Story For Children Research Articles

“Once upon a time… a beach sand grain”: a bed-time story and scientific outreach activity for young children to increase sediment literacy

Abstract Purpose Learning science in early years can cultivate children’s curiosity and enjoyment in exploring the world around them, laying the foundation for the progression of science learning and ultimately increasing science literacy. Here, we present an example of a tailored preschool scientific activity designed to enhance literacy about sediments and illustrate their importance to both humans and nature. Methods The activity centres around a captivating story detailing the journey of a sand grain from the mountains to the sea. This storytelling experience is enriched with hands-on observation of various sand grains, informative cards on key topics, and culminates in a creative colouring activity. Results To date, the activity has been repeated five times, engaging 110 children (from 2 to 10 years). It has yielded positive outcomes with both preschool and primary school students, as they were actively engaged in the story and delighted in handling and observing the magnified sand grains. Conclusions The activity was successfully implemented for preschool and primary school students, fostering engagement with the story and the sand samples. However, while the immediate engagement was evident, the impact on sediment literacy remains to be measured. Future structured evaluations are needed to assess the long-term effectiveness of such initiatives in enhancing sediment literacy among young learners.

Transdisciplinary education for sustainability. Creativity and awareness in teacher training

Teacher training is a strategic aspect to achieve quality education and, therefore, bring closer Horizon 2030 and sustainability. The aim of this work is to present the outcome of an innovative transdisciplinary educational proposal with 176 primary teachers in training with the goal of raising their sustainability awareness. It was implemented at the same time in a Social sciences subject and in an Social sciences one demonstrating both its transdisciplinary nature and the fact that sustainability is a transversal aspect in the curriculum. A mixed methods research design was used. Work products were analyzed, such as the creation of a digital story for children about sustainability and some related activities. In addition, the perceived impact of the educational experience in the teaching-learning process and sustainability attitudes were assessed using two validated questionnaires. The results show a high level of perception of the impact of the experience in the motivation of preservice teachers, the learning of concepts related to the subject, and, especially, the usefulness of this proposal for their professional future. Furthermore, their sustainability attitudes at the end of the semester were very high, with scores above 4 (out of 5) for all measured dimensions. The relevance of advocating for a transdisciplinary education for sustainability, which begins in teacher training faculties, is concluded.

Кемеровский текст на перекрестке двух утопий: американская мечта и коммунистический интернационал в повести Р. Э. Кеннелл «Товарищ Костыль»

The article is devoted to the consideration of one of the first artistic incarnations of the image of the city of Kemerovo in the story for children by a prominent representative of the AIС “Kuzbas” Ruth Epperson Kennell “Comrade One-Crutch” (1932). The main focus is on the myth-making strategy used to depict AIС “Kuzbas” and its “capital” Kemerovo. The study analyzes the character system and the antinomy of “us” versus “strangers,” exploring its resolution through the plot-driven theme of friendship between Volodya, a Russian street child, and David, an American boy. Also, attention is paid to symbolic images of Siberia and the Soviet Union as the “newest New World,” the factual basis associated with the real history of the formation and development of the city of Kemerovo (technical equipment of the Kemerovo mine, launch of the Coke and Chemical Plant, electrification of the village of Silino near Kemerovo, expansion of the AIС “Kuzbas” and development of the Kolchuginskoye deposit, and others). This analysis of the main plot situations reveals the author’s idea of building a new world, the characteristics of which are based on a combination of two utopias: the American dream, based on a broad understanding of Christianity, and the program of the Comintern. The genre of the story for children and the idea of international friendship emphasized by Ruth Kennel in the dedication to Alice Grover Whitbeck, updated as the address of the book “about the new Russia for American boys and girls,” are organically combined with the value-labeled orientation towards building a new world.

