Through the Eyes of a Child: An Introduction to Children's Literature

by Donna E. Norton, Saundra E. Norton

No text better prepares you for evaluating, choosing, and sharing quality children’s literature than Through the Eyes of a Child: An Introduction to Children’s Literature. This streamlined eighth edition continues to provide a visually stunning, theoretically sound, comprehensive overview of children’s literature. Sharpened focus on contemporary issues in the field, deepened coverage of biography and informational books, and newly integrated technology give this new edition added relevance in the changing field. In addition to the text's contemporary and valuable information on literature for younger readers, some of the brightest stars of children’s literature lend their talents to the new edition, providing insight into the craft and addressing the changing needs of middle grades readers.

Genres: Nonfiction, Education, Textbooks, Reference, Childrens

558 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1990

Reviews

[Terri Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took me a while to drag myself through this. There are many things I loved about it but then again, some other things forced me to reduce the stars I could give it.

On the one hand, this book has gorgeous illustrations from children's books throughout history and current books as well. I love children's book art! I also enjoyed reading about a wide variety of children's books and finding some interesting titles I want to read.

The downside is that essentially this book just lists one book after another. There is no true depth or analysis. For example, when talking about picture books, it is mentioned that they can be on concepts. Page after page after page lists the concepts that can be in a children's picture book (alphabet, colors, numbers, etc) and then a huge number of books on each subject are described. Each single concept got its own section which was overkill to the extreme.

Whoa! Are we so stupid we don't know that concept books can cover concepts and do we really need huge numbers of examples. It's like reading a damned catalog.

Under easy readers, we learn that kids just learning to read need to practice with simple, vocabulary controlled books. Really? I never would have figured THAT out all by myself. Then there is a long procession of easy readers listed catalog style (oh help!) with deeply fascinating and never-to-be-imagined-in-a-million-years zingers about how kids like books with animals in them and that is why Dr. Seuss wrote books about a Cat in a Hat. Well, good grief Charlie Brown, don't let Snoopy hear this piece of news or you'll never be able to live with him.

The book is long and much like a beautifully illustrated catalog but if you want insight into children's literature and why they love it, you're better off just asking some kids.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the textbook we used in my children's literature class during my first graduate program. This gives an overview of different genres of literature. I recall enjoying the book at the time, thus the three-star rating. Looking through the book now, there's not much for me. It's quite possible that when I was a tabla rasa, anything was endeared while now seasoned, and perhaps a bit salty, there's little to be gleaned.

[Julie Tomek · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is for those interested in children's literature. I read it cover to cover for my Library Science studies and found it to be informative, I at times skimmed over the overviews of books themselves, though there is a great deal of interesting tidbits of each book. What I found was there were many repetitive information, though this may be so because it is a textbook and the the consideration that when being used in a setting where the whole book is not read, at least the information is covered. So that each chapter is stand alone, more or less.
I liked it, I think it well worth a read for those that work with children's literature. What would be helpful though, to reduce the need to keep repurchasing this book edition after edition is to remove material that would be dated such as the book reviews and just concentrate on the information. That would help improve the read of this book.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just finished reading this for my Children's Lit class. The chapters about picture books were a bit tedious to read. I felt more like I was reading a long book listing in paragraph form than information on how to choose and evaluate books. When it started getting into more YA books, I found it more interesting to read. I really enjoyed the class and felt that the book was a good learning tool for the curriculum, but I don't know if I would have gotten as much out of reading it had I not done the accompanying assignments.

[Cara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Once passed the first three chapters, which was all technical information, it really became interesting. It had a lot of good information about children's books: what age children should read certain books, activities, etc. I hadn't heard of many of the books and look forward to reading them to my son.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was an interesting introduction to children's literature and literary techniques. There are significant portions of the book that are simply quotes from other books and authors. While it makes for a well-rounded textbook, it makes reading very dry.

[Judy Pollard · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had to read this for a children's media class & found it to be written like a report/term paper. Boring and not much in the way of new information. I did well in the class but am so glad I didn't buy this book.

[Marti · Rating 4 out of 5]

As far as text books go, it was pretty good.