Scholastic publisher, children’s librarians, former Newbery committee members, and a visit to the famed Kerlan Collection of Children’s Literature, frame the author’s adventure as he reads all the winners."--Provided by the author.

Forty-two children's picture books portraying characters with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) were evaluated to determine how symptoms of ASD are being portrayed as well to determine common themes found in these books. Books were evaluated using behavioral checklists created using symptoms found in common ASD diagnostic rating scales for both autism and Asperger Syndrome (AS). Of the 42 books, 35 books had characters with autism and 7 had characters with AS. The most commonly found symptoms were relating to people, verbal communication, and taste, smell and touch responses. Personal characteristics such as gender and race were identified as well as other common themes: point of view and changes in characters with autism. Overall characters are being displayed realistically and positively. This study is relevant to teachers, librarians, and others who are interested in how accurate portrayals of individuals with autism in children's literature may help them be accepted in society. A list of books used in this study is located in the appendix.

Denna uppsats undersöker hur personer med funktionsnedsättning porträtteras i svensk barnlitteratur. Metoden som använts är innehållsanalys av kvalitativ art där undersökningsmaterialet består av barnlitterära verk som innehåller personer med funktionsnedsättning som publicerats i Sverige under åren 2000 till 2012.De centrala frågeställningarna handlar om hur bilden av personer med funktionsnedsättning ser ut i dessa verk samt huruvida det går att finna några stereotyper i dessa moderna barnböcker. Resultatet visar att den undersökta litteraturen med några få undantag ger en nyanserad och positiv bild av personer med funktionsnedsättning. Dessa undantag består oftast av ett mindre element i berättelsen och har inte en framträdande roll i skildringen. / This thesis aims to study how people with disabilities are portrayed in Swedish literature for children. The method used in this study is a qualitative content analysis that examines children´s literature published in Sweden between the years 2000 and 2012 that includes people with disabilities. The central questions relates to the portrayal of people with disabilities and if there are any stereotypes in the literature that was examined. The results show with a few exceptions that the literature in question gives a balanced and positive portrayal of people with disabilities. These exceptions usually consists of minor aspects of the story and does not have a prominent role in the depiction.

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Past research shows that feelings toward aesthetic reading, or reading for enjoyment, are down across the nation, even in those pursuing a degree in elementary education (Applegate & Applegate, 2004; National Endowment for the Arts , 2004). As reading rates drop, it becomes even more imperative that our future educators have a passion for reading, and are able to intrinsically motivate their students (McKool & Gespass, 2009; Nathanson, Pruslow & Levitt, 2008). The recommended practices for breaking the cycle of aliteracy are to deemphasize textbook driven lectures (Krashen, 1993; Nathanson et al., 2008; Sardo-Brown & Beeghly, 1996), enable text self-selection (Applegate & Applegate, 2004; 2014; Cardarelli, 1992; Krashen 1993; McKool & Gespass, 2009; Nathanson et al., 2008), include reflective journals (Nathanson et al., 2008), encourage open discussion (Applegate & Applegate, 2004; 2014; Krashen, 1993; McKool & Gespass, 2009; Nathanson et al., 2008; Sardo-Brown & Beeghly, 1996), provide opportunities to reflect on students' own personal views of literacy (Gomez, 2005), and incorporate "well-planned instructional experiences to allow students to experience what it feels like to be enthusiastic about reading" (Applegate & Applegate, 2004; Applegate et al., 2014; Gomez, 2005; Krashen, 1993; McKool & Gespass, 2009; Morrison, Jacobs, & Swinyard, 1999; Nathanson et al., 2008; Powell-Brown, 2003; Ruddell, 1995; Sardo-Brown & Beeghly, 1996). The intent of this thesis is to explore if a positive shift in the perceptions and motivations of pre-service elementary education teachers can occur through enrollment in a course on Literature for Children. Literature for Children, LAE 3414, is a required course for those pursuing a degree in elementary education at the University of Central Florida. The course's design follows the recommended practices for teaching a love of literature. This study tracked the perceptions and motivations of pre-service teachers enrolled in two class sections of this course over the fall 2014 semester, in order to see if a positive change in their feelings toward aesthetic reading occurred, and to what extent their enrollment in this course on Children's Literature affected this change. At the beginning of the semester, out of a total of 63 participants for the pre-survey, 68.3% reported that they felt enthusiastic toward reading, while 31.7% reported that they felt unenthusiastic. By the end of the course, out of 54 post-survey participants, 87% of participants reported that they felt enthusiastic toward reading, while 13% reported that they felt unenthusiastic. Both class sections surveyed experienced a positive shift in their perceptions and motivations toward aesthetic reading, as a result of enrollment and participation in this course.

Teachers are constantly being asked to use innovative ways to teach core subjects, especially science. Teachers need to get students engaged and actively learning, at all times and that is not an easy task. The purpose of this project was to explore the use of quality children’s literature in enhancing science instruction in the third grade curriculum while implementing and helping students meet the English Language Arts Common Core State Standards (ELA CCSS). I researched how using children’s literature in the science curriculum may be beneficial for students. I have created a handbook that third grade teachers can use as a resource to enhance their science curricula. This handbook breaks down the four bodies of knowledge (Life Science, Earth and Space Science, Physical Science, and Nature of Science) and eleven big ideas for the third grade NGSSS. It includes titles and short descriptions of picturebooks that relate to those benchmarks. It also relates the third grade science benchmarks to the ELA CCSS through activities teachers can use to teach any given benchmark.

Children’s literature plays a critical role in shaping how children view themselves and the world around them. This is especially true in regards to outgroups such as the transgender and gender nonconforming communities. Transgender individuals have been gaining increased visibility in the past few years. The misconceptions surrounding these topics are not exclusively found outside the classroom. Title IX was expanded to include gender identity as recently as 2014. Yet, much confusion and apprehension is present when discussing the topic of transgender and gender nonconformity, especially in the elementary school classroom. To address these misconceptions, inclusion of these outgroups into culturally inclusive curriculum is critical. With the power that children’s literature has on empathy, attitudes, and comprehension, classroom libraries should consider including transgender and gender nonconforming titles into teacher resources and classroom libraries. Many positives can come from the power of children’s literature, but there also lies the chance to fall into new and/or unique pitfalls that affect the elementary classroom, such as gender stereotyping. Therefore, this thesis analyzed transgender and gender nonconforming titles for elementary classrooms for trends and themes. 30 titles total were analyzed with 21 being selected to represent the ideals found in transgender and gender nonconforming children’s literature.

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