America's strength lies in its inherent diversity--an enduring truth that makes the Eurocentric nature of our educational curricula troubling. Despite this foundational reality, curricular materials remain predominantly Eurocentric, often excluding authentic representation and inclusion of Black/African American experiences in children's and young…

Teachers and caregivers use children's books (i.e., trade books) to support mathematics learning in school and home settings; shared book reading offers a unique opportunity to support students' understanding of operations and schema development. No prior studies have examined the representations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and…

The Pura Belpré Award honors Latina/o/e writers and illustrators whose works are acknowledged as best portraying, affirming, and celebrating Latina/o/e cultural experiences for children and youth. Using a critical content analysis of 14 chapter books that received the award, we share findings that reveal the texts consistently portrayed Latina/o/e…

Engineering design-based learning entered the discourse of science education with the release of the "Next Generation Science Standards" (NGSS Lead States 2013). Since that time there has been a focused effort to embed engineering design and engineering-based thinking in elementary school experiences. As thinking like an engineer is…

This article describes a new and unique context for integrating STEM and literacy instruction--Novel Engineering. Oftentimes, STEM design challenges are focused on developing solutions to the big problems that humans face such as cleaning up oil spills or contrived situations in which children are tasked with building solutions to hypothetical…

The purpose of this study was to compare the impact of two storybooks -- one with realistic and one with non-realistic characters -- on children's comprehension performance. Children's performances in character and event recall, reasoning and problem-solving were compared. The participants were 100 young children enrolled in 1 of 13 classes at 4…

In this article, the authors describe how their first-grade class used the book "Inch by Inch" (Lionni 1960)--the story of an inchworm that escapes from a hungry robin by proving he is useful for measuring--as inspiration for a lesson focused on exploring length measurement through examining the meaning of an inch. The authors designed a…

This essay is grounded in the scholarship of teaching and learning and will focus specifically on the ways in which the Harry Potter books highlight the diversity of learning and teaching styles; privilege active experiential learning and problem solving over passive rote learning; and emphasize the benefits of collaboration over competition.…

This article describes how selected nonfiction science books can be read as mystery stories featuring people confronting problems, gathering evidence, tossing aside preconceived ideas when necessary, and finding solutions.

In this research, we examine how problem solving frameworks differ between Mathematics and Software Development. Our methodology is based on the assumption that the words used frequently in a book indicate the mental framework of the author. We compared word frequencies in a sample of 139 books that discuss problem solving. The books were grouped…

Boys need books with which they can connect, books that reach out to them with characters that reflect themselves, books that feature people who speak and look and act like the people in their lives. Among the functions of literature in children's lives, two are particularly relevant: facilitating literacy skills and providing role models. The…

Presents annotations of about 30 children's books focusing on visual creativity, creative expression, creative response, creative inquiry, creating a vision, and creative problem solving. Features books that focus on creativity, imagination, and innovation. (SG)

The use of realism is valuable in children's literature when it fulfills these requirements: the subject is familiar to children; the characters are convincing; and the story is interesting, presents a hopeful solution, and deals courageously with the issues that touch the lives of the young readers. Relevant realism responds to the curiosity,…

This column discusses five children's books selected to develop math concepts involving problem solving, reasoning, and communication. The books are "Only One" (Marc Harshman); "The Librarian Who Measured the Earth" (Kathryn Lasky); "Counting Jennie" (Helena C. Pittman); "The Search for Delicious" (Natalie Babbitt); and "The Toothpaste…

The annotated bibliography in this article focuses on the following three criteria: the books are written by authors of merit; each book contains well-developed characters who display gifted behaviors, and the stories include though-provoking problem situations, issues, or personal needs with which gifted students can identify. Thirty-four books…