scholarly journals Historical Material in Maurice Gee's The Fire-Raiser

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vivien Van Rij
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Children's Literature ◽  
World War I ◽  
Small Town ◽  
Children’S Literature ◽  
World War ◽  
Historical Material ◽  
Award Winning ◽  
Faculty Of Education

Award-winning New Zealand writer, Maurice Gee, has written five realistic novels for children, each set during a defining period in New Zealand history.  This essay examines Gee’s use in The Fire-Raiser of historical material, particularly that related to Nelson Central School and its lively headmaster, F. G. Gibbs.  Through his accurate reproduction of precise detail Gee vividly evokes small-town New Zealand during World War I.  But Gee also adapts historical material in order to pursue his ideal of balance.Vivien van Rij is a lecturer in Victoria University's Faculty of Education, specialising in children's literature and literacy.Correspondence about this article may be directed to the author at [email protected]

No More “Little Jews Without Beards”: Insights into Yiddish Children’s Literature in Eastern Europe Prior to World War I1

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathan Cohen
Keyword(s):  
Children's Literature ◽  
World War I ◽  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Children’S Literature ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
World War ◽  
Yiddish Literature ◽  
Young Readers ◽  
System A ◽  
Original Works

Abstract The first modern publications in Yiddish which were intended for young readers in Eastern Europe—either original works or translations from foreign languages—appeared at the turn of the twentieth century as the sporadic initiatives of a few writers. A more systematic literature for children in Yiddish started relatively late, and was linked to the developing Yiddish school system. A growing number of writers and cultural activists, including Sholem Aleichem and Y. L. Peretz, became gradually aware of the importance and need for appropriate literature for children. Within less than a decade, the Yiddish book market was enriched with a variety of publications focused upon young readers whose ages ranged between 5 and 12 years. These publications included many translations (or adaptations) from foreign languages—either directly or indirectly—as well as original works by known Yiddish writers. The first Yiddish periodicals for youngsters as well as textbooks also appeared then, prior to World War I. Yiddishists and publishers established publishing companies for this purpose and initiated pretentious projects of which few were realized, or even partly realized. The current article will review and examine the first initiatives for publishing Yiddish children’s literature and periodicals, who the initiators were and what their purpose was. Also, to what extent these publications were accepted, and their contribution to modern Yiddish literature.

scholarly journals A Selection of Relevant Portuguese Children’s Literature Published in the Period of World War I

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 247-259
Author(s):  
Sara Reis da Silva
Keyword(s):  
Children's Literature ◽  
World War I ◽  
Children’S Literature ◽  
World War ◽  
Young Readers ◽  
Nodal Points ◽  
First Republic ◽  
Critical Approaches ◽  
Historical Periods ◽  
Selection Of

The systemic singularities of children’s literature seem to have determined the relative inconsistency of critical approaches based on historiography, where the “nodal points” are mainly of a temporal, topographical, institutional and figurative nature. One of the historical periods whose “historiographical reading” of literary outlines is incomplete and unsystematised corresponds to the timeframe between the beginning and the end of World War I. We will revisit some Portuguese authors and their works: O Navio dos Brinquedos [The Toy Ship] (1914) by António Sérgio, Era uma Vez[Once Upon a Time] (1916) by Maria Sofia Santo Tirso, and the “Polichinelo” [Punchinello] series (1918–1921) by Emília de Sousa Costa, published between 1914 and 1918, in an attempt to elucidate their technical singularities, and their most relevant ideothematic lines. Falling under the category of First Republic literature, these texts betray aesthetic sensibilities and very different ideologies, showing what was written for children and what young readers read in wartime.

Analysis of Latino award winning children’s literature

2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (5) ◽  
pp. 507-522 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeff Gomm ◽  
Melissa Allen Heath ◽  
Pat Mora
Keyword(s):  
Children's Literature ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Children’S Literature ◽  
Latino Children ◽  
Emotional Needs ◽  
Cultural Groups ◽  
Social Emotional ◽  
Children's Book ◽  
Children's Picture Books ◽  
Award Winning

In this article, we offer information about the specific challenges US Latino immigrant children face. We then determine which of these challenges are included in 72 award winning children’s picture books, specifically created for and/or about Latino children. Our analysis offers information to assist school-based mental health professionals, children’s librarians, educators, and parents in prescriptively selecting books that align with Latino children’s social emotional needs. Additionally, we analysed each book’s proportion of Spanish/English text and described the book’s targeted age level and Horn Book Guide rating. From our perspective, books containing colorful illustrations that include Latino children, realistic situations, familiar Spanish words and phrases, and true-to-life characters help Latino children engage and identify with these stories. Children’s book author Pat Mora also explains her perceptions of quality children’s literature. Although this article is specific to Latino children’s literature, implications are offered that generalize to other ethnic and cultural groups that are typically underrepresented in children’s literature.

Reclaiming the Past, Building a Future: Māori Identity in the Plays of Hone Kouka

2001 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Peterson
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
World War I ◽  
The Other ◽  
World War ◽  
The Past ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
Rural And Urban ◽  
The Future ◽  
The 1960S

Hone Kouka's historical plays Nga Tangata Toa and Waiora, created and produced in Aotearoa/New Zealand, one set in the immediate aftermath of World War I, and the other during the great Māori urban migrations of the 1960s, provide fresh insights into the way in which individual Māori responded to the tremendous social disruptions they experienced during the twentieth century. Much like the Māori orator who prefaces his formal interactions with a statement of his whakapapa (genealogy), Kouka reassembles the bones of both his ancestors, and those of other Māori, by demonstrating how the present is constructed by the past, offering a view of contemporary Māori identity that is traditional and modern, rural and urban, respectful of the past and open to the future.

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