classics

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Israeli Children’s Books: A Parent Perspective on the Classics

by Charlene Klassen Endrizzi, Westminster College, New Wilmington, PA

“Excellent literature educates… What makes it ‘educational’ is its
deep human content offered in an excellent artistic form.”

-Israeli children’s author, Miriam Roth, 1969.

hebrew cover 3, a parent perspective on the classicsDuring a recent trip to the Middle East, I set out to explore books Israeli parents share with their children. This journey grew out of a cross-cultural research project involving Israeli and American mothers reading to their Kindergarten children. I wanted to understand some of the books my research partner, Vered Vaknin-Nusbaum, plans to share with Jewish, Druze and Muslim families. My book informants included Vered, two colleagues from her college, Hagit and Yehuda, and three other Israelis, Sima, Janet and Britt. In the midst of excursions to various bookstores, these parents regaled me with literacy stories, thus deepening my understanding of the role of children’s books in their family lives.
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Giving New Life to the Classics

Connecting Themes, Characters, and Critical Issues across the Global Community

by Janelle Mathis, University of North Texas, Denton, TX

While I taught secondary English at both middle and high school levels during my early years of teaching, I soon focused more so on the middle school grades, and, in later graduate work with literature, elementary levels were a focus. However, in recent years teaching classes that include preservice secondary teachers, I have been forced to consider the classics and the ultimate goal of many of these—to teach the canon. Continue reading →