Since I started working with preschoolers in education nearly 15 years ago I have had a strong interest in children’s literature. When I started working in a library 10 years ago that interest increased as I had daily access to a collection of books. Throughout my day I flip through books for fun or take a closer look if I am helping a patron select an item. Due to working with children and books for quite a while I am familiar with children’s materials, but I mainly gravitate towards items for the preschool age and what caught my interest. While having a strong interest in children’s materials is a positive when working in a library there are many other skills that are needed. This assignment bridged the gap between my interest in children’s materials and the skills that I will need to be a successful youth librarian.

By choosing top print and media items I honed my selection and evaluation skills. Rather that selecting only books that appealed to my interests I looked at a wide range of materials that would interest and benefit children ages birth through 12 years. I used evaluation tools, such as the Cooperative Children’s Book Center, Common Sense Media, and School Library Journal, to guide my choices. I took time to critically evaluate each item and consider if it met the educational and entertainment needs of a certain age group. While gathering my selections I kept a balance between ages, genres, and types of media. Being able to take my personal preferences out of the selection process is a skill I will need when purchasing items for a children’s library. This assignment taught me how to take a step back from the items I naturally lean towards and supplement with selection tools to help me evaluate and select materials for various age groups.

Through the author/illustrator study I learned about Eric Carle’s life, how his background influences his work, gained practice in critically evaluating illustrations, and compared his work to a similar illustrator, Lois Ehlert. This assignment gave me a new perspective on Carle’s books and a greater appreciation for the work that goes into them. I am able to more easily identify the different levels of learning that are present in his books and subsequently use those elements when presenting the books to children. Now that I have researched one author/illustrator indepth I am curious about other authors and the stories behind their work. Due to this assignment I will take time to find out at least a little about my favorite children’s author. This will allow me to gain better perspective on their books and inform my patron about the story behind the books. Finally, this assignment gave me practice in critically looking at illustrators rather than just casually admiring. I had not realized all the small details that are present until the I took the time to evaluate the images. Since the illustrations in picture books are just as important as the text I plan on paying more attention to the illustrations.

This was an excellent project to have a concentrated amount of exposure to children’s materials in multiple genres for a variety of ages. I enjoyed having time to slowly look at each item, rather than just flipping through like I usually do at work. While it is not feasible to look at each item in a children’s collection indepth, going forward I will make time to become more familiar with materials by critically evaluating them.

Photo Credits:

Koch, C. (2019). Stacks of books [Photograph].