It is only in childhood that books have any deep influence on our lives--Graham Greene The luminous books of our childhood will remain the luminous books of our lives.--Joyce Carol Oates Writers, as they often attest, are deeply influenced by their childhood reading. Salman Rushdie, for example, has said that The Wizard of Oz made a writer of me. Twice-Told Tales is a collection of essays on the way the works of adult writers have been influenced by their childhood reading. This fascinating volume includes theoretical essays on Salman Rushdie and the Oz books, Beauty and the Beast retold as Jane Eyre, the childhood reading of Jorge Luis Borges, and the remnants of nursery rhymes in Sylvia Plath's poetry. It is supplemented with a number of brief commentaries on children's books by major creative writers, including Maxine Hong Kingston and Maxine Kumin.

Developed through a broad-based national consensus building process, the national history standards project has involved working toward agreement both on the larger purposes of history in the school curriculum and on the more specific history understandings and thinking processes all students should have equal opportunity to acquire over 12 years of precollegiate education. Divided into 3 chapters, this document presents the national standards developed for grades K-4. The first chapter is on developing standards in history for students in grades K-4. It discusses the significance of history for the educated citizen, definition of standards, basic principles in development of standards for K-4, integrating historical thinking and historical understandings in standards for grades K-4, and questions concerning these standards. Policy issues discussed are: (1) ensuring equity for all students; (2) providing adequate instructional time for history; and (3) linking history to related studies in geography, civics, literature, and the arts in an integrated or interdisciplinary curriculum for grades K-4. The second chapter presents an overview of standards in historical thinking including chronological thinking, historical comprehension, historical analysis and interpretation, historical research capabilities, and historical issues analysis and decision making. Chapter 3 surveys eight standards organized under four topics: (1) living and working together in families and communities, now and long ago; (2) the history of students' own state or region; (3) U.S. history, democratic principles and values, people from many cultures who contributed to U.S. cultural, economic, and political heritage; and (4) history of peoples of many cultures around the world. An appendix lists contributors and participating organizations. (DK)

The 1st ed. includes an index to v. 28-36 of St. Nicholas.

Educating Young Children in WPA Nursery Schools, the first full-length national study of the WPA nursery school program, helps to explain why universal preschool remains an elusive goal. This book argues that program success in operating nursery schools throughout the United States during the Great Depression was an important New Deal achievement. By highlighting the program’s strengths—its ideals, its curriculum, and its community outreach—the author offers a blueprint for creating a universal preschool program that benefits both children and their families. This volume uncovers the forgotten perspective of WPA nursery school leaders and highlights the program’s innovative curriculum for young children by incorporating both extensive archival research and neglected sources.