Exploring Children's Literature

Nikki Gamble is Director of Just Imagine, an organisation which seeks to promote literacy using high-quality children’s literature. Formerly a university lecturer and teacher, Nikki has worked in education for 40 years. She continues to work in schools on research and development projects. Nikki is co-author of the awards winning Guiding Readers: layers of meaning (UKLA Academic Book of the Year 2017).

This accessible, research-informed book speaks right to the heart of teachers. In this inspiring update, Gamble challenges us to question and debate to consider how we create passionate readers. What a delight to be encouraged as trainee teachers and primary practitioners to reflect on our personal reading journeys, to promote a culture of reading and to develop a love of literature.

• Part 1: Children′s Literature and Reading: What Counts as Knowledge?Chapter 1: Knowledge and Skills: The Contested SpaceChapter 2: Reading TeachersChapter 3: Patterns of Children′s ReadingPart 2: Knowing Children′s LiteratureChapter 4: Narrative and StoryChapter 5: Aspects of FictionChapter 6: Traditional Stories and Fairy TalesChapter 7: FantasyChapter 8: RealismChapter 9: Back in Time: Revisiting the Past through Children’s LiteratureChapter 10: Classic Children′s BooksChapter 11: PicturebooksChapter 12: Illustrated Fiction, Comics and Graphic NovelsChapter 13: Non-fictionChapter 14: The Pleasure of PoetryChapter 15: Humour: A Serious BusinessPart 3: Into PracticeChapter 16: The Reading School: Developing a Reading CultureChapter 17: The Reading Classroom