Showing papers in "Bookbird: A Journal of International Children's Literature in 2012"
Journal Article•
TL;DR: In this paper, a reader response study conducted with American high school students using Gene Yang's American Born Chinese is presented, which relates literary theory to graphic novels and relates the visual conventions of comic books to traditional print texts.
Abstract: Meshing print literacy and visual literacy, graphic novels exemplify a type of multimodal text demanding multimodal literacy skills. The comics format of graphic novels requires the reader to know the conventions that constitute the unique language of the medium. These visual conventions are comparable to genre conventions of traditional print texts. This article discusses these conventions and relates literary theory to graphic novels. It also presents a reader response study conducted with American high school students using Gene Yang’s American Born Chinese.
12 citations
Abstract: This article examines literature for children and young adults that depicts the devastation of natural disasters, particularly the 2005 hurricane Katrina which hit the eastern United States and the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Especially for audiences of young children, representations of death and massive destruction can be a controversial enterprise. Focusing on three types of narratives—animal picture books, eye witness accounts, and young adult fiction—this study explores how children's and young adult literature navigates such difficult issues by retelling stories of large-scale disasters as scenarios of trauma and recovery.
12 citations
Journal Article•
TL;DR: The authors explored global issues and alternatives for taking action locally and globally through inquiries into human rights and hunger in a primary school, where literature played a key role in supporting these inquiries by offering demonstrations of authentic action.
Abstract: Children need agency in order to believe that they can take action and exert power in a particular situation. Their agency is often ignored in school projects directed by adults that result in charity rather than authentic action. In one primary school, teachers and children explored global issues and alternatives for taking action locally and globally through inquiries into human rights and hunger. Literature played a key role in supporting these inquiries by offering demonstrations of authentic action.
11 citations
TL;DR: The authors examines the novels of three writers who have made the appropriation of marginalized sensibilities the central premise of their historical fictions and considers how these writers ask what certain past events might mean for a marginalized group's understanding of its present interests and future prospects as well as asking how to reinvent Britain's past and present for those who are marginalized by a dominant ideology.
Abstract: To write for the young in twenty-first-century Britain is to engage with the highly charged discourses of race, identity, and history. Accordingly, this paper examines the novels of three writers who have made the appropriation of marginalized sensibilities the central premise of their historical fictions. It considers how these writers ask what certain past events might mean for a marginalized group’s understanding of its present interests and future prospects as well as asking how to reinvent Britain’s past and present for those who are marginalized by a dominant ideology.
6 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the concepts of dark secrets and therapeutic, authoritative, and critical voices are used to examine literature which confronts historical trauma and depicts the violation of childhood in Korean children's literature.
Abstract: During the period of Japanese colonization (1910-1945), especially during World War II, thousands of young Korean girls were forced to work as sex slaves in so-called 'comfort stations'. The silenced voices of Korean girls who were victimized and abused in this way have recently become an important topic in Korean children's books. This paper examines attempts to break that silence and to give voice to the young Korean victims of this atrocity in Korean children's literature. The teenage girls in these picture books and novels describe the trauma of their forced journeys, their systematic abuse and the difficulties they faced reintegrating into society afterwards. In this article, the concepts of dark secrets and therapeutic, authoritative, and critical voices are used to examine literature which confronts historical trauma and depicts the violation of childhood.
6 citations
Journal Article•
TL;DR: In children's illustrated books, the intertextual game is transported to the relationship between illustrations and text, particularly with older illustrations and figural representations as discussed by the authors, which encourages the young reader to use his or her store of knowledge in a new context, to compare plots and ideologies of stories and, more importantly, it makes them laugh.
Abstract: Literature as a constructed world of fantasy is a game in itself. In many cases, the game itself is the sought goal. Its aim is to turn the attention of the reader to the play of texts, how they interact and the inter-textual relationship. The game encourages the young reader to use his or her store of knowledge in a new context, to compare plots and ideologies of stories and, more importantly, it makes them laugh. In children's illustrated books, the intertextual game is transported to the relationship between illustrations and text, particularly with older illustrations and figural representations.