The negotiations of teaching and learning that occur during a picturebook read-aloud with teacher candidates

Almost all read-aloud research focuses on the experiences of young readers. This article, however, examines the important negotiations that occurred amongst teacher candidates and their instructor during one interactive picturebook read-aloud. Using reflexive thematic analysis (RTA) framed through reader response lenses, researchers found that participants engaged in nuanced negotiations of their relative expertise, their critical readings of the text, and the ways that they imagined how the text could be shared with young audiences in the future. Additionally, findings showed that participants’ discussions fostered opportunities for teacher candidates and their instructor to wrestle with and make sense of the complex interplay of visual and written text presented in a “simple” story for children. By engaging with the picturebook in these ways, this study highlights the possibilities that read-alouds may have for teacher candidates, their instructors, and a wide range of other audiences vastly underrepresented in current read-aloud research.

Of Saints and Miracles by Manuel Astur

Reviewed by: Of Saints and Miracles by Manuel Astur Edward Waters Hood Manuel Astur Of Saints and Miracles Trans. Claire Wadie. New York. New Vessel Press. 2022. 187 pages. BORN IN 1980 in Sama de Grado, Asturias, Spain, Manuel Astur is a teacher, poet, fiction writer, essayist, and journalist. Of Saints and Miracles is Claire Wadie's fine translation of his second novel, San, el libro de los milagros (2020). Although he has pursued his professional career in Barcelona and Madrid, Astur's rural roots in Asturias as well as his intellectual and literary preoccupations are clearly present in this eclectic work. The novel's protagonist, Marcelino, known as Lino by locals, is a young man who, along with his brother Manuel and their mother, was physically abused by his alcoholic father. Lino was also tormented as a child by other children, who tortured animals for amusement, and by a priest who sexually molested him. As a result, Lino, who was mentally challenged, took refuge in solitude and his chores. At the beginning of the novel, we discover that Manuel, who inherited his father's malevolent character, has sold the family farm and told Lino he must abandon his home and leave everything behind. In an outburst of fury, Lino punches his brother, who collapses to the ground. Now fearing that he has killed his brother, he takes refuge in the countryside, hiding and living off the land. There is also a mysterious character named Lugo who shares the stories and history of the community, in a part of what is known as vacant Spain, the towns and villages in the countryside that have been abandoned by those who have left in search of greater opportunities in the cities. Lugo, who says he seeks to learn all the stories so he can "live on forever in them," also speaks in first-person plural throughout the novel. There is an array of interesting rural characters, each with their own heartrending histories. In addition, two popular narratives—a cumulative story for children, "The Cheese, the Old Woman, and the Old Man," and a fable with nature and language as protagonists—are woven into the text. In the popular imagination, a legend is fashioned around Lino's travails, and miracles are attributed to him. Although he does not understand his circumstances and has been abused by others, like his mother, he is empathetic and kind toward others. For the storyteller, all we have are stories, but these fictions are good for us because they "can appease the bad and cheer the good" and remind us "that everything is a story." Of Saints and Miracles offers a window into the ethos of a rural community, where religion, legends, and superstitions hold sway. In sum, this beautiful, thought-provoking, and haunting novel, which is captivating in its poetic portrayal of a rural tragedy, reminds us that everything is a miracle. Edward Waters Hood Northern Arizona University Copyright © 2022 World Literature Today and the Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma

Human-robot creative interactions: Exploring creativity in artificial agents using a storytelling game.

Creativity in social robots requires further attention in the interdisciplinary field of human–robot interaction (HRI). This study investigates the hypothesized connection between the perceived creative agency and the animacy of social robots. The goal of this work is to assess the relevance of robot movements in the attribution of creativity to robots. The results of this work inform the design of future human–robot creative interactions (HRCI). The study uses a storytelling game based on visual imagery inspired by the game “Story Cubes” to explore the perceived creative agency of social robots. This game is used to tell a classic story for children with an alternative ending. A 2 × 2 experiment was designed to compare two conditions: the robot telling the original version of the story and the robot plot twisting the end of the story. A Robotis Mini humanoid robot was used for the experiment, and we adapted the Short Scale of Creative Self (SSCS) to measure perceived creative agency in robots. We also used the Godspeed scale to explore different attributes of social robots in this setting. We did not obtain significant main effects of the robot movements or the story in the participants’ scores. However, we identified significant main effects of the robot movements in features of animacy, likeability, and perceived safety. This initial work encourages further studies experimenting with different robot embodiment and movements to evaluate the perceived creative agency in robots and inform the design of future robots that participate in creative interactions.

