In general, the course aims to provide students with basic knowledge on the main cultural and historical-literary paths of children's literature, as well as on pedagogical and psycho-pedagogical references regarding the evolutionary lines of early childhood, which specifically concern reading.

The specific learning objectives are:

• Knowledge and understanding the complexity of children's literature
• Knowledge and understanding traditional fairy tales and their variants
• Evaluate the literature for children that promotes, generates otherness and empathic relationships
• Apply interpretative tools of the plurality of expressive modes of children's literature
• Knowledge and understanding childhood portraits
• Understanding the importance of adopting an attitude characterized by an attentive gaze and an observational posture in the context of early childhood
• Knowledge and understanding the importance of the care to be devoted to the time (a fundamental pedagogical variable) dedicated to stories / reading
• Knowledge and understanding the importance of the environment as a "third educator" (spaces, structures and furnishings)
• Knowledge and understanding the importance of listening as comfort, safety, acceptance of children's expressions
• To be able to communicate the centrality of storytelling and reading aloud
• Knowledge and knowing how to use the variety of text types that make up the current panorama of narratives aimed at children, including digital ones
• Knowledge resources for children's literature made available on the internet (archives, collections, online libraries, catalogs, websites of children's literature publishing houses, ...), knowing how to evaluate and use them also for their own updating
• Making judgments to critical evaluate the children's editorial productions, including the digital ones.

Detailed information and materials will be indicated and / or made available on the Moodle platform.

The program is divided into three main parts: one part is dedicated to the theoretical and foundational aspects of children's literature, studied in depth during lessons and in the study texts; one part is dedicated to the fairy tale, with reference to the indicated collections; another part is aimed to analize the contemporary children's literature and the reading at daycare and preschool.

The course includes 20 lessons of 2 hours each, according to the following scheme:

• 1st Introduction, presentation of the course and materials.
• 2nd Complexity of children's literature, interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary perspective, imaginary and control processes.
• 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th Focus on the fairy tale genre, on metaphors and themes involving childhood, its history, the icons of childhood identity. Reading and comparison between different versions of traditional fairy tales taken from the following collections: Charles Perrault (1697) Contes de ma mère l'Oye; Carlo Collodi (1876) The fairy tales; Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm (1812).
• Metaphors and themes, childhood history, icons of childhood identity (in Dickens, Burnett, Milne, ...).
• 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th The subversive voice. From Collodi to Rodari. Taboo themes. Vladimir Propp. To get the stories wrong.
• 11th, 12th Children's literature to promote emotional-affective relationship. Reading with the little ones. The importance of reading aloud. The child who listens. The need for narratives. The stories between fiction and biography. Debate on the «first books», in the presence of Rodari and Munari (1972). Evidence and confirmation of recent neuroscientific studies.
• 13th Fundamental pedagogical variables in the context of early childhood education services: "time" for short stories and reading for pleasure; the "space / environment" as a "third educator". The educational alliance with families to promote reading aloud and the centrality of storytelling. Children's literature as an observer of childhood; self-observation; listening to the expressions of the children.
• 14th, 15th, 16th Children's literature, reading with children. Overview of Early Childhood Narratives. Lullabies, nursery rhymes, poems. Rhymes and onomatopoeias. Silent book / wordless picturebook, picture books, wimmelbuch (teeming books), audio books, digitized books (ebooks), book apps.
• 17th, 18th Literature for children, multimodality, implications for reading. The websites of particularly prestigious publishing houses for children, to guide you in the current publishing landscape.
• 19th, 20th Information on the activity with the chosen picturebook. Course summary.

• Knowledge and understanding - Knowledge and understanding of the theoretical and foundational aspects of children's literature and fairy tales from the perspective of classical and contemporary authors
• Applying knowledge and understanding - Knowledge and understanding applied to the preparation of educational paths of literature for children and reading theoretically motivated on the basis of the specific framework of services for early childhood;
• Making judgments - Autonomy of judgment as the ability to critically grasp / compare / relate themes and representations of childhood in children's literature; and autonomy of judgment as the ability to evaluate / select quality narrative proposals
• Communication skills - Communication skills such as expressive mastery and properties of specific language as well as awareness of a specific attention to the quality of communication in the narrative context
• Learning skills - Ability to learn as the ability to independently and critically re-elaborate proposed texts and materials, showing the acquisition of interpretative tools that allow a problematic and non-mnemonic approach to the complexity of the discipline also seen in an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary perspective.

