From: Megan Schliesman <schliesman_at_education.wisc.edu>
Date: Thu, 08 Nov 2012 09:02:59 -0600

Thanks to those of you who have started off our discussion by sharing perspectives or posing questions about when the past is history in children's and young adult literature.

I find all the comments made so far have me thinking, but I'm also aware all the comments shared so far reflect how we as adults ponder this. Can anyone share perceptions of how you think children or teens view might view this question?

I recently stumbled upon something my daughter was writing for school about 9/11. My sense is that to her, this is "history" even though it happened during her lifetime. I think in part this is because she was so young she can't actually remember that day, even though she's heard me and her dad talk about it.

Perhaps another question is whether it actually matters whether children/teens consider the topic of a book "history" or "contemporary"? What does matter, of course, is to what extent any work provides the context needed for readers to make sense of a story set in the past.

Megan

-- Megan Schliesman, Librarian Cooperative Children's Book Center School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison 600 N. Park Street, Room 4290 Madison, WI 53706

608/262-9503 schliesman_at_education.wisc.edu

www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/
Received on Thu 08 Nov 2012 09:02:59 AM CST