Literature for Children and Beyond: Historicising the Fantastic Utopia in ‘The Country of the Red Heart’

As a major voice in children's literature in China, Feng Zikai uses his own life experience and the historical context of contemporary wars to negotiate the Chinese cultural myth of ‘The Peach Blossom Spring’ [Tao Hua Yuan]. ‘The Country of the Red Heart’ [Chi Xin Guo] is a fantastic utopia that exists parallel to our world, revealing his efforts to depict a pastoral dreamland and his subsequent disillusion in the face of the horrors of war and political strife. It is a story of fantasy as well as a political move on the part of Feng Zikai to address the historical milieu of China during the time of World War II, the Civil War, and the Korean War. Feng Zikai goes beyond the combination of Chinese-style cartoon [manhua] drawings and grotesquely fanciful plot as a war story for children. It is a modern political parable that demonstrates the vulnerability of his utopia in the first part of twentieth-century China.

Revitalizing Local Wisdom of Turi-Turian Folklore as a Reflection of the Angkola Ethnic Group

The 'turi-turian' folklore is assumed to be a bedtime story for children. Folklore has an essential message as an implied message for the reader or listener. Folklore is the ethnic creativity of traditional communities that maintains the culture and is firm in living traditions that are passed down from generation to generation. This study aims to highlight the local wisdom of the Sipirok tribal community through its folklore. This research uses qualitative research methods with ethnographic design, which includes data collection of folklore texts, data presentation, and drawing conclusions or verification. The data of this research is sourced from the analysis of data from Angkola folklore collected in the book ‘Turi-turn Nihalak Angkola Banggo-banggo’. This research reveals that folklore texts have a wealth of philosophical values that reflect the characteristics of indigenous peoples that have existed from the past until now which are still maintained as wisdom that is still upheld by indigenous communities. As one of the intangible assets of the Angkola Sipirok community, which has an ethnic culture, it is reflected in the characteristics of the Angkola Sipirok indigenous people who teach values as local wisdom. Based on the data analysis of the Sipirok ‘Turi-turian’ folklore, several local pearls of wisdom were found: persistence, hard work, deliberation, cooperation, social spirit, and willingness to help.

Children’s consumption culture development through Christmas myths: ethical implications

PurposeThis paper seeks to explore the functions of Christmas mythemes for children’s consumption culture development. In addition, the purpose of this study is to provide an insight on the development of Central European Children into customers and how mythemes are associated with the wishing behaviour.Design/methodology/approachLevi-Strauss’ (1955) structural analysis was used to uncover the mythemes of the Christmas story for Austrian children. These mythemes then informed a thematic analysis of 283 Austrian children’s Christmas letters. Campbell’s (1970) functions of myths were used to reflect on the findings.FindingsThe Christmas mythemes uncovered were found to encourage materialism by linking self-enhancement (good acquirement) with self-transcendent (good behaviour) values. The role of myths to relieve the tension between the incongruent values of collective/other-oriented and materialistic values is expanded upon. Such sanctification of selfish good acquisition is aided by the mythemes related especially to the Christkind and baby Jesus. Instead, marketers should use Christmas mythemes which emphasise family and collective/other-centred values.Originality/valueBy first uncovering the “mythemes” related to Christmas, the authors contribute to the academic understanding of Christmas, going beyond origin or single myth understandings and acknowledging the multifaceted components of Christmas. The second contribution is in exploring mytheme’s representation in children’s Christmas letters and reflecting on their functions. This differs from previous literature because it looks at one of the main cultural vehicles for Christmas socialisation and its intersection with the mythemes that feed children’s consumption culture formation. Through the authors’ presentation of a conceptual framework that links mytheme functions with proximal processes using a socioecological viewpoint, the authors demonstrate the guidance of mythemes in children’s development. The third contribution is a reflection on the potential ethical implications for children’s formation of their consumer culture based on the functions of the mythemes. Furthermore, the authors add to the existing body of research by investigating a Central European context.

