The teaching is organized as follows:

Learning outcomes

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The course, through an interdisciplinary approach, promotes the knowledge of contemporary Italian and international children’s literature and the reflection about problems and educational perspectives about literacy in order to support the “pleasure of reading”.

Program

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Children and young Literature: the uniqueness of Children’s Literature; the origins and the developments of children’s literature (18th- 19th); the different aspects of contemporary Italian and international children’s literature (writers, illustrators, genres; themes, characters, style); the voices of the most important Italian writers; the criteria for evaluation of fiction books for children and young readers; picture-books and illustrated books: definition, typology, themes, relationship between words and images; the difference between didactic and creative text; pedagogical and aesthetical approaches to children’s literature; themes, characters and writing style of Gianni Rodari’s literary work; introduction to “classics”(like Collodi’s Pinocchio or the books of Astrid Lindren); characteristics and features of modern fantasy.


Texts for exam:
** Not attending students : program will be provided for integration.

1)S. Blezza Picherle (a cura di), Raccontare ancora. La scrittura e l’editoria per l’infanzia, Vita e Pensiero, Milano 2007 (details and directions for studying will be given during lessons. In the end of the course, they also will be published on-line too).
2) S. Blezza Picherle, Libri, bambini, ragazzi. Incontri tra educazione e letteratura, Vita e Pensiero, Milano 2004 (just chapters I, II, III, IX).
3) E. Catarsi ( a cura di), Gianni Rodari e la Letteratura per l’infanzia, Del Cerro, Tirrenia-Pisa 2002 (This book is no longer available so students could find some copies of it in the Education Department Library).
4) A short handout (composed of some articles) will be available at the end of the Course in the Education Department Library (see the web board).
5) Students will write a critical paper on a novel (A list of recommended novels will be communicated during the lessons and it also will be published on line too). The paper will be handed out during the exam.

Examination Methods

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The exam consists of two-hours’ written text based on argumentative and reflexive open-questions.