Learning with Literature in the Canadian Elementary Classroom

Dave Jenkinson is a professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba and the author of the “Portraits” section of Emergency Librarian.

Bainbridge and Pantaleo, academic staff members in Faculties of
Education at the University of Alberta and Queen’s, respectively, have
written a textbook that is aimed primarily at undergraduates in
language-arts “methods” courses but should be purchased for the
professional libraries of all of the nation’s elementary schools. A
first for Canada, the book combines information about children’s
literature with current methodologies for using (teaching) literature in
the classroom; the authors use principally Canadian examples to
illustrate both aspects.

The first six chapters focus on the literature and for the most part
follow a chronological (in terms of the age of readers) and genre
approach, beginning with picture books, and then moving on to
traditional tales and poetry, novels (including the various genres, such
as historical fiction and fantasy), multicultural and transcultural
literature, and nonfiction (including periodicals). With regard to
“teaching” literature, the authors write, “the book presents a
reader-response orientation to the study of children’s literature in
Canadian elementary classrooms, and our suggestions for learning
activities derive from that philosophical stance.” Bainbridge and
Pantaleo use classroom-tested examples to illustrate the points they
make in the book’s final three “practical” chapters.

The book’s “extras” include brief biographies of Canadian authors
and illustrators connected to chapters’ contents; “Reflection”
boxes that ask readers to become personally engaged with the text (for
example, by recalling their childhood responses to types of literature
or by commenting on a scenario provided by the authors); and a
generously annotated “Professional Resources” section at the end of
each chapter. Also found at chapters’ conclusions are lists of
categorized children’s/adolescent books, published through 1999, which
could serve as buying guides. Two appendixes provide listings of
Canadian children’s book awards (plus their winners) and children’s
literature Web sites. The pages of two-column text are occasionally
interrupted by black-and-white reproductions of book covers or photos
of—what else?—children engaged in reading. Highly recommended.