EDRG 3321 Ch. 3

To effectively evaluate books for children, the story should be good and about something that could happen. Elements the author uses such as plot, conflict, characterization, setting, theme, and the author's style should be taken into consideration as well as the reader's age and level of reading. Books should be accessible for children and conforming to the reading level in order to read independently. The book should be of interest to the particular child reading the story. These criteria for evaluating children's books can show the timelessness of a character's feelings and their actions as well as understanding what the setting represents. By evaluating books, children can learn their heritage as human beings, learning that all people have conflicts in their lives that can be resolved, especially if a child can identify with a character in a book. Reading about other places and eras in which characters had problems to overcome helps foster personal development in children and they gain emotional intelligence as they read about character's feelings. If the story is well written with qualities in plot, characterization, setting, and theme, children not only expand their knowledge and imagination, but they carry values gained from literature into adulthood.
Character analysis helps childrn to better understand the character's flaws, feelings, strengths, and past to better understand the character themself as human like children are. This can help the reader to personally conncet with the character and the story. The same can be said of seeting analysis in that it halps the reader better understand the mood of the character through the words describing the time and place of the story and the feelings the characters have about those elements. Through analysis, readers can travel with the character to the time and place of the story and feel connected to the history in the book, whether it be through symbolism or through a historical or geagraphical background. In this way, the reader can be transformed to another place and time through a book and by analyzing these components, can understand how the author was able to accomplish the fact.