6 citations
TL;DR: Patrick Ness's Chaos Walking as mentioned in this paper is a trilogy of ideas obsessed with the experience and healing of trauma, using the conventions of speculative fiction to probe the relationship between the language of choice and the experience of trauma.
Abstract: Patrick Ness's Chaos Walking is a trilogy of ideas obsessed with the experience and healing of trauma. Using the conventions of speculative fiction to probe the relationship between the language of choice and the experience of trauma, Ness frames his representation of Holocaust-like trauma through his depiction of the collective memory and governance of the Land (the planet's indigenous inhabitants). As a result, Chaos Walking differs from many realist historical novels for young people that focus their narrative energy upon trauma as an individual psychological disorder. The trilogy's growing interest in its final two volumes upon the place of traumatic memory in the mind of the sole indigenous survivor of what is repeatedly referred to as genocide enables Ness to ask contentious questions about the healing of trauma, and how individual trauma differs from cultural trauma.
5 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that self-mutilation functions as an act of self-sacrifice to romantic hetero-normative narratives, and that cutting in the Canadian young adult novels As She Grows by Lesley Ann Cowan and Cheryl Rainfield's Scars is represented ambivalently, exposing both the potential for violence and for agency in selfmutilative acts.
Abstract: In spite of its history as an unintelligible activity in Western society, self-mutilation entered the discourse of childhood as a significant motif of feminine experience the moment children appropriated the fairy tale. Since then, it has functioned as a complex motif in literature, offering scholars an opportunity to identify the different ways troubling or disturbing subjects are treated based on the target audiences of texts. Taking "Cinderella" and "The Little Mermaid" as representative, this paper argues that self-mutilation functions as an act of self-mutilation functions as an act of self-sacrifice to romantic hetero-normative narratives. Meanwhile, cutting in the Canadian young adult novels As She Grows by Lesley Ann Cowan () and Cheryl Rainfield's Scars () is represented ambivalently, exposing both the potential for violence and for agency in self-mutilative acts. In their refusal of pathologization, representations of self-mutilation in YA fiction offer readers a ritualistic occasion for their own empathic resistance to the hegemonic incorporation of symbolic demands, encouraging the development of creative strategies for self-expression within dysfunctional societies.
5 citations
TL;DR: The Story of Tracy Beaker was published in 1991 and became the most widely read children's book by girls between the ages of 8 and 14 years, both in Britain and elsewhere as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: When I ask classes of 11-yearolds about their favourite authors, Jacqueline Wilson’s name invariably tops the list. Since 1991 when The Story of Tracy Beaker was published, Wilson’s popularity has steadily increased and in the twenty-first century she has become the most widely-read author by girls between the ages of 8 and 14 years, both in Britain and elsewhere. She has written more than 100 books, of which over 30 million copies have been sold in the Uk alone, and her work is translated into 34 different languages. She was the most borrowed author from libraries in the last decade, and in the BBc’s 2003 The Big Read poll, four of her titles were voted into the top 100 most popular books in Britain. Thirteen of her books have been adapted as plays for theatre or television since 2002 and Tracy Beaker is an ongoing television series. Marketing spinoffs, such as pencil cases, duvet covers, lampshades, diaries, continue to proliferate, and book-signings are a major media event; she is, in the words of the Independent newspaper, a “literary superstar.” So god, t’s exilaratig”: he Jaueline W ison Penom enon
2 citations
TL;DR: The Highway Rat as discussed by the authors is a picturebook inspired by the classic Alfred noyes poem The Highwayman, which is read aloud to a three-year-old in the audience.
