Children’s Literature in the Classroom

Children’s literature is a powerful resource that can inspire a young reader’s lifetime love of reading, but how can you ensure that your literacy teaching uses this rich creative world to its fullest?

This book gives pre-service primary teachers an in-depth guide to each major type of children’s book, examining the form, structure and approach of each. From fairy tales and non-fiction to picture books and digital texts, learn what qualities underpin outstanding children’s literature and how you can use this to inspire rewarding learning experiences in your classroom.

Key features:

Each chapter is full of key book recommendations to help you select excellent age-appropriate texts for your learners

An international focus across English-language publishing, covering key books from Australian, US and UK authors

A special focus on Australian indigenous children’s literature

Busting popular myths about children’s literature to give you a deeper understanding of the form

Evaluation criteria for every genre, helping you to recognise the qualities of high quality books

This is essential reading for anyone training to teach in primary schools and qualified teachers looking to improve their professional knowledge.

Matthew Zbaracki is State Head of Victoria in the National School of Education at ACU, Melbourne.

Formerly of the University of Colorado and Rhode Island College, Matthew D. Zbaracki has lived in Australia since 2008 and is State Head of Education, Australian Catholic University, Victoria. He is author of the book, Best Books for Boys, (Libraries Unlimited) and he is co-author of Language and Literacy published by Oxford University Press, and Listen Hear and Books and Beyond, both published by Heinemann. His 2015 book Writing Right with Text Types (Oxford University Press) won an Australian Educational Publishing Awards.