Harlem Children's Zone

I can agree with Meghan Cox Gurdon about one thing in the article, Darkness Too Visible; YA literature has become much darker than it was in 1967. So what? All of the topics she laments have taken over YA literature are certainly not new. Profanity, kidnapping etc. have been around a lot longer than 1967. Are some of these topics not appropriate for kids at age 13? Maybe not, but that is for a parent to decide. That is, if a parent is actually monitoring what their child reads. Most parents…

University of Toronto professor and researcher, Patricia A. Ganea, delves in and answers this question. In her article, “Do Cavies talk? The Effect of Anthropomorphic Picture Books on Children’s Knowledge about Animals”, she analyzes the impact of description of animals in pictures books and how that affects children’s conception and knowledge of animals.…

Mary Bisbee states, that In 1697, fairy tales existed first by oral tradition, then by the coined phrase in France, and Madame D’Aulnoy used the term in her collection to discuss issues of the day (Bisbee 17). Fairy tales are simply outrageous children’s short stories about dragons and fairies. However, some fairy tales teaching morality to people, particularly women and children. According to her book “The Classic Fairy Tales,” Maria Tatar states, that “Fairy tales register an effort on the…

"Beauty and the beast" key to survival Children’s books are important to help a child grow and satisfy a child’s imagination; it is Folk and Fairy tales that grants children of all ages the chance to gain confidence through each tale, as well as in the world that revolves around them. Bruno Bettelheim argues through his article "The struggle for meaning" that generally most folk and fairy tales are known to shape a child's life through maturity ; therefore, without stories like "Beauty and…

Fairy tales are mythical, and sometimes magical stories that have been told and passed on to children for centuries. The classic, uplifting Disney fairy tales that we all know and love, stray from the gruesome, but original storylines of the tales. Despite the fact that these fairy tales were meant to be told to innocent children, the early versions of the stories are quite ominous and much darker than the joyous Disney tales. In many fairy tales, the characters have deep psychological problems,…

The book “Dealing with dragons” was published in 1990 by Patricia C. Wrede. People’s childhood is creative, most of them dream about the character in the fantasy novel and defeat monsters. Wrede is an American fantasy writer from Chicago, and she had wrote a series of books about dragons and known as Enchanted Forest Chronicles series. From the 20th century to now, fiction novels are loved by teenagers, and these books become very popular. As a fiction novel, “Dealing with dragons” is one of…

The book A Series of Unfortunate Events: A Bad Beginning is a perfect book for all ages. There are 13 books in the series and each one has something different waiting to happen. In each book something bad happens to the children and then they have to go somewhere else and live with someone else, too. The books are great for all ages, but ages 11-14 would enjoy the book a bit more because it may make more sense to them. Some of the wording they use may also be confusing to kids under the age 11…

properly, and only a small amount of duties were seen as being too much for a child. However, you’re probably thinking to yourself that these children never had any time to play/weren’t allowed to play, and I can for sure tell you that is false. “Children’s toys were almost always handmade by the family. These toys included dolls, tops and…

A working definition of Folklore is the stories, legends, and tales of a specific culture. They can be seen in every civilization be it Greek, Roman, German, or otherwise; each creating tales that help to explain the unexplainable and represent ideals of said culture. Often times in these tales, women are seen as inferior and more likely to fall to vice. This trend can be seen in folklore across the world; Women are denigrated in various folktales for reasons to be discussed especially in…

For our cultural research project we chose to study the so-called “typical” stereotypes between males and females in young children's books. The books we picked to study were: Franklin’s School Play, Franklin and the Tooth Fairy, Clifford the Firehouse Dog, Arthur Babysits, Arthur’s Family Vacation, Arthur Meets the President, Arthur’s New Puppy, Arthur’s Pet Business, Arthur’s Tooth, Arthur’s Valentine, Arthur Writes a Story, Paul Bunyan, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, The Story of Johnny…