Literacy Lessons From the Childhoods of Authors (original) (raw)

Exploring Connections between Childhood and Adult Literacy Experiences

1995

Three famous writers--Eudora Welty, Madeleine L'Engle, and Jack London--used their silent reading experiences to survive not only their childhoods, but also to become adult chroniclers of human lives. Pulitzer-prize winning author Eudora Welty credits an extended period of silent reading when she was 7 years old (and home from school for nearly a year) with the discovery of her author's voice. Madeleine L'Engle credits her observations of life and people for starting her on her journey to become a writer. Unlike Eudora, Madeleine had more than one period of solitude in her childhood, and Madeleine's solitude was coupled with the intense loneliness of an only child with physical problems and distant, frail parents. Solitude and loneliness intensified by the need to escape extr,,me poverty led Jack London to literacy. Jack loved books as much as he loved reading them. These three authors entered the world of literacy fueled by need: Eudora for entertainment during an extended illness; Madeleine to combat shyness and loneliness; and Jack to survive emotional rejection and poverty. Adults must give children uninterrupted time to discover silent reading and to discover themselves through books. It is up to adults to give children both the time and the safety to find the way to adulthood. (RS)

Exploring Education and Children's Literature

2014

Literature does not necessarily mean education. Literature is, above all, a cultural and artistic product made for readers to enjoy. Consequently, children’s literature should also be considered a cultural and artistic product that can appeal to young readers. However, as the title of this chapter suggests, is it also possible to use literature as an educational tool? The aim of this paper is to discuss the relationship between children’s literature and education and how both disciplines can be linked through the development of literary competence at a young age.

Childhood and Literature

International Journal of Innovation, Creativity and Change, 2023

In this paper we analyze the diverse relationship between childhood, as a fundamental stage of human development, and literature, which presumably requires knowledge of language in a way that exceeds the original infants' capacities. Yet, there is a sort of childhood inside the field of literary expression, Again, the moment when an author or artist begins, mostly in the adolescence, the artistic expression by means of words. Childhood exists as a theme in a variety of literary works. So, at the end we have a metaphoric unity of the origin of human life and the first steps in literature, both as topical in the writing process.

My serendipitous career in children’s literature

2013

Criticism on children's literature, awards to children's literature, literary analysis on children's literature, College teaching on children's literature, school librarian, diversity in children's literature, advocacy for children's literature. * Académica y jurado en importantes premios otorgados en los Estados Unidos a los mejores libros e ilustraciones dentro de la literatura infantil y juvenil como son el Phoenix, Caldecott, Sibert y Newbery.