Its Discipline and Content

by Bernice E. Cullinan

Elementary school teachers and librarians are accustomed to viewing the field of children's literature as one that contains a wealth of materials with which to enhance the curriculum for elementary school children. Public librarians in children's rooms are forced to recognize the uses of literature in all areas of the curriculum, for they are bombarded with requests for books about space travel, pioneers, and community helpers. The practice of using literature to extend, enrich, and enlarge the curriculum illustrates a utilitarian concept that minimizes literature as an art form. Literature certainly does enrich the total curriculum; however, it would be neglecting a primary value of literature for children if this was where the study of literature stopped. A curriculum in literature should be built on the body of content and discipline of children's literature. It can be structured in a variety of ways such as, for example, through a study of the divisions of literature, its themes, and forms. What is proposed here is that the structure of the curriculum in literature be determined by the elements of literature the form, the components of plot structure, characterization, setting, theme, and the literary devices. The purpose of this book is not to design a comprehensive curriculum in the discipline and content of literature, for that would require an examination of all literary forms, all components, and all elements of writing style. Rather, the proposals made here are illustrative, not comprehensive, ones for developing a literature curriculum. Since this is a preliminary attempt to construct a literature curriculum based on literary elements, only narrative fiction will be examined.

108 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1971

About the author

Bee is a professor emeritus of reading and children's literature at New York University, and since 1990 she has served as editor in chief of the Wordsong poetry imprint at Boyds Mills Press. She has served as president of the International Reading Association and on numerous award committees, including those for the Caldecott Award and the Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Award.

In addition, Bee has received many awards and honors of her own. In 1989 she was inducted into the Reading Hall of Fame and received the Arbuthnot Award for Outstanding Teacher of Children's Literature. She is the 2003 recipient of the NCTE Outstanding Educator in Language Arts award. Bee is the author of the classic text Literature and the Child, as well as many other books, including Read to Me: Raising Kids Who Love to Read.