Selecting and Evaluating Children’s Literature- article review

After class on Thursday, and reading the article from the course ware package I am more interested in the evaluation of children’s literature. I would not say this is excitement that I am feeling, simply because I feel that the evaluation process is very difficult. There are so many different concerns when one evaluates children’s literature that one quick read through will not do. What makes good children’s literature? How good is my own personal library?
The answer to the first question requires reading the book, and looking at characteristics that each individual book has. I am now more prepared to take the criteria that we were given and examine the book from the variety of point of views. The ability to answer the questions and examine stories from a variety of point of views is important. The idea from the article that I found most interesting is the idea surrounding the First Nations people. In the article, we should be concerned with whether the First Nations people are included, but we should also be concerned with how they have been included. The First Nations people cannot be seen as savages or “child-like”. The idea of how First Nations people are represented in a story is something we should all be prepared to examine. Are they correctly represented from a cultural point of view? The article uses the example of a person of Navajo descent depicted as a First Nations person living on the plains of Canada or the United States.
I have gone through some of my own children’s books and was amazed to see that much of the books are for white anglo-saxons. I also realize that some of my books are “pulp fiction”, and could not be classified as good children’s literature.
The most difficult concept to deal with in the evaluation of children’s literature is where to begin. There is so much material out there, that it can be seen as overwhelming. I don’t have an answer for this. I am over whelmed by the numbers of books published already (many books we consider classics we should question- for example “The Indian in the Cupboard”), and new publications. I guess all we can do is be prepared to examine the books we use in our upcoming practicum and be prepared to change our minds over time. As beginning teachers we must be prepared to add and delete material as new and better material becomes available. This includes children’s books.