Matilda tickets

One of the categories of literature we are covering on this trip is children's literature.  I usually only teach History of Children's literature, but this school year, I also taught Literature for Children because Dr. Evelyn Perry, who usually teaches it, was on sabbatical (scoping out places for next year's English to England trip!). Here is the difference between the two courses according to the course catalog and what I say about them in my syllabi:

ENGL 212--Catalog Description: A study of literature for children from preschool to 6^th grade. The course examines classic and contemporary board books, picture books, chapter books, and pre-adolescent novels. Through an exploration of seminal authors, works, genres, and criticism, the course emphasizes trends and developments in children’s literature.  An introduction to basic bibliographic tools and review media is included.

Course Details: In this course students are expected to come to class every day prepared to discuss the assigned readings and to connect them (characters, genres, tropes, etc.) to books with which they are familiar or remember reading as children.  The goals of the course are to get students to examine their own values and assumptions about children’s literature and to be aware that children’s literature deserves to be taken seriously as a genre.  This section of the courses that is also connected to Children’s Literature Festival being held on November 6 and the English to England trip scheduled in January.  

ENGL 217--Catalog Description: This course is a survey of children’s literature from the seventeenth century to the present. Topics include early chapbooks, primers, and the development of the novel for children. Students examine changing representations of the child and the role literature has played in defining childhood.

Course Details: This course is conducted similarly to the survey courses in British and American literature offered by the department. In addition to the genres listed above, students will be studying fairy tales, fables, conduct books, picture books, adventure stories, school stories, and classic texts to learn about the development and changes in children’s literature over time and in different countries. Through literary analysis, students will study the link between literature for children and literary, historical, and social trends. This section of the courses is also connected the English to England trip that was scheduled in January before the spring semester started.  Students who went on the trip to London will be expected to participate actively in making connections between topics from class with the places we visited on the trip and share any relevant blog posts with the class.

We are going to several places directly connected to our discussion about the development of children's literature in the global marketplace and what it says about our assumptions about children.  I also was able to get some cheap(er) tickets to see the musical Matilda. We are in the very last row, but I'm still excited. I also got us tickets sitting only in two groups--one group of seven and a group of four, so no one is going to feel alone.  Now I need to look up how to get there from our lodgings (I think I'm going to use the term lodging--like my favorite Victorian characters for the length of the trip!).

 

Check out some pictures and reviews of the show here: http://uk.matildathemusical.com/about/the-story/