Abstract: Mandy wheatley is a librarian with Plymouth City Council’s Library Service. Previously she has worked as a school librarian and for Schools’ Library Services in several parts of the U.K. She is a graduate of Sheffield University and she completed the University of Roehampton's M.A. in Children’s Literature in 2011. by MANDY wHEATLEY Audience participation is central to Julia donaldson’s approach to writing for children. So I make no apologies for opening this letter on her work with the viewpoint of a child in that audience. Take, for instance, Hannah Yeadon, who lives in the north of England and is very nearly three years old. Her latest library book is Julia donaldson’s picturebook The Highway Rat. This tale of a wicked robber rat is inspired by the classic Alfred noyes poem The Highwayman. Hannah doesn’t know that. But she does know the type of book that she likes. The Highway Rat, with its enticing cover, fits the bill. Listening to the book being read aloud is a noisy business involving dramatic gestures, expressions of disbelief and quite a few giggles. As the story unfolds, Hannah rocks to its rhyming beat. By the third reading, she is joining in with the Highway Rat’s refrain:
2 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the work of Michelle Paver, a relative newcomer in the world of children's literature, and discuss Paver's Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series in relation to recent developments in green fiction for children, and in particular, identify the series as part of a trend that asks readers not simply to be more aware of the natural world and its plight, but to go further and re-examine the nature of the relationship between humankind and the environment.
Abstract: This article examines the work of Michelle Paver, a relative newcomer in the world of children’s literature. The discussion specifically considers Paver’s Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series in relation to recent developments in green fiction for children, and in particular, identifies the series as part of a trend that asks readers not simply to be more aware of the natural world and its plight, but to go further and re-examine the nature of the relationship between humankind and the natural world.
TL;DR: Bergner et al. as mentioned in this paper described the Dunkel war in the Mond Schien Helle [it was dark outside, the Moon was bright]. Ed. Edmund Jacoby. Hildesheim: Gerstenberg, 1999. Print.
Abstract: No. 2 – 2012 | 27 SELECTED PUBLICATIONS • Als die Welt noch Jung War [When the World was New]. Text Jürg Schubiger. basel: beltz & Gelberg, 1995. Print. • Dunkel War’s der Mond Schien Helle [it was dark outside, the Moon was bright]. Ed. Edmund Jacoby. Hildesheim: Gerstenberg, 1999. Print. • Die Prinzessin Kommt und Vier [Th e Princess Arrives at Four]. Text Wolfdietrich Schnurre. berlin: Aufblau Verlag, 2000. Print. • Karlchen-Geschichten [Stories of Little Charlie]. Vienna: Carl Hanser Verlag, 2003. Print. • Frühlings-Wimmelbuch [Spring Wimmel-book]. Hildesheim: Gerstenberg, 2004. Print. ROTRAUT SUSANNE BERNER Germany ★ Illustrator
TL;DR: In contemporary British society images of a dangerous, feral underclass have taken root in popular culture although the reading middle classes know very little about the everyday lives of people who are routinely marginalised and stigmatised.
Abstract: In contemporary British society images of a dangerous, feral underclass have taken root in popular culture although the reading middle classes know very little about the everyday lives of people who are routinely marginalised and stigmatised.
Journal Article•
TL;DR: The authors used traditional models for British children's nonfiction to focus on areas of citizenship, identity, and history, but by redefining the boundaries between nation/outsider, self/other, and insider/outider, have created new spaces for British identity and citizenship.
Abstract: Prior to the twenty-first century, nonfiction picture books in Britain rarely focused on the Black British community. As twenty-first-century Britain struggles to define itself, the education system is one way of institutionalizing and standardizing what it means to be British. By aligning with the National Curriculum standards, publishers of children’s nonfiction have found ways to negotiate boundaries and re-envision meaning. Recent texts have used traditional models for British children’s nonfiction to focus on areas of citizenship, identity, and history, but by redefining the boundaries between nation/outsider, self/other, and insider/outsider, have created new spaces for British identity and citizenship.
TL;DR: In this article, the past is represented as intruding on the present either in the form of "ghosts" and memories, or in memory traces, and total psychological recovery is presented as being impossible, although all four protagonists are in a better mental state at the close of each novel than they were at the beginning.
Abstract: Several recent examples of teen trauma fiction from North America and Australia depict teen protagonists enduring a range of symptoms as a consequence of trauma experienced earlier in their lives. Each protagonist is represented as experiencing his or her own individual trauma, but they share a similar range of symptoms, such as disturbed sleep patterns, a lack of control over their lives, shattered social relationships, indirection and, at times, a seemingly inexplicable inability to act. The past is represented as intruding on the present either in the form of "ghosts" and memories, or in the form of "memory traces." Total psychological recovery is presented as being impossible, although all four protagonists are in a better mental state at the close of each novel than they were at the beginning. The protagonist is assisted by someone outside the family, who guides them towards recovery and enables them to strengthen his or her sense of self.
