The Standards for Evaluating Children’s Literature

Childhood is the age when the character and habits of the children are formed. Children’s perception of the world is based on what they see and what they hear. Children are like sponges, they absorb everything around them. That is why children should be read-only children literature, which influences their cognitive, social, and linguistic development.

Good literature, based on the standards for evaluating children’s literature, influences children’s cognitive, linguistic, and social development. Reading children’s books, parents insert into children’s minds understanding of good and bad, beautiful and terrific, right and wrong. Cognitive development is seen through children’s ability to solve problems. The language skills and the understanding of new words’ meanings are improved. The social situations, which are met in the children’s books, may be recognized by children in life situations, and the decisions, made by children, will correspond to the decisions made in books (Spodek & Saracho, 2006).

There are a lot of children’s books on the market, and to make the right choice for the child, the book should be evaluated before the purchase. Having studied different techniques of book evaluation, it can be structured to such points, (1) evaluation of the book influence of children positive development, (2) the ability of the book to answer their (children’s) own questions, (3) the ability of the book to encourage children to think about their behavior, (4) accuracy of the book, (5) the clearness of the illustrations and their fit to the subject, (6) evaluation of the language of the book, (7) the freedom from stereotyping and gender bias, (8) the reference of the book to the life situations (Martin, 2000).

Referencing the discussed criteria, it is possible to evaluate children’s literature

1. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.

   1. The ability to make quick decisions,
   2. The existence of the dream and imagination,
   3. Good and evil characters help to understand whether children’s actions are right,
   4. The book is reasonable and sequential,
   5. Full of good illustration,
   6. The adaptation to any age group can be found,
   7. Free from stereotyping and gender bias,
   8. Children always dream, and the book makes them feel free in their dreams.
2. Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie.

   1. The good decisions should be made,
   2. Good actions always battle bad ones,
   3. Encourages children to think about their behavior,
   4. The book is reasonable and sequential,
   5. Full of clear illustration,
   6. Language is understandable,
   7. Free from stereotyping and gender bias,
   8. Behavior and actions in the life.
3. Happy Families Set by Allan Ahlberg.

   1. Teaches the relations,
   2. Answers children’s question,
   3. Make children think about their life,
   4. The book is reasonable and sequential,
   5. Full of clear illustration,
   6. Language is understandable,
   7. Free from stereotyping and gender bias,
   8. All have families and relations.
4. The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams.

   1. Teaches love and friendship,
   2. Beautiful is what you love,
   3. Encourages children to think about their attitude to things and people,
   4. The book is reasonable and sequential,
   5. Full of clear illustration,
   6. Language is understandable,
   7. Free from stereotyping and gender bias,
   8. The attitude to toys in real life.
5. A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond.

   1. Teaches to make their own decisions,
   2. Children understand life situations,
   3. Make children think about their life,
   4. The book is reasonable and sequential,
   5. Full of clear illustration,
   6. Language is understandable,
   7. Free from stereotyping and gender bias,
   8. Decision making.

Reference List

Martin, D. J. (2000).Constructing Early Childhood Science. Cengage Learning, London.

Spodek, B. & Saracho, O. N. (2006). Handbook of research on the education of young children. Routledge, Oxford.