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Last night, I had the immense pleasure of listening to leading author and children’s literature historian Leonard Marcus read from his newly published work, Minders of Make-Believe: Idealists, Entrepreneurs, and the Shaping of American Children’s Literature (Houghton Mifflin Co.) at one of DC’s most popular bookstores, Politics and Prose.
The near-capacity crowd listened intently as Leonard expertly guided us on a whirlwind trip through the decades that shaped children’s literature as we know it today. Afterwards, a lively chat followed between the author and the audience, covering topics such as the merits of the graphic novel and the rise of publishing’s “Potter Phenomenon.” It was both a fascinating and fun evening, and I would encourage anyone who has an interest in the history of children’s literature in America to pick up a copy of the book – it’s a terrific read! (And if you would like to find out more about the book, please check out First Book’s recently recorded podcast interview with the author!)
A special thank you goes out to the wonderful Gussie Lewis of Politics and Prose for coordinating such a memorable event… and extra special thanks to Leonard for so patiently signing that stack of books I bought!
I recently had the immense pleasure of chatting with historian and author Leonard Marcus about his newly published title, Minders of Make-Believe: Idealists, Entrepreneurs, and the Shaping of American Children’s Literature (Houghton Mifflin Co.) Over fourteen years in the making, Minders of Make-Believe tells the fascinating story of the development of children’s literature in America from its earliest beginnings to the advent of Harry Potter and beyond.
Do you know the full history of how Children’s Book Week came to be? Or who Leonard would put his money on in a battle of wills between New York Public Library’s trailblazing librarian Anne Carroll Moore and Harper’s Editor Beyond Compare, Ursula Nordstrom? (True confession: they both scare me a little.) Listen to the inside story of the events and characters that shaped the classics using the link below!
And, if you plan to be in the Washington DC area on June 19th, don’t miss Leonard’s upcoming talk and book signing at Politics and Prose!
Happy Children’s Book Week!
P.S. Have a favorite author or other publishing figure you’d like to see featured in a First Book podcast? Feel free to email us with your suggestions!
Upgrades don’t wipe out all your coursework if you use a textbook and a notebook instead of WebCT. This is embarassing, honestly. Switch to a new “learning management system” lose all your old work.
I’ve yet to see a really good one. (FSU uses Blackboard, and it’s a usability train wreck.)
Shame on people who don’t archive their stuff outside “the system,” though.
[…] why e-learning and learning are different » This Summary is from an article posted at librarian.net on Tuesday, November 13, 2007 why […]
My school uses WebCT. I hate it. I could set up a better online learning environment with a Yahoo! Group.
Man, I took a few classes through WebCT at UNT, and let me tell you: losing your work is a minor problem there. More important is the fact that, WebCT is so clunky and user-unfriendly that it makes it very difficult to actually exchange ideas with people. When the courses use the ol’ memorize-and-regurgitate method of “learning,” you start to wonder if you’re getting your money’s worth out of that school, even if it’s close to free…
I’ve done WebCT through Marshall (hated it, clunky, CONSTANTLY crashed) and Blackboard through Mansfield (a little better, IMHO). It stinks that they’re moving to a new system, but apparently either can’t figure out or can’t be bothered with finding a better solution.
Heather, the two companies merged recently, or one bought the other, I don’t know the details. So it has even less incentive to improve. Unless we keep reminding it about Moodle, Sakai, and other open source courseware applications. I was told that one of the features that recommended WebCT was its integration with the Registrar’s database. But when people withdrew from my Reference class, the instructor didn’t know about it, so I don’t think it was really all that well integrated.
Sharon,
Thanks for the heads-up re: the merger. I’ve heard good stuff about Moodle, and I don’t know why more schools don’t use it. I know some high schools have used it for their distance education purposes with pretty good results. I’ve never heard of Sakai, but now I’ve got something to look for, just to satisfy my own curiosity!
I too have taken many WebCT courses at UNT. Contrary to Doug’s experience, mine has been alright. I believe WebCT facilitates the exchange of ideas far better than a face-to-face class. The system is sluggish at peak hours, and yes, you MUST save your work outside the system or risk losing it. But I can’t imagine anyone not doing that anyway. WebCT, and any other web-based instructional system I suppose, forces participation. Students cannot fake it the way they can in most conventional classes.
Tsk,tsk, WebCT, I cannot yet grasp why on the world with free and open source systems available out there like moodle (www.moodle.org) or claroline (www.claroline.net), educational institutions keep insisting in wasting their money and time with WebCT!!!