Journal Article•
TL;DR: Sis has won worldwide acclaim for his illustrated books as discussed by the authors, which include use of visual metaphors, symbolism, and art historical allusions, including the imagery of primary documents such as distressed paper and diary entries.
Abstract: Peter Sis has won worldwide acclaim for his illustrated books. His techniques include use of visual metaphors, symbolism, and art historical allusions. Many of his books incorporate the imagery of primary documents such as distressed paper and diary entries. His work ranges from playful to mysterious and invites close reading and multiple interpretations. In his narrative choices and pictorial content Sis emphasizes themes of political and intellectual freedom.
TL;DR: Huenemann et al. as discussed by the authors used a number of specialist psychiatric terminology, such as well-contained, disintegration, and latency age, to describe children's experiences of trauma.
Abstract: use of specialist psychiatric terminology. The authors use a number of terms (such as “well-contained,” “disintegration,” and “latency age”) that stem from their training in Freudian psychoanalytic theory and clinical psychology. These terms should be used sparingly, with a stronger reliance on a more colloquial vocabulary for the non-clinical readership. Once into the actual case studies, the structure becomes easier to follow, but the narratives seem excessively lurid; parents of traumatized children will perhaps not want to read such vivid descriptions of trauma. The “Aftermath” sections are theoretically sound, but list numerous case studies followed by an overarching discussion which does not sufficiently draw on the individual studies directly, and again leads to overgeneralization and confusion. A more powerful approach would be to present a smaller number of exemplary case studies individually, and discuss the theoretical and practical implications of each before moving on to the next study. While the introduction speaks across cultural boundaries to trauma as a human experience, the case studies as well as the factual information included in the text are specific to a South African context. While this specificity renders the text more useful for its South African readership, it does diminish the universality of the authors’ message that is suggested by the introduction. Overall, How Children Experience Trauma fails to achieve the admirable goals it sets forth. Rewritten with more careful attention to the needs of its target audience (that is, parents, not clinicians), this book could be quite valuable. Karyn Huenemann, Simon Fraser University, Canada
TL;DR: Paul Fleischman as discussed by the authors was one of the first children's book authors to win the Newbery Medal for children's literature, for his book Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices.
Abstract: born in 1952, Paul Fleischman grew up in Santa Monica, California, in a family that cultivated his creativity from an early age. His father, the author Sid Fleischman, would read his stories to Paul as a child as they were being written, and the entire family took an interest in listening to and playing music. Working with his family’s hand printing press gave Fleischman experience in arranging and shaping words, which would later become a major focus of his poetry. Listening to the short-wave radio taught him that sounds in any language can be beautiful. initially Fleischman had no interest in writing books, but had a deep appreciation for writing music. it was when he was thinking about what to do with his life after graduation from the University of New Mexico that his father suggested that he should try to write. As a result, Fleischman wrote his fi rst children’s book, Th e Birthday Tree. While getting started as a writer and developing his own voice, he worked many jobs including bookstore clerk, bagel baker, and textbook proofreader. His works range from poetry, short stories, and novels, to picture books, non-fi ction, and a play. He was awarded the Newbery Medal in 1989 for his book Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices. For Fleischman, writing is a kind of music. Th e sounds of words are just as important as their meanings, and he constantly endeavors to create not only poetry, but also prose that is rhythmically appealing to the ear. because of this, his work is often painstaking, and although he may often only fi nish one page per day, it is a well-polished page. in his Newbery acceptance speech, Fleischman referred to himself as “playing in the vast sandbox of the English language,” and his playful writing technique allows him to create stories, poetry, and plays that children can interact with and take pleasure in reading. Th ere is a strong sense of community in Fleishman’s work that develops through the multiple voices that he weaves together in various patterns and styles. Paul Fleischman often builds his stories for children around a metaphorical center. Th e themes he deals with are universally relevant. He sees performance in both texts and real life, creating characters with a growing awareness of themselves and the greater world they live in, an awareness that he passes on to the reader. it is a combination of this accessibility and innovative style that has won Fleischman’s work multiple awards and accolades. Samantha Christensen PAUL FLEISCHMAN United States of America ★ Author
