In the previous theme taken up by ELI, we discussed issues related to multilingualism, the challenges surrounding it, and how we could use multilingualism as a resource in classrooms. Various blog pieces and other resources have provided some answers and raised further questions to think about. We now move on to our second theme on Children’s Literature.

Why take up Children’s Literature as a theme on a website related to Early Literacy? Is there a relationship between the two? The ELI team believes that Children’s Literature should be a central and essential part of early literacy curricula and wishes to raise awareness about and interest in the same. We will do this through our blogs and resources on the topic, as we did with Multilingualism.

A few pertinent questions guide this quest: What is Children’s Literature? Why Children’s Literature? What makes for good Children’s literature? Why would we want to consider it as a useful resource in a language and literacy classroom? Should it be reduced to a mere resource? And so on. We explore some of these questions through our blog pieces; while, we provide a curated and annotated set of resources to help you explore answers to others. As we explore the above questions and many others, our hope is that we reach a certain level of shared understanding of the role of Children’s Literature in a language and literacy classroom. Do we need to sharpen our understanding of the same? The answer would obviously be an emphatic yes! We have therefore contacted librarians, teachers, teacher educators, reviewers of children’s books, publishers, and more, to bring you a sampling of their ideas.

Stories form an important part of children’s literature; but, it is important to remember that literature includes both fiction and non-fiction. Good literature has an aesthetic quality to it that sets it apart from other writing—say, of textbooks that are used routinely in classrooms. Literature has the potential of introducing children to worlds that they may have never seen or heard of, even as it allows them to relate these to their own lives and reflect on them. Children can also be invited to understand the elements of stories – for example, plot, characters, theme, setting, values, language use, and so on. These can be used to deepen both their understanding of the story, as well as of their appreciation of the literary qualities of the text.

As our first blog piece, we put up an English translation of Shailaja Menon’s article in Bhasha Boli, “Supporting early language and literacy through children’s literature”. As its title suggests, this piece considers the place of children’s literature in the early language and literacy classroom. It engages with the question –what is literature? And why do early language classrooms need literature? What kinds of literature are suitable for young children? It ends by considering how literature can be used productively in the early language classroom.

The next piece by Usha Mukunda pushes the conversation forward by asking: how does one know that a child is “ready” to read a particular book? Does a child’s age matter when she reads a particular book? Should librarians, teachers, parents keep a close and keen eye on who is reading what, and whether they are reading “above” their levels of understanding?

Usha Mukunda is a noted children’s librarian who has also written several pieces on the idea of starting “open libraries”. You could learn more about the idea of “Open Libraries” in our resources section here.

Effectively engaging children with children’s literature includes critically reflecting on the portrayal of characters and the unfolding of the events in stories. Jane Sahi’s blog piece will discuss how children are portrayed in children’s literature, along with examples of some Indian authors of children’s literature who represent children as resilient, insightful and receptive learner. Shelby Wolf’s wonderful book, “Interpreting literature with children” will serve as an important resource to engaging young children with literature in the classroom. The annotation of this book can be found here.

Vidya Mani’s piece takes us on a historical journey of the evolution of children’s literature in India in the English language. The time period she explores is post-independence.

It comes naturally to Indian teachers and parents to want to use literature to teach children “good values” through morals. Our Panchatantra and Jataka Tales, for example, all end with brief morals that are meant to educate and guide children. Maitri Vasudev takes issue with this- should literature be used to teach morals to young children? Are morals and values the same thing? Can stories model values to children without teaching morals?

Harshita Das will share her experience as a teacher who used children’s literature extensively in her classrooms and how she will continue to cherish each such interaction. She speaks of how she was not only a witness to the huge possibilities for success in a language classroom but also how it helped build a special bond with each child which she carries till date. 

This is just a glimpse of some of the blog pieces and resources, and will evolve as the blog continues. We urge you to actively engage with the blog posts and share your thoughts. Please feel free to send in blog pieces of your own, or suggest resources we may have overlooked. The team will moderate and facilitate the discussion. Different perspectives would lend to a deeper understanding of aspects of children’s literature.