Using SMS and parental outreach to improve early reading skills in Zambia

ABSTRACT We evaluate an intervention using SMS messaging to send short stories to 2nd and 3rd graders in Zambia’s Eastern province, aimed at improving reading skills. For nine months households received three text messages weekly comprising a short story for children to read with their families, and a question about the story. Additionally, parents attended monthly meetings aimed to address any program implementation issues and encourage reading. The program had a positive impact on reading skills, between 19 and 28 percent of a standard deviation. A cost-effectiveness analysis shows that expanding the program nationally would cost USD 20–22 per child.

Practical Ideas on Developing Learner Autonomy for Young Learners

The aim of this study is to present a lesson and sample materials to provide language teachers with opportunities to enhance and maintain learner autonomy for young learners in English language teaching classes. To this end, a traditional short story for children was chosen, and activities were created to help young learners develop a deeper sense of language awareness as well as encourage them to control their own learning. Initially, this practical paper introduces the theoretical background to the study. It then presents the methodology section where a model that promotes learner autonomy is briefly described and, subsequently, the procedure section where the activities involved in the lesson plan are defined along with their relevance to learner autonomy. In the end, following the class observations, several implications and practical suggestions are provided.

CERPEN ANAK SEBAGAI BAHAN AJAR DI SEKOLAH DASAR DAN SEKOLAH TINGKAT PERTAMA SEBAGAI MEDIA PENANAMAN BUDI PEKERTI

Children's short stories are generally made by adults, and contain a number of mandates that can be used as a tool of cultivation of character in students in primary schools. The intrinsic and extrinsic elements in the children's short story selected as teaching materials can be utilized as a medium of character teaching to the students in the elementary school. The best children's short story for children is a short story that gives children a place to look at their lives so as to broaden their insights and knowledge about the lives they live. Such short stories of children are included in the category of short stories that contain pedagogical values. Through the appearance of the characters, the children are enabled to identify the character and make the guidelines for behavior. Therefore, so that children are not wrong in identifying the characters in a story, it takes guidance and guidance from parents when at home and teachers when they are at school. However, sometimes teachers often find it difficult to choose a good child story. In choosing and presenting reading or stories for children, teachers must be selective. Teachers should be able to distinguish reading or a good story and whether it is worth reading or not by children

Научные сказки Курда Лассвица: между литературой, наукой и философией

The article deals with the works of German science fiction writer Kurd Lasswitz (1848–1910). The article provides a brief description of the main themes and directions of the writer’s work. Lasswitz was the creator of the scientific tale genre (das wissenschaftliche Märchen), in which he had set the task of building new relationships between science and literature, nature and man, the animate particle and the cosmic whole. In accordance with the spirit of the fin de siècle era the scientific tale represented a new, post-positivist ideal of knowledge. The key theme of Lasswitz’s fiction was the search for extraterrestrial civilizations.Mars became for Lasswitz a place where the intelligent extraterrestrial beings have realized an ideal society in which ethics and technology are NOT in conflict. Lasswitz was not a neo-Kantian philosopher only, he was also an active popularizer of Kant’s philosophy. He was striving to create a Kantian utopia in literature. For Lasswitz Mars became the realization of this utopia. Also Lasswitz sought to give literary embodiment to the ideas of another philosopher, Gustav Theodor Fechner. Following his philosophy, Lasswitz develops environmental and existential issues of the coexistence of intelligent plants with humans. In Lasswitz’ story for children “The Escaped Flower” (1910), one can trace how in Lasswitz’ science fiction (scientific tale) the themes of the habitability of space (Mars), science and technology of the future interact with the ideas of Kant and Fechner.

The ambivalent role of the institution in the history of child and adolescent psychiatry: a case study of the Hawthorn Centre in Michigan, USA.

Historians have examined the role of psychiatric institutions in the USA and addressed whether this form of care helped or harmed patients (depending on the perspective of the time period, historical actors, and historians). But the story for children's mental institutions was different. At the time when adult institutions were in decline, children's mental hospitals were expanding. Parents and advocates clamoured for more beds and more services. The decrease in facilities for children was more due to economic factors than ideological opposition. This paper explores a case study of a hospital in Michigan as a window into the different characteristics of the discussion of psychiatric care for children.

