The Child Responds to Literature

Student’s Name
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“Through the Eyes of a Child” by Donna E. Norton.
Norton in his article Through the Eyes of a Child explores the history of children literature and how children in the past have been responding to concepts and issues contained in literature. Norton (26) provides guidance on how people can evaluate and choose the best literature items that suit children. As a result, he explains the necessary elements and features a book that suites each age of a child will improve the intellectual abilities and how it will develop them emotionally. Furthermore, he explains that children at different age bracket react differently to various texts and there are some that might not suit them at all. During the development of a child, Norton (31) recommends the use of children books with few words and many pictures since their minds tend to grasp more from images than written words. Furthermore, he states that parents should opt for emotional books on an issue related to love and friendship to assist the child in building the social skills and develop the need to associate with other people. Norton outlines the primary emotional stages that children go through about understanding literature. The first stage is the exploratory stage. In this stage, the children familiarize themselves and become comfortable with the writing. The second stage is the testing stage where they test the literature to confirm if they can understand it. The third stage is the dependency stage.

In this stage, they develop a fantasy of the literature they are reading to disguise any emotions as a result of traumatic events. The fourth stage is the therapeutic growth stage. In this stage, the children unconsciously mourn their loss and loss their sense of self before regaining it later once they have overcome the pain. The last step is the termination stage. In this case, the children review their literature and the themes they acquire, display initial emotional state though with less intensity as they go through the writing and then bid farewell to the emotions they have undergone.
Part II
Silverstein’s text The Giving Tree teaches people not to keep scores. From the book, Silverstein (1) states that the giving tree gives and gives without maintaining a record nor expecting to be given something in return. The tree never asks to be paid her due for the services that she is providing. Also, the book teaches us the importance of connecting with nature. In this case, the author argues the significance of one walking barefoot as a child as it relates one to the earth and makes one feel what the universe is experiencing. In the text, the boy hardly wears anything until the time when he is drawn into the material desires of the world.
Since I was a child, I have been keeping tabs on everything I do for anyone in the form of favors. Whenever I wanted anything from them, I would redeem them, and I expected them never to refuse. Also, I never did anything for anyone without gaining something in return. Reflecting on Silverstein writing, I have been wrong on most occasions, and I should start giving without expecting anything in return.

Works Cited
Norton, Donna E., Saundra E. Norton, and Amy A. McClure. Through the eyes of a child: An introduction to children’s literature. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall, 2007.
Silverstein, Shel. “The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein.” New York: HarperCollins, (1964):1-2.