Book Selection Teaching Censorship
The motto on the homepage of Denise I. Matulka’s Imaginary Lands website wonderfully captures the goal all literature should strive to achieve: “…go anywhere you want to go…” The site links to the following:
Imaginary Lands links to the Picturing Books: A Website about Picture Books provides information about the history of and techniques utilized in picture books, practical uses thereof, and helpful links to various websites featuring picture books.
The Children’s Literature Navigator features the most extensive information of the three links from the Imaginary Lands homepage. This site features links to various age groups and genre, awards, characters, multiculturalism, activities, and multimedia resources, just a few examples of the many categories the user can explore, when selecting children’s literature.
Matulka provides
a definition of what consistitues international literature on her site
Passport: International Children’s Literature.
International literature is a concept she treats as separate and distinct from
multicultural literature. In addition to her guidelines for what constitutes an
international book, Matulka addresses how the aspect of language operates in
this genre, and touches upon the role of translation. Passport provides links
to resources specific to this type of literature and can be searched by various
regions of interest.
Developed in 1999 by the Public Library of Charlotte-Mecklenburg County
(Charlotte, NC),
Bookhive is a resource for children’s literature based
on the knowledge and reviews of the library’s staff. Allows users to search for
suggested books by topic and features booklists by age group. Allows the
opportunity for users to create and post their own booklist.
An excellent resource for selecting books based on particular criteria, The
Right Children’s Books:
Kid-Lit.com allows the user to search for appropriate
materials based on gender and age, reading level, subject matter, genre, and the
inclusion of a particular ethnicity. In addition to this very specific searching
mechanism, the user can also search by author, illustrator, or awards.
The Calendar of Children’s Books is a wonderful tool
for selecting literature specific to the various holidays, date-specific events
(going back to school, for example), and seasons throughout the year. Provides
links to each suggested text.
Notes from the Windowsill is an online book review
journal edited by Wendy E. Betts. Each volume is posted, free of charge, online
and contains book reviews of selected children's literature every other month.
The website also provides wonderful reading lists covering the traditional
categories such as poetry and nature as well helpful recommended reading lists
for sensitive topics such as adoption and "flipside families" addressing
difficult issues such as abandonment.
Ongoing Tales is an engaging website that features full-text stories spanning various genre - science fiction, fantasy, romance, to name a few!
The Database of Award-Winning Children's Literature, compiled by California State University, San Bernardino, CA librarian, Lisa Bartle, provides detailed information defining the search criteria available and descriptions of various awards featured on site.
The reading list featured on the Children's Book Council's website provides links to suggested reading based on an extensive variety of criteria.
The
University of Calgary provides Lots of Lists with
suggested reading based on a wide assortment of topics, genre, and intended
audience.
The Concordia University website contains helpful links on the topics of reading, in general, children’s literature, lexile tools for reading level assessment, curriculum and instruction.
The Educator’s Reference Desk is a helpful resource for brainstorming lesson plans. Provides links to suggested activities and materials to incorporate based on subject matter. The Language Arts link focuses on the various objectives of an English or Language Arts teacher including literature, reading comprehension, and writing.
Associated with the Busy Teacher’s Website, the English page provides references to WebPages featuring lesson plans and activities - both general and fairly specific - that could be catered to and incorporated into the user’s own preparation and lesson plan.
Leader in children's publisher, Scholastic, Inc. provides useful resources and suggestions for teachers.
The National Council of Teachers of English provides guidelines, standards, and current developments while acting as a forum for educators in this particular subject matter. The site also extensively addresses the very real threat of censorship and discusses the issue of intellectual freedom.
The New Jersey Department of Education provides state-specific information regarding requirements, standards, and program initiatives. One such literacy-based program included on the site is the NJ Literacy Initiative which began in 2002.
When in need of some inspiration to get students motivated to learn and enthusiastic about their education, this page as well as this page will provide some encouraging quotations.
PBLnet centers on project-based learning, providing links on PBL research, standards, assessment including access to sample rubrics. The site contains a variety of sample projects regarding a number of topics.
Melissa Kelly's article discusses the measures educators can take to protect their curriculum and offers some suggestions as to ways they can be prepared for potential challenges to their book choices.
The American Library Association website discusses the organization’s principle beliefs motivating the creation of Banned Books Week, the last week in September every year.
The full text of this court decision details a situation wherein a ninth-grade student’s parent challenged her daughter’s English curriculum and requested alternative assignments that did not contain “offensive” material. The books she challenged were Inherit the Wind, Man the Myth Maker, Of Mice and Men, and A Separate Peace. The decision explains one district’s formal procedure for such a challenge to curriculum.
This article featured on the PBS website addresses the challenges to and criticisms of Maurice Sendak’s work.