The teaching material prepared by the lecturer in addition to recommended textbooks (such as for instance slides, lecture notes, exercises, bibliography) and communications from the lecturer specific to the course can be found inside the Moodle platform › blended.uniurb.it

Attending and non-attending students will have the opportunity to carry out formative assessment tests, which will serve as a self-assessment tool. The formative assessment tests will be carried out online and will not lead to any suspension of the teaching activity of the course.

Teaching

Lesson; critical reading and analysis of printed and digital materials; watching videos, movies.

Innovative teaching methods

The face-to-face lesson will be enriched with debates and insights, starting with the viewing of videos (also in English) on the most recent studies on reading and on the "first books" for children.

Attendance

Attendance is not obligatory.

Course books

Theoretical study texts, as indicated below:

Bernardi Milena. 2016. Letteratura per l'infanzia e alterità. Incanti, disincanti, ambiguità, tracce. Milano:Franco Angeli.

Carioli Stefania. 2018. Narrazioni digitali nella letteratura per l'infanzia. Milano: Franco Angeli. Or Carioli S., Connessioni. Viaggio tra le narrazioni per l’infanzia e l’adolescenza sull’onda trasformativa del digitale, Milano, Franco Angeli, 2023. CAP 2: Exercices de… molteplicità nella letteratura per l’infanzia e l’adolescenza, pp. 46 - 73; CAP. 4. Riflessi “di ritorno” dei media elettronici e digitali sulle pagine stampate, pp. 97-148; CAP 6. Scenari interattivi odierni, pp. 180-195.

Bernardi Milena. 2016. All’improvviso qualcosa accade! Osservare il racconto, raccontare l’osservazione, contributo in volume, in L. Balduzzi, T. Pironi, (eds.), L'osservazione al nido, una lente a più dimensioni per educare lo sguardo. Milano: Franco Angeli.

Fairy tales taken from the following collections, as per the indications provided on Moodle and during the lessons:

Charles Perrault (1697) Contes de ma mère l'Oye (Racconti di mamma Oca)

Carlo Collodi (1876) I racconti delle Fate

Jacob e Wilhelm Grimm (1812) Tutte le fiabe

Italo Calvino (1956) Fiabe italiane raccolte dalla tradizione popolare durante gli ultimi cento anni e trascritte in lingua dai vari dialetti

The following chapters taken from Grammatica della fantasia (1973) by Gianni Rodari:

15. Le fiabe popolari come materia prima
22. Le carte di Propp
33. Il bambino come protagonista
34. Storie «tabù»
38. Il bambino che ascolta le fiabe

1 picturebook in English chosen among the following*:

1) Little Bear  
2) Where the wild things are 
3) My mom  
4) Zoo
5) Little blue and little yellow: a story for Pippo and Ann and other children
6) Fish Is Fish
7) Frederick
8) The biggest house in the world
 9) Theodore and the talking mushroom
10) The girl in red
11) Erika's story
12) Rose Blanche
13) Each peach pear 
14) Guess how much I love you 
15) Bark, George 
16) Goodnight Moon
17) The dead bird
18) The important book
19) Turtle time: a bedtime story
20) Winnie-the-Pooh (one chapter, of your choice) 
21) Beegu
22) Not now, Bernard 
23) The tale of Peter Rabbit
24) The English Struwwelpeter, or, Pretty stories and funny pictures 
25) The tunnel
26) In the night kitchen 
27) Outside over there 
28) Michael Rosen's sad book 
29) We're going on a bear hunt 
30) Mr. Rabbit and the lovely present 

Assessment

The final grade will be given by a written exam with:

• 2 open-ended questions
• 1 cloze
• a part of the activity on the picturebook.

Duration of the exam: 50 minutes.

Part of the exam is the English transcription of the story narrated in the chosen picturebook. The English transcription must be delivered on Moodle (task function) for the date of the exam.

The final evaluation is expressed in thirtieths. Here below the evaluation criteria:

- up to 8 points for each of the 2 open answers, based on the correspondence to the: relevance and correctness of the answers; level of critical / comparative reflection and originality of the line of argument; correctness of the presentation form and adequate use of specific language
- up to 6 points for the cloze, based on the number of correct answers
- up to 8 points for carrying out the activity on 1 picturebook, based on compliance with the following criteria: correctness of the English transcription and information relating to the picture book; depth of analysis of expressive modalities; level of critical / comparative reflection and originality of the argumentative line.

