Relationship between children's development and literature
Ages 0-2
Ages 2-4
Ages 4-7 (Beginning Readers)
Ages 7-9 (Transitional Readers)
Ages 9-12 (Competent Readers)
Other relationships between children's literature and child development
Integration of their own opinion regarding the topic
Learning about culture heritage and other people
EmotionalIntelligence
Creativity
Timelesstradition
Children's literature is extremely valuable in both personal and academic development
Norton: '"Literature and the cultures of others is necessary for both social and personal development"'
Emotional Intelligence
Stories have the power to promote emotional and moral development
Children's literature "contains numerous moments of crisis, when characters make moral decisions and contemplate the reasons for their decisions," an important skill for children to see modeled
Creativity
Children's literature encourages creativity and nurtures and expands the imagination
Timeless tradition
Children's literature is of value because it is a timeless tradition, one in which books are the major means of transmitting our literary heritage from one generation to the next
Quality children's literature has the great power to captivate audiences for manygenerations
Children's literature is extremely valuable in both the schoolsetting and athome
Teachers and parents should both be able to differentiate between quality and mediocre literature, in order to give students access to the best books to encourage these important values of literature and considering developmental domains
Exposing children to quality literature can contribute to the creation of responsible, successful, and caring individuals
Classical World (Greek and Romans)
Characterized by oralstorytelling
Composed of Greek and Roman myths and epics
Children heard and presumably enjoyed the same stories as their parents, whether they were adventurous tales or cultural heroes
Fables emerged during those times through Aesop, with themes and characters that appeal to children and are often humorous and entertaining