Tunnel/Jacobs: Children's Literature Briefly (Chapters 9 and 18)

I truly enjoyed chapter 9. This chapter discusses the origins of traditional fantasy books, along with the pros and cons of these types of books. I am a strong advocate for allowing children to read fantasy books at an early age. I truly believe that it promotes reading and the creative use of imagination. As a child, I would always observe my siblings reading different types of comic books like: Archie, romance, and super- heros. Naturally, I became very curious about these picture books, because they would cause my siblings to laugh and cry, and sometimes they would talk about these books. I truly believe that this early interest in books, and my natural curiosity motivated me to learn to read as quickly as possible. I wanted to know what these books were about! Once I learned to read I used to read everything in sight, even the newspaper and my mom's National Enquirer. Later, I begin to check out story books about tales from far away lands. I loved these books! I truly believe that if these fantasy books are introduced to children at an early age, that they will fascinate them and allow their minds to soar. As a child, I used to always fantasize about doing great things and overcoming great odds to achieve a goal. It is no wonder that nothing seems impossible or out of reach for me. In fact, Tunnel and Jacobs actually point out that some of the values of fantasy books are that they "develop a capacity for belief", plus they promote hope and "the ability to hope is more important that the ability to believe".

Chapter 18 was about teaching with children's books. It discussed the three types of books normally used in the school setting: reference, text, and trade books. The chapter also notes that truly intelligent people have been known to be voracious readers. The authors even offer several examples of many people who have achieved greatness through the power of reading. In essence, this chapter simply supports my views on using trade books to promote reading.