Spring 2010 class: Engl 503. Children’s Lit Now

Engl 503. Children’s Lit Now
Jerry Griswold
Mondays, 1900-2140 HH210

A hands-on course about reviewing Contemporary Children’s Books and Films:
* We will examine very recent children’s movies (Disney’s “Up,” Spike Jonze’s “Where the Wild Things Are,” Wes Anderson‘s “Fantastic Mr. Fox”) and how film reviewers wrote about them. Then we will review new Spring releases (like Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland” starring Johnny Depp).
*We will study contemporary prizewinning books (“The Tale of Desperaux,” “Skellig,” “The Higher Power of Lucky,” and “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian”) and how book reviewers have written about them. Then we will review Spring releases and the newest prize-winners (starting with the announcement of the Newbery Award in January 2010).
The instructor reviews books and films for the New York and Los Angeles Times, and this course is a kind of apprenticeship program. Students and would-be reviewers will be afforded opportunities to publish their work.