UNM LLSS 443 CHILDREN'S LITERATURE

BOOK GENRES

• AUTOBIOGRAPHYis a form of non-fiction about the life and work of a person written by that person.
• BIOGRAPHY is a form of non-fiction based on the life a real person written by someone else.
• FANTASY (MODERN FANTASY) requires readers to "suspend their disbelief" as the imaginative story unfolds in chapter book format. Modern Fantasy stories rely on the premise that the content could not really happen in real life.

  EXAMPLES: Charlottes Web, Winnie the Pooh, Alice in Wonderland, Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, and The Wizard of Oz.

• FOLKLORE (Traditional Folklore) stories that are passed down from generation to generation, changing slowly over time are called traditional literature.  In many ways, this is what makes them so fascinating - they provide a link between the past and the future. 
  • Folktales help explain things about life, nature and humanity.

   

  • Fairy Tales involve magic elements where good is rewarded and evil punished
  • Fables are short stories that teach lessons with a moral ending. Fables are credited to Aesop (6^th century)
  • Legends reveal the adventures and story of a person, place or thing.

   

  • Myths explain the world, natural phenomena and our relationship with origins of things, people and gods.
• GRAPHIC NOVELS (coined by Wil Eisner) are our beloved comic strips and comic books. Those bubbles of text describing what the character is saying, is this genre's trademark. Fiction or nonfiction book can be made into a graphic novel genre. EXAMPLES: Captain by Dave Pilkey & by Jeff Smith
• HISTORICAL FICTION

  stories revolve around a particular event, time period, circumstance. These stories are "written to portray a time period or convey information about a specific time period or an historical event." A youth's role is important in the development of the story and takes time to develop in a chapter book format. Characters may be fictional, or based on real-life characters. In historical fiction, the setting is crucial in telling the story because of its historical significance. EXAMPLES: Bud, Not Buddy, Stones in Water, Number the Stars, Esperanza Rising, Al Capone Does my Shirts.

• INFORMATIONAL or NON-FICTION "are designed to help readers learn more about real things.  They provide young readers information without the literary devises common to fiction."
• JAPANESE MANGA

  ("humorous pictures") is the Japanese comic book genre which is very popular among young and old in Japan and gaining popularity in America. Manga is typically made into Anime, the movie version of the comic book.

   

• PICTURE are 32 pages in format, capturing illustrations that fuse with the words creating a seamless symbiotic storytelling design that enthrall the imagination and cognitive delvelopment of children. Concept Books, Alphabet Books, Number Books, Storyboard Books are Picture Books.
• POETRY

  involves verse, rhythm, rhyme, writing styles, literary devices, symbolism, analogies, and metaphors natural to our storytelling sensibilities. Jack Prelutsky and Shel Silverstein are two of the most famous poets writing for children.

• REALISTIC FICTION

  "features main characters of approximately the age (or slightly older than) the book's intended audience.  The books present a real-world problem or challenge and show how a young person solves that problem.  By nature, children's realistic fiction is positive and upbeat, show young readers how they too can conquer their problems.  When written for young readers (up to 12 years old." Realistic fiction focuses on characters dealing with contemporary issues of which the reader will be able to relate. EXAMPLES: Authors such as Jerry Spinelli, Beverly Cleary, Gary Paulsen, Matt Christopher, Cynthia Leitich-Smith write in this genre.

• SCIENCE FICTION genre involves stories that are told in settings beyond the Earth's orbit and involve futuristic technology beyond our present limitations. Genre Rodenburry (Star Trek) and Ray Bradbury wrote in this genre.