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.

Teaching

There are no differences compared to what is expected for attending students. For non-attending students it is particularly recommended to consult the detailed information and materials that will be indicated and / or made available on the Moodle platform. It is also particularly recommended to carry out the on-going formative assessment tests as a self-assessment tool by the student. The methods of carrying out these tests will be announced on the Moodle platform.

Attendance

The attendance is not obligatory.

Course books

Theoretical study texts, as indicated below:

Bernardi Milena. 2016. Letteratura per l'infanzia e alterità. Incanti, disincanti, ambiguità, tracce. Milano:Franco Angeli.

Carioli Stefania. 2018. Narrazioni digitali nella letteratura per l'infanzia. Milano: Franco Angeli. Or Carioli S., Connessioni. Viaggio tra le narrazioni per l’infanzia e l’adolescenza sull’onda trasformativa del digitale, Milano, Franco Angeli, 2023. CAP 2: Exercices de… molteplicità nella letteratura per l’infanzia e l’adolescenza, pp. 46 - 73; CAP. 4. Riflessi “di ritorno” dei media elettronici e digitali sulle pagine stampate, pp. 97-148; CAP 6. Scenari interattivi odierni, pp. 180-195.

Bernardi Milena. 2016. All’improvviso qualcosa accade! Osservare il racconto, raccontare l’osservazione, contributo in volume, in L. Balduzzi, T. Pironi, (eds.), L'osservazione al nido, una lente a più dimensioni per educare lo sguardo. Milano: Franco Angeli.

Fairy tales taken from the following collections, as per the indications provided on Moodle and during the lessons:

Charles Perrault (1697) Contes de ma mère l'Oye (Racconti di mamma Oca)

Carlo Collodi (1876) I racconti delle Fate

Jacob e Wilhelm Grimm (1812) Tutte le fiabe

Italo Calvino (1956) Fiabe italiane raccolte dalla tradizione popolare durante gli ultimi cento anni e trascritte in lingua dai vari dialetti

The following chapters taken from Grammatica della fantasia (1973) by Gianni Rodari:

15. Le fiabe popolari come materia prima
22. Le carte di Propp
33. Il bambino come protagonista
34. Storie «tabù»
38. Il bambino che ascolta le fiabe

1 picturebook in English chosen among the following*:

1) Little Bear  
2) Where the wild things are 
3) My mom  
4) Zoo
5) Little blue and little yellow: a story for Pippo and Ann and other children
6) Fish Is Fish
7) Frederick
8) The biggest house in the world
 9) Theodore and the talking mushroom
10) The girl in red
11) Erika's story
12) Rose Blanche
13) Each peach pear 
14) Guess how much I love you 
15) Bark, George 
16) Goodnight Moon
17) The dead bird
18) The important book
19) Turtle time: a bedtime story
20) Winnie-the-Pooh (one chapter, of your choice) 
21) Beegu
22) Not now, Bernard 
23) The tale of Peter Rabbit
24) The English Struwwelpeter, or, Pretty stories and funny pictures 
25) The tunnel
26) In the night kitchen 
27) Outside over there 
28) Michael Rosen's sad book 
29) We're going on a bear hunt 
30) Mr. Rabbit and the lovely present 

For non-attending students it is particularly recommended to consult the detailed information and materials that will be indicated and / or made available on the Moodle platform.

Assessment

The final grade will be given by a written exam with:

• 2 open-ended questions
• 1 cloze
• a part of the activity on the picturebook.

Duration of the exam: 50 minutes.

Part of the exam is the English transcription of the story narrated in the chosen picturebook. The English transcription must be delivered on Moodle (task function) for the date of the exam.

The final evaluation is expressed in thirtieths. Here below the evaluation criteria:

- up to 8 points for each of the 2 open answers, based on the correspondence to the: relevance and correctness of the answers; level of critical / comparative reflection and originality of the line of argument; correctness of the presentation form and adequate use of specific language
- up to 6 points for the cloze, based on the number of correct answers
- up to 8 points for carrying out the activity on 1 picturebook, based on compliance with the following criteria: correctness of the English transcription and information relating to the picture book; depth of analysis of expressive modalities; level of critical / comparative reflection and originality of the argumentative line.

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.