COVID‐19 and children. From Luis Sepulveda to Madam Mim

When Luis Sepulveda was asked about his source of inspiration for writing ‘The Story of a Seagull and The Cat Who Taught Her to Fly’, he immediately referred to his children. It took him 2 years to write his masterpiece, translated in over 40 countries with several theatre and film adaptations: the children's own imagination, the surrealism and the language without ambiguities but at the same time full of poetry were all functional to develop and finalise the novel (because there is nothing more difficult than writing a story for children!). COVID-19, which sadly killed the famous Chilean writer, has become a source of daily conversation and the related information overload, rumours and misinformation along with the loss of daily routine and rapidly changing situation may lead to anxiety, depression and loneliness. Children may feel the same and most importantly have often the sense of what the adults surrounding them are feeling. While talking and trying to help children understand what is currently happening as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic can be challenging, this remains crucial to enable them to cope with it and to relieve their fears – at least partially. A series of materials have been developed by international agencies like the Centers for Disease Control1 and United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF),2 with the aim of building up children self-confidence as well as educating them on hand-washing and other protection measures. The history of cinema could also lend a very important hand on this occasion. As brilliantly exposed by an article in 2017,3 The Sword in the Stone, animated musical fantasy comedy based on the novel of the same name by T.H. White, can provide surprising information about medical knowledge and social impact of an infectious disease, especially as conveyed to non-medical people. In the Sword in the Stone, Merlin challenges Madam Mim to save Arthur and the fight is performed through several magical transformations. Finally, Merlin defeats Madam Mim by transforming himself into a fictional germ called malignalitaloptereosis which infects her (Fig. 1). The choice to defeat Madam Mim by a viral infection is indicative of the knowledge of the risks related to viral diseases. In those years (late 1950s/early 1960s), measles represented a great social and public health problem and a fervid research activity was taking place to counteract it. A very recent collaboration of more than 50 organisations working in the humanitarian sector under the coordination of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee Reference Group on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings (IASC MHPSS RG) has led to the production of a new story book (‘My Hero is You, How kids can fight COVID-19!’) to help children understand and come to terms with COVID-19. The process culminating in this fascinating project included a global survey distributed in Arabic, English, Italian, French and Spanish to assess children's mental health and psychosocial needs during COVID-19 outbreak. Survey results were used to conceive a framework of topics to be addressed through the story. Feedback from over 1700 children, parents, care givers and teachers from around the world took place and helped to review and tailor the final version of the story.4 In this very unusual situation, both the fragility but also the creativity of the childhood brain must be taken into consideration – as Arthur would put it ‘Just because you can't understand something, it doesn't mean it's wrong!’ – and the only way to mitigate the impact of this kind of event on a child's mind is an all-family and all-society approach when dealing with information and measures related to current pandemic – previous examples particularly outside medical background may be extremely helpful to address children's needs during emergencies. Our inspiration has come from our children. Therefore, we would like to express our love to Bianca, Lorenzo Maria, Arianna Shevan, Tessa Emilia and Talitha Julia.

Stereotip Perempuan dalam Cerita Pendek “a Story for Children” Karya Svava Jakobsdottir

This study aims to describe the relationship between men and women who have been socially constructed in the short story A Story for Children by Svava Jakobsdottir. The method used is descriptive analysis combined with structure of the story and gender studies. Data collection uses documentation techniques with steps, such as reading, marking, and classifying. The structure of the story is used to find out the elements depicted in the story. Gender studies are used to determine the position of women who have been socially constructed in the story. The analysis technique used is to observe conditions that occur to women who act as mother and wive. The analysis shows that there are stories about women who are considered able to take care of homework and do not have power in their own home. Conclusion is women who are socially constructed to be able to do homework, follow the husband’s decision, and patience in caring for children.
 Keywords: Woman, Mother, Wife, Household, Socially Constructed