Journal Article•
TL;DR: The Khmer Rouge regime quickly rose to power and attempted to rebuild cambodia based on communist china under Mao Zedong, forcing workers into rural areas and eliminating Western medical advancements as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: cambodia is a monarchical country in Southeast Asia with a population of approximately fifteen million, and the country has faced an enormous amount of internal adversity throughout history. The country struggled to achieve independence from a near one hundred-year rule by France, and after much hardship and war, the country gained independence in 1953. After the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, cambodia faced debilitating drought that destroyed much of the agriculture and led to famine across the country. The khmer Rouge regime quickly rose to power and attempted to rebuild cambodia based on communist china under Mao Zedong, forcing workers into rural areas and eliminating Western medical advancements. It is estimated that anywhere from one to three million cambodians were killed under the khmer Rouge regime due to executions, starvation, or disease. cambodia was then occupied by Vietnam, and was not granted independence until 1993. considering cambodia’s difficult colonial past, it is no surprise that the country struggles with literacy Pr om ot in g Li te ra cy in
Journal Article•
TL;DR: The use of picturebooks in the primary English classroom is discussed in this paper, where the authors present a discussion on Spanish children's literature and teaching reading at teacher training centers and Spanish universities.
Abstract: Martín nieves Rogero is Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of teacher training and Education at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. She lectures on Spanish children's literature and teaching reading at teacher training centers and Spanish universities. Laura Viñas Valle is Lecturer at the Faculty of Education of toledo (Universidad de Castilla La Mancha), where she teaches English as well as courses on the use of picturebooks in the primary English classroom. She holds a Phd on Roald dahl from Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. by LAURA ViñAS VALLE and MARtín n. RoGERo
TL;DR: Burnham's first picture book was Borka: The Adventures of a Goose with No Feathers (1963) and it remains one of his most loved picture books with its delicious blend of realism and fantasy as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: J Burningham, the British candidate for the 2012 Hans christian Andersen prize for illustration, has been a prolific author-illustrator of picture books, producing more than a book a year for over half a century. His works appeal to children, adults, critics, and teachers in different but overlapping ways. Although he claims “I am not thinking about [children] when I do this at all. I never do anything differently because it’s for children. I am not trying to make a landscape that children can understand. I am just making a landscape” (qtd. in Jones), he is revered precisely for his ability to make complex ideas and emotions accessible to his young readers. Burningham’s debut picture book was Borka: The Adventures of a Goose with No Feathers (1963), and it remains one of his most loved picture books with its delicious blend of realism and fantasy. Borka the goose is born without feathers, and so her mother knits her a grey woolen jumper to keep her warm, but she can never learn to fly. So when her companions migrate, Borka must make her way down the British coast without flying. She boards a ship and earns her passage by coiling ropes and picking up crumbs. She finally makes a home for herself amongst the other unusual birds in kew Gardens. The key to Borka’s success, as Brian Alderson explains, is that the “low-key presentation of these preposterous events helps to suggest a complete normality.” This suggestion is evident not only in the story lines, but also in the illustrative technique as slightly different techniques are used to distinguish the “preposterous” from the expected. In the 1970s, the division is made manifest in Burningham’s two books about Shirley: Come Away from the Water, Shirley (1977) and Time to Get Out of the Bath, Shirley (1978). These counterpoint picture books use the gutter to separate the mundane world of the adult from the imaginative interior world of the child’s Lydia Kokkola is Professor of English and didactics at Luleå University of technology, Sweden. Her main areas of research include reading in a foreign language, trauma literature, and adolescent sexuality. by LYdiA KoKKoLA Th e “P re po st er ou sn es s”
