Children's and Young Adult Literature Commons^™

Communication Of Mental Health Diversity To The Early Childhood Age Group: “The Adventures Of Anxious Anderson, Distracted Daniel, And Organized Olive”, Jessica Gower

Honors Projects

In this project, I aim to explore various aspects of communication, cognitive ability, and mental health diversity in early child development. The three research questions guiding this project are: What cognitive and language abilities do children in the early childhood stage of development have? What are the most effective strategies for communicating information about mental health disorders to children ages 4 to 7 through storytelling? And lastly, how do anxiety, attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) manifest, particularly in children? The storybook's purpose is to create a sense of empathy and understanding of mental health diversity in children …

Balancing On The Edges: The Phenomenological Children Of Children's Literature, Zoe Stone

Senior Projects Spring 2023

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Languages and Literature and The Division of Social Studies of Bard College.

A Ruff Day On The Road: How Relocation Affects Children Pre-K Through Third Grade And How A Picture Book Can Help, Bryant Miller

Honors Projects

Moving their home from across town, a couple of states away, or overseas is something most will experience at least once in their lifetime. For all, moving is a big change, but for children, it can have lasting effects. Presumably, social skills, academic development, and family dynamics are all impacted when children move. But how and to what length are these factors influenced? This led to the original research question, how does relocation affect children and how can this transition during relocation be eased? After the first portion of the research was done to answer these questions, the research then …

Afterlife: Exploring And Accepting Ideas Through Children's Literature, Kiley Vandevelde

Honors Projects

This project is a written and illustrated book for children to assist with the grieving process by exploring different cultural representations of the afterlife. Death is an inescapable part of the human condition. Belief in an afterlife can help children retain a connection to the deceased and can be a useful tool for healing. While very young children (age four to five) inherently believe in existence after death, this decreases after the age of ten. This book targets children aged seven to ten and explains the benefit to believing in an afterlife. It explores different ideas surrounding the afterlife and …

Girls’ Voices Of The Eighteenth Century: The Development Of A Genre For Young Female Readers, 1740-1800, Sarah Rangaratnam

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Just as they do today, adolescent girls functioned as a cultural force in the eighteenth century, and it was commercially viable for authors and publishers to attract and sustain the attention of these teenaged readers. Girls’ Voices of the Eighteenth Century: The Development of a Genre for Young Female Readers, 1740-1800, examines how four female authors leveraged elements of fairy tales, romances and gothic fiction, and developed dialogue and humour in their texts, to reflect the interests and literary awareness of their target audience of adolescent girls. My study begins with an investigation of the legacy of early French fairy …

A Steady Journey - Critical And Self-Analysis, Ashley Gonzalez

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Analysis of the composition of A Steady Journey, a young adult fantasy novel featuring a disabled protagonist by Ashley Gonzalez.

Death In Children's Literature, Joyce Ann Kaufman

Honors Theses

Mr. Wordsworth posed an interesting question. What should a child know about death?

Often we try to protect children from death. Euphemisms are used regarding death. People and pets do not die, they "pass away," "go to sleep," or "go to live in heaven." When a death occurs in a family, the adults often say of a young child, "It doesn't seem to bother him. Maybe he doesn't realize what has happened." Other people may mention that "He has accepted it so well. Children adapt so easily."