Final Project Topic

The topic I chose for my final project is children's literature with deaf or hard of hearing characters or with topics related to the culture. I chose this topic because not only am I a deaf education major, but I am also sincerely interested in learning more about what children's literature has to offer in regards to giving a perspective to being deaf or hard of hearing. I would like to see how this culture is portrayed in children's lit and feel it would be a good learning tool for me as well. It will be helpful to learn about how children feel about this culture and how it is shown to children at an early age, since that is the age group that I would most like to teach. It will also be helpful because when I go into the workforce in this field, I will have a little bit more background knowledge about how this culture is portrayed in children's literature and what books would be helpful or useful in a classroom. I feel it will give me a more well-rounded lesson in regards to perspectives and experiences that I may not know about before this project.

Group Award Assignment- Sydney Taylor Award

Our group came upon the same places to find information about this award. The Sydney Taylor Award is given to honor Jewish literature for children or young adult. The award has been around since 1971, and has honored many different writers. Some of the most recent authors as well as their books are:

2007:
Title: Hanukkah at Valley Forge
Written by Stephen Krensky,
Illustrated by Greg Harlin

Title: Julia’s Kitchen
Written by Brenda A.Ferber

Title: The Book Thief
Written by Markus Zusak

Title: The White Ram: A Story of Abraham and Isaac
Written by Mordicai Gerstein

The rational behind this award is connecting Jewish children to children form other cultures, as well to build pride in culture. To be eligible, the books must be about Jewish customs, traditions, and/or experiences. Also, the book can be either fiction or non-fiction.

The books are judged on their significant contributions to Jewish literature, positive Jewish content and focus, as well as authentic details and accurate research. Also, the quality of writing and the ability to engage interest of the target age group is incorporated. One book is chosen for younger children, and one is also chosen for adolescents. A panel of Judaic Children's Librarians are who chose the winners, and to get on the committee you must be a Judaic Children's Librarian. The sponsor for the award is The Association of Jewish Libraries.

There were many sites about this award, and the ones that were the most helpful were:

This site is the most helpful when it came to finding the book list, as well as the history of the award, and current information about it.

This site was the most helpful when looking for books that have received the the award, as well as finding out what areas they received the award in.
http://www.jclla.org/awards.htm

Hopefully we will also have some of the books to share in class as well!

posted by Katie and Erin as well