IS 403 Children's Materials

Evaluation, selection and use of books and other resources for children (ages 0-14) in public libraries and school media centers; explores standard selection criteria for print and non-print materials in all formats and develops the ability to evaluate and promote materials according to their various uses (personal and curricular) and according to children's various needs (intellectual, emotional, social and physical).

Learning objectives

  • To become proficient in evaluating, selecting, and recommending picture books, easy readers and early chapter books, fiction, and nonfiction for children from birth to early adolescence 
  • To understand the different developmental, socio-cultural, and individual ways that children relate to books, including language acquisition, physical and emotional connection to books, books in play and imagination, reading rituals, privacy, and peer culture 
  • To learn how to introduce and discuss books with children, and to gain experience in the practical uses of children's books for literacy and curriculum use