CHARACTER GESTURE COMPARISON ON TIMUN MAS ANIMATION MADE BY DRS SUYADI AND TIMUN MAS ANIMATION MADE BY BENING STUDIO

Animation is one of the flagship products of creative industry which grow rapidly, under Bekraf (Indonesian Creative Economy Board) film, animation, and video sub sector. The high quantity of animation production in Indonesia can be shown through several animation projects which currently still in production stage or already circulated, whether in the form of serialization for TV or in the form of movie on silver screen. Therefore, the study of animation made in Indonesia nowadays is needed more than before. As an art form, animation is also a media that can be deconstructed for each of its aspect, historically, socially, theoretically, and critically. Animation in its visual form is using various element and technique that common in visual media design. This technique historically can be look down to past media that already used before the advent of animation. One of the important visual elements of animation film is visual character element. Visual character is an embodiment of characterization from the scenario. The embodiment done through the design of visual character that made to facilitate the movement in order to make audience understand the story. Character design and its movement in animation through the detail planning must be able to show its personality. In order to show it, the designer uses various technique and methods such as: acting and expression which achieved through character visualization of gesture, movement, voice and other form of body language. Many form of that character visual expression not only used for delivering the story but also to convey meaning to audience. One of the popular genres of animation made in Indonesia is a fairytale (dongeng) animation. Fairytale animation derives its story from folklore (cerita rakyat) of Indonesia. Though it is a misconception the folklore is considered as children friendly story therefore deemed appropriate to be used as animation story for children. One of the popular folklore or fairytale stories that often adapted for animation is Timun Mas story. This animation character gesture study hopefully can be considered as the way to enriching the study of animation as media in Indonesia and in the end can be use to further study of methods and process of character design in animation.

Translation Analysis of Clause Complex Shifting on Children Literature

This research belongs to descriptive qualitative research, which describes the data as a real phenomenon, because it fulfils five axioms of qualitative research. The objective of this research is to find clause complex switch from Source Language to Target Language in a bilingual story for children “ Kumpulan Dongeng Motivasi : Stories of Great Virtues.” Clause complex is clause which has two or more processes. On this paper, the researcher analysed entire clauses complexes and their switch from the source into target language. Then, the researcher analysed translation techniques which are used and the translation quality. The result of the study shows that the researcher has found 5 categories of clause complex shifting; A. Complex to Complex (no shifting), B. Complex to Complex with clause reduction, C. Complex to Complex with clause addition, D. Complex to Simplex with single clause, and E. Complex to Simplex with more than one clauses. From the translation point of view, the researcher found that the most translation techniques used by the translator are establish equivalent (71%), Pure Borrowing (8%), and Modulation (5%). These translation techniques affect the complex clause shifting as mentioned before. The translation quality of this book reaches more than 2,90 of 3. It means that the translator successfully translated all of the stories in this children literature book in high level of accuracy, acceptability, and readability. This phenomena shows that translation techniques are really matter to guide the translation on the right track.

P.H. Pearse and Thomas MacDonagh: a literary friendship

ABSTRACTTracing the relationship between P.H. [Patrick Henry] Pearse (1879–1916) and Thomas MacDonagh (1878–1916), this essay explores the impact their friendship had on their careers as writers and critics. Their work together in St Enda’s, the school for boys founded by Pearse in 1908, provides a significant context for this exploration. There, while working with MacDonagh, Pearse made drama an important part of school life and started writing plays for public performance. Meanwhile, their collaboration in putting together the St. Enda’s school journal, An Macaomh (1909–1913), helped to hone MacDonagh’s skills as a literary critic and to prepare for his later editorial role at the Irish Review (1911–1914). Attention then turns to how MacDonagh’s views on Irish literature and his translations from Old Irish influenced his friend’s development as both a critic and poet. Paticular consideration is paid to “Mise Éire”, one of Pearse’s best-known poems. Finally, similarities are considered between MacDonagh and the hero of The Wandering Hawk (1915–1916), Pearse’s unfinished, English-language, school story for children. Taken together, these various investigations reveal that, despite differing temperaments and at times divergent approaches to Irish writing, Pearse and MacDonagh enjoyed a mutually stimulating friendship that impacted positively on their literary careers.

