Current Master of Library Science student Jose Rincon led the book talk for the final session of SLIS S672 (Seminar on Literature for Youth). Jose is doing the Children's and Young Adult Services Specialization as a part of his MLS degree program. The display for the class was inviting. We asked instructor (and Specialization Director) Dana Backs for details, and we asked Jose Rincon to tell about the experience.

• from Dana Backs:

"This was the final class for S672. All semester the students were given a topic to present. The topics ranged from very emotional - self-esteem and eating disorders, to very fun - Adventure Stories. Because the class shared many personal stories to relay whether the books rang true to them, we all got to know each other on a fairly good basis.

The last class was on War and Upheaval, and again we shared a lot of personal stories and a lot of good books for children and young adults. Jose' did a great job of making the last day a real celebration of how this class evolved over the semester. I can truly say this was one of the best groups of students I've ever had. Every one of them took the class seriously and came prepared to discuss the topics every week."

• from Jose Rincon:

"On December 8, 2011 I directed a class discussion on the Portrayal of War and Political Upheaval through the use of children’s picture books. My responsibility was to lead the discussion and provide clarity of the topic for the entire class. I decided to use all kinds of realia to set the tone for our discussion session. There were posters and children’s books about war displayed all through the class.

The required reading for the class included two short historical fiction chapter books (A Boy no More by Harry Mazer and Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr. In addition, nine children’s picture books were included. Titles included The Librarian of Basra by Jeanette Winter, Rose Blanche by Robert Innocenti, and The Bracelet by Yoshiko Uchida.

Many resources were used to compile the collection of books. Some books included; Literature Connections to American History k-6 by Lynda Adamson and War and Peace: Literature for Children and Young Adults by Virginia A. Walter. These books included annotated bibliographies on children’s books related to this topic.

One of the highlights of the program included making an origami paper crane. After discussing Sadako and the thousand paper cranes the class participated in a craft. I wanted to include this craft in my presentation to include hands on activity and it was meaningful to the discussion of the book.

The presentation was 2 hours and 45 minutes. We had a 15 minute break. During this break tea and snacks were provided for the class. We also took a class picture at the end of the break.

The class was provided with an annotated bibliography of all the books in the presentation. A collection of about 70 books ranging from children to young adults were displayed all throughout the class. These books all were chosen from the resources I compiled. An art exhibit was also created. Posters were put up all around the room for the class to see. These images included war and upheaval images throughout history. The class had at least 7 days in advance to read the books. The 9 children’s picture books were put on reserve at the Monroe County Public Library."

Posted January 05, 2012