TL;DR: Eoin Colfer (pronounced owen) was inspired to write while he was still in primary school when he learned about Viking history and after graduation returned to Wexford to be a primary school teacher as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Eoin Colfer (pronounced owen) was inspired to write while he was still in primary school when he learned about Viking history. He was born in 1965 in Wexford in the South-East coast of ireland, a town founded by the Vikings. His mother was a drama teacher and his father a primary school teacher, historian, and artist, so it is perhaps not surprising that he grew up with a love for the arts, an interest in history and a desire to teach. in dublin, Colfer earned his bachelor of Education degree and after graduation returned to Wexford to be a primary school teacher. From 1992 to 1996, Colfer and his wife worked in Saudi Arabia, italy, and Tunisia, where he got his inspiration for his fi rst novel, Benny and Omar, which was published in 1998 and won the White raven Award. Th e following year Colfer wrote a sequel, Benny and Babe, which was the fi rst of three of his books that have been shortlisted for the 2000 bisto book of the Year Award, signaling the beginning of Colfer’s career as a critically acclaimed author. Colfer has gone on to write 26 books, published in languages and countries from all over the world. He has won numerous awards, including the WH Smith People’s Choice Award, the irish World Literature Award, and the british book Awards Children’s book of the Year, among others. in 2009 he was honored to be commissioned to write the sixth installment of douglas Adam’s world famous Th e Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy saga, And Another Th ing... Artemis Fowl is probably the most famous of Eoin Colfer’s books and characters, and has played a huge part of his launch to literary superstardom. it is being developed into a fi lm by Miramax, an obvious transition as the novels’ engaging plot and the fast-paced tenor of the book are perfectly suited for the fi lm industry. Moreover, these fast and funny plots are matched by Colfer’s humorous and witty style of writing. He deals with diffi cult topics such as death, morality, poverty, and cultural diff erences in a way that is not overbearing, but accessible and palateable. it is this appeal that makes Eoin Colfer one of the forefront writers in his fi eld, and one of ireland’s bestselling children’s authors.
TL;DR: In countries with a high readership of graphic literature, such as France, comics serve as a crossover medium, bridging the gap between genres and age groups as discussed by the authors, with comics being used to initiate young readers into literary classics, mostly from the Western canon.
Abstract: In countries with a high readership of graphic literature, such as France, comics serve as a crossover medium, bridging the gap between genres and age groups. France has exploited the versatility of the medium, in the service of profit and, more notably, of cultural capital, with comics being used to initiate young readers into literary classics, mostly from the Western canon. The most striking example is the collection "Ex-Libris," published by Delcourt and directed by the comics writer Jean-David Morvan, which includes an adaptation of Victor Hugo's The Last Day of a Condemned Man , a work particularly well-suited for a young adult audience given that young adults and Romantic writers often share a similar sensibility and values: a passion for justice, a love of humanity and the natural world, and a fascination with the macabre. Stanislas Gros, the writer and illustrator of the adaptation, does not shy away from the darker aspects of Hugo's work, creating a work that is both engaging and authentic.
TL;DR: The Historical Dictionary of Children's Literature Studies as discussed by the authors is a good reference for children's literature for children, but its main contribution to a field increasingly well served by historical overviews of the subject must be in its inclusion of the latest (2008) information, which will be interesting to see how the Historical Dictionary stands up to the long overdue major revision of Carpenter and Prichard's Companion.
Abstract: professional—librarian, teacher—or the prospective scholar of literature for children. even so, its main contribution to a field increasingly well served by historical overviews of the subject must be in its inclusion of the latest (2008) information. It will be interesting to see how the Historical Dictionary stands up to the long overdue major revision of Carpenter and Prichard’s Companion, which is currently underway. Bridget Carrington, Editor, Journal of Children’s Literature Studies
Journal Article•
TL;DR: Melissa Garavini as mentioned in this paper is a Phd student at the University of turku who is writing her Phd thesis on Finnish-italian translations of the picture books of Mauri Kunnas.
Abstract: Melissa Garavini is a Phd student at the University of turku. She is writing her Phd thesis on Finnish-italian translations of the picture books of Mauri Kunnas. Her research interests include translation studies and picture books. She also teaches Finnish-italian translation courses at the University of turku. She graduated as interpreter and translator at the University of Forlì (Bologna). Her current project is funded by the Finnish Cultural Foundation. by MELiSSA GARAVini