The Giant Ohl and Tiny Tim by Christian Bärmann, and: Fearless Ivan and His Faithful Horse Double-Hump: A Russian Folk Tale by Pyotr Yeshov

Reviewed by: The Giant Ohl and Tiny Tim by Christian Bärmann, and: Fearless Ivan and His Faithful Horse Double-Hump: A Russian Folk Tale by Pyotr Yeshov Jan Susina (bio) The Giant Ohl and Tiny Tim. By Christian Bärmann. Translated and edited by Jack Zipes. Detroit: Tiny Mole and Honeybear-Wayne State University Press, 2019. Fearless Ivan and His Faithful Horse Double-Hump: A Russian Folk Tale. By Pyotr Yeshov. Translated and edited by Jack Zipes. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2019. The Children's Literature Association's annual Anne Devereaux Jordan Award is given to an individual who has made significant contributions in scholarship and/or service to the field of children's literature. At the 2019 ChLA Conference, the award went to Riitta Oittinen, partly in recognition for her extensive work as a translator of English-language children's texts into Finnish. In choosing Oittinen, the first translator and translation scholar to receive this award, ChLA was both recognizing her individual contributions and reaffirming the importance of translation as a vital, although sometimes overlooked and even controversial, form of children's literature scholarship. Another important area that is sometimes given short shrift in terms of scholarship is the historical recovery and bringing back into print of significant older children's texts, accompanied by scholarly scaffolding. Thanks to Google Books and various digital archives, access to once difficult to obtain children's titles is increasingly available to scholars. But books, especially children's books, are more than literary works; they are also aesthetic objects of print culture. Important series such as the New York Review Children's Collection and Princeton University's Oddly Modern Fairy Tales are reissuing compelling older children's books in print editions. When I teach my version of the history of children's literature course, I am grateful to publishers such as Dover and Broadview Press for offering historical children's books in affordable paperback editions. My own research on nineteenth-century literary fairy tales has greatly benefitted from reprinted anthologies such as Jonathan Cott's Beyond the Looking Glass: Extraordinary Works of Fairy & Fantasy, Michael Patrick Hearn's The Victorian Fairy Tale Book, Nina Auerbach and U. C. Knoepflmacher's Forbidden Journeys: Fairy Tales and Fantasies by Victorian Women Writers, Mark West's Before Oz: Juvenile Fantasy Stories from Nineteenth-Century America, and Jack Zipes's Victorian Fairy Tales: The Revolt of the Fairies and Elves. For those who do not have convenient access to special collections dedicated to children's books, facsimile editions, such as those reprinted in The Bodley Head's Osborne Collection of Early Children's Books or Garland's Classics of Children's Literature, are invaluable. Zipes has contributed to this area of historical recovery of children's texts with two newly translated literary fairy tales, one from Germany and the other from Russia. Pyotr Yershov's Fearless Ivan and His Faithful Horse Double-Hump is the better known of the two tales. First published in 1834, it quickly became a popular story for children and adults and was eventually recognized as a classic of Russian children's [End Page 456] literature. Inspired by the verse folktales of Alexander Pushkin, Yershov published The Little Humpbacked Horse, which features Foolish Ivan, a well-known figure of Russian folklore. Foolish Ivan is the Russian equivalent of Jack in the English Jack tales. In Zipes's translation, Ivan Petrovich is the foolish but kind-hearted third son who succeeds in various seemingly impossible tasks and eventually marries the Heavenly Princess, thanks to the guidance of his faithful little horse. Zipes acknowledges that he has taken "a good deal of poetic license" (Yershov 87) in translating and transforming Yershov's poem into a prose fairy tale, while retaining its oral style. Kornei Chukovksy, the famous writer of Russian nonsense poetry and stories for children, praised Yershov's The Little Humpbacked Horse as "a work of genius" in his study of children's language, Two to Five (1933), and singled out Yershov's skillful capturing of the colloquial speech of common people (Yershov 81). The tale became so popular that it quickly appeared in multiple chapbook editions and re-entered the Russian oral...