Texts

y separately published work icon Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge Mem Fox , Julie Vivas (illustrator), Adelaide : Omnibus Books , 1984 Z830483 1984 single work picture book children's (taught in 4 units) Young W.G.M.P. wasn't very old but he lived next door to an old people's home and knew all the people there. He enjoyed their company but his particular favourite was Nancy Alison Delacourt Cooper because she too had four names. He tries to discover the meaning of "memory" so he can restore Nancy's memory.
y separately published work icon The Rabbits John Marsden , Shaun Tan (illustrator), Port Melbourne : Lothian , 1998 Z139449 1998 single work picture book children's (taught in 11 units)

"The rabbits came many grandparents ago.

They build houses, made roads, had children.

They cut down trees.

A whole continent of rabbits..." (back cover)

An allegorical story using rabbits, an introduced species, to represent the arrival of Europeans in Australia and the subsequent widespread environmental destruction.

y separately published work icon Memorial Gary Crew , Shaun Tan (illustrator), Port Melbourne : Lothian , 1999 Z15025 1999 single work picture book children's (taught in 4 units) 'A story to help us all remember ... When soldiers return from the First World War in 1918, a memorial tree is planted ... 'Lest we forget'. But generations later, what do those who pause in the shadows of the tree's immense branches remember?'
(Source: Back cover)
y separately published work icon Pookie Aleera Is Not My Boyfriend Steven Herrick , St Lucia : University of Queensland Press , 2012 Z1871356 2012 single work children's fiction children's (taught in 6 units) 'In a country town, in a school just like yours, the kids in Class 6A tell their stories. There's Mick, school captain and sometime trouble-maker, who wants to make the school a better place, while his younger brother Jacob just wants to fly. There's shy and lonely Laura who hopes to finally fit in with a circle of friends, while Pete struggles to deal with his grandpa's sudden death. Popular Selina obsesses over class comedian Cameron, while Cameron obsesses over Anzac biscuits and Pookie Aleera - whoever that is! For new teacher Ms Arthur, it's another world, but for Mr Korsky, the school groundskeeper, he's seen it all before.' Source: www.uqp.uq.edu.au/ (Sighted 02/07/2012).

Description

Children’s literature is an essential part of literacy education. This unit will introduce preservice teachers to the corpus of children’s literature that encompasses the variety of literary genres, contemporary melded genres, traditional tales, picture books, post-modern picture books, screen based literature and e-books as well as poetry. These will be considered from historical, socio-cultural and post-structural perspectives and will include multicultural literature. The unit is designed to develop and deepen preservice teachers’ knowledge of children’s literature and how it can be used to develop and enhance literacy competency and enjoyment. Contexts and strategies for responding to, thinking about and critiquing children’s literature within a basis of literary, semiotic and language theories will be considered. The unit will also consider Indigenous literature, enabling preservice teachers to acknowledge Indigenous Australians’ deep spiritual relationship with the land, and value and respect Indigenous cultures. It will offer opportunities to read widely, develop critical habits of mind, consider what constructs quality children’s literature, and to participate in discussions with deep understanding, within a framework that engages the social and ethical dimensions of study and research.

X