Books written for children emerge from specific and complicated social and historical contexts, as do the children (and adults) who read these books. In recent years, the world of children's books has been rocked by productive debates about the kinds of stories told and the identities of the voices telling those stories. In this class, we will read a wide assortment of books written (both long ago and very recently) for children, with particular attention paid to books addressing the experiences of Native, Latinx and African American children in the United States. We will also read scholarly, critical, and theoretical articles as we engage with our texts. Assessment will be based on class participation, written papers, and exams.

In this class we will take children's books seriously, both as artistic texts and as documents of their time. In Slavic 49AC we study the complicated social and historical contexts from which children's books emerge. Even as “classics” of children’s literature (such as Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House on the Prairie) have been both vigorously attacked and defended in recent years, critics have pointed out that historically there has been a lack in the United States of books about underrepresented communities written by members of that community. We will read a wide assortment of books written for children, with particular attention paid to books depicting the experiences of Native American, African-American, and Spanish-speaking children in the United States. Since children’s books have become such a lightning rod in recent years, we will have many chances in this class to practice examining controversial topics with open minds and from many different perspectives. Expect a reading load of about a novel a week and numerous in-class writing assignments.

Repeat Rules

Course is not repeatable for credit.

Requirements class fulfills