Language Arts, Vol. 84, No. 3, January 2007

Table of Contents

Issue Theme: Children's Literature in the 21st Century

• Thoughts from the Editors

  Laurie Katz, Patricia Enciso, Barbara Z. Keifer, Detra Price-Dennis, Melissa Wilson

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  Abstract: Abstract for this article is currently not available.

  Keywords: Elementary

• "How Could That Be?": Reading Banyai's Zoom and Re-zoom

  Sylvia Pantaleo

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  Abstract: This article examines how Grade 5 students read and responded to two wordless picturebooks by Istvan Banyai, Re-zoom (1995) and Zoom (1995). Analysis of the students’ written responses revealed that they wrote about the books’ structure and format, as well as their sense/meaning making processes.

  Keywords: Elementary

• Santa Stories: Children's Inquiry about Race during Picturebook Read-Alouds

  Jeane F. Copenhaver-Johnson, Joy T. Bowman, and Angela C. Johnson

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  Abstract: Two first-grade teachers and a university researcher study children’s inquiry-oriented responses to literature to better understand how children’s experiences during read-alouds (and in related, later conversations) help them enlist others in their efforts to make sense of race.The authors argue teachers should be making spaces for children’s curiosities about race, and teachers should be inquirers alongside children as they make meaning of complex issues of diversity.

  Keywords: Elementary

• Proceed wiith Caution: Using Native American Folktales in the Classroom

  Debbie Reese

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  Abstract: The author contrasts picturebook retellings of Native tales with the original stories to illustrate that selecting Native American folktales for use in the classroom is a more complex task than simply pulling a book off the shelf.

  Keywords: Elementary

• A New Way to Look at Literature: A Visual Model for Analyzing Fiction and Nonfiction Texts

  Penny Colman

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  Abstract: This article explores the limited and inconsistent use of nonfiction books in classrooms and offers a visual model for analyzing fiction and nonfiction texts that disrupts the traditional binary of fact and fiction and helps assure that students are exposed to the full range of high-quality literature.

  Keywords: Elementary

• Call for Manuscripts

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  Abstract: Abstract for this article is currently not available.

  Keywords: Elementary

• Focus on Policy: Libraries as 21st-Century Learning Places

  Caroline Ward

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  Abstract: Caroline Ward, Coordinator of Youth Services at The Ferguson Library in Stamford Connecticut, comments on the policies and projects currently in place in public libraries around the country. She points out that the Association of Library Services to Children makes it clear that children’s librarians must do more than simply provide age-appropriate service. Children’s librarians must also be advocates for their clientele both within the library and the larger society. Several examples of this advocacy are cited.

  Keywords: Elementary

• Research Directions: A Unique Visual and Literary Art Form: Recent Research on Picturebooks

  Carol Driggs Wolfenbarger and Lawrence R. Sipe

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  Abstract: The authors consider recent research that examines characteristics of the unique visual and literary art form of picturebooks and the ways in which readers respond to these books before exploring the means by which this research informs best classroom practice.

  Keywords: Elementary

• Profiles and Perspectives: An Interview with Poet Nikki Grimes

  Sylvia M. Vardell and Peggy Oxley

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  Abstract: Poet and novelist Nikki Grimes talks about her background, her influences, her life as a writer, and her thoughts on sharing poetry with children.

  Keywords: Elementary

• Professional Book Reviews: Exploring the Role of Children's Literature in the 21st Century Classroom

  Jodene Kersten, Laura Apol, and Jann Pataray-Ching

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  Abstract: The overwhelming use of commercially produced reading programs in elementary classrooms suggests that literature, beyond abridged versions in anthologies, is not necessarily valued. The reviewers have sought out professional resources that successfully argue the contrary by making compelling arguments for: (1) integrating an arts-based approach to literature as part of a comprehensive literacy program, (2) using literature to prompt and support children’s inquiries of the world in a classroom guided by critical literacy; and (3) maximizing the connection between literature and literacy by developing students’ passion for reading.

  Keywords: Elementary

• Children's Literature Reviews: Read-Alouds Worth Remembering

  Patricia E. Bandré, Lesley Colabucci, Linda T. Parsons, and Eun Hye Son

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  Abstract: The reviewers have selected books that acquaint students with exceptional writing, allow them to hear beauty, cadence, and precision of language, and explore the world through the lives and experiences of the characters.

  Keywords: Elementary

• In Closing . . .Children's Literature in a Post-Katrina World

  April Whatley Bedford

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  Abstract: The author reflects on the role of reading and the power of children’s literature to help children and families heal after the Hurricane Katrina disaster.

  Keywords: Elementary

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