Reading for Learning

Reading for Learning
Author: Maria Nikolajeva
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Company
Total Pages: 257
Release: 2014-06-15
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 9027269955

How does reading fiction affect young people? How can they transfer fictional experience into real life? Why do they care about fictional characters? How does fiction enhance young people's sense of self-hood? Supported by cognitive psychology and brain research, this ground-breaking book is the first study of young readers' cognitive and emotional engagement with fiction. It explores how fiction stimulates perception, attention, imagination and other cognitive activity, and opens radically new ways of thinking about literature for young readers. Examining a wide range of texts for a young audience, from picturebooks to young adult novels, the combination of cognitive criticism and children’s literature theory also offers significant insights for literary studies beyond the scope of children’s fiction. An important milestone in cognitive criticism, the book provides convincing evidence that reading fiction is indispensable for young people’s intellectual, emotional and social maturation.

Fantastic Spiritualities

Fantastic Spiritualities
Author: J'annine Jobling
Publisher: A&C Black
Total Pages: 225
Release: 2010-07-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1472535294

In this work Jobling argues that religious sensibility in the Western world is in a process of transformation, but that we see here change, not decline, and that the production and consumption of the fantastic in popular culture offers an illuminating window onto spiritual trends and conditions. She examines four major examples of the fantastic genre: the Harry Potter series (Rowling), His Dark Materials (Pullman), Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Whedon) and the Earthsea cycle (Le Guin), demonstrating that the spiritual universes of these four iconic examples of the fantastic are actually marked by profoundly modernistic assumptions, raising the question of just how contemporary spiritualities (often deemed postmodern) navigate philosophically the waters of truth, morality, authority, selfhood and the divine. Jobling tackles what she sees as a misplaced disregard for the significance of the fantasy genre as a worthy object for academic investigation by offering a full-length, thematic, comparative and cross-disciplinary study of the four case-studies proposed, chosen because of their significance to the field and because these books have all been posited as exemplars of a 'postmodern' religious sensibility. This work shows how attentiveness to spiritual themes in cultural icons can offer the student of theology and religions insight into the framing of the moral and religious imagination in the late twentieth and twenty-first centuries and how this can prompt traditional religions to reflect on whether their own narratives are culturally framed in a way resonating with the 'signs of the times'.

Killing the Imposter God

Killing the Imposter God
Author: Donna Freitas
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 258
Release: 2007-09-17
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0787982377

Freitas and King address the complex religious and spiritual dimensions of Philip Pullmans His Dark Materials trilogy.

Philip Pullman

Philip Pullman
Author: Margaret Speaker Yuan
Publisher: Infobase Learning
Total Pages: 115
Release: 2013-11
Genre:
ISBN: 1438147686

Unicorn Academy: Lyra and Misty

Unicorn Academy: Lyra and Misty
Author: Julie Sykes
Publisher: Nosy Crow
Total Pages: 88
Release: 2021-05-06
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1788009509

When your best friend is a unicorn, magical adventures are guaranteed! Imagine a school where you meet your own unicorn and have amazing adventures together! That's what happens for the girls at Unicorn Academy on beautiful Unicorn Island. When Lyra discovers a piece of an ancient map hidden in Unicorn Academy, she's certain it will lead to treasure. She's ready for a big adventure with her beautiful unicorn, Misty! There's a tricky riddle to solve and a dark cave to explore. But Lyra and Misty are in luck. Their friends are ready to help them, whatever dangers lie ahead... With a glittery cover and beautifully illustrated throughout by Lucy Truman, Unicorn Academy is the perfect series for 7+ readers who love magic and adventure. Check out the other titles in this series: Phoebe and Shimmer, Zara and Moonbeam, Aisha and Silver and many more!

Term Limits 4 Liberty

Term Limits 4 Liberty
Author: Stan W. Hatfield MBA
Publisher: Fulton Books, Inc.
Total Pages: 510
Release: 2023-12-04
Genre: Fiction
ISBN:

Planet Xeon is located in the distant corner of the Alpha Centauri Star System, nearly six light-years away, and is comparable to planet Earth. Technology on Xeon is far beyond Earth's abilities, creating futuristic advancements, either unknown or out of reach from our reality. Xeon geoscientists have determined the planet core is unstable and may be uninhabitable in three hundred years unless it self-stabilizes, a rational probability. Superiors start a search for a habitable planet in order to save their people from becoming extinct, and they've selected planet Earth, specifically, the United States of America. Identifying what is necessary to send to planet Earth is of great concern due to the advanced technology that can produce weapons with godly powers, powers that can destroy the planet. Once Xeon technology is introduced, our lives will change dramatically and make the United States a dominating country with powers that are unimaginable, creating a force that the world will envy and fight to attain. The superiors of Xeon are concerned about sharing military technology to an unstable or corrupt government. They plan to be selective when transporting certain types of technology until such time the United States government can prove to be trustworthy, responsible with alien weapons, and have total control of other countries on the planet, preventing them from acquiring these powers. Titus and Xavia resign from their position at NASA to help the Xeon people rid the United States from corruption before announcing them to the world. In the process, they become good friends with Xeon citizens. The concerns about Xeon citizens migrating to the United States stem from the widespread corruption in the government. The Xeon government go through a comparable situation, ending in a civil war, where many people die. Term limits is discovered to be the key ingredient to a stable government that works for the people and by the people. "Lifetime politicians cultivate corruption." Adventure, space flight, romance, friendship, family, and chocolate cake.

Philip Pullman

Philip Pullman
Author: Catherine Butler
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 200
Release: 2017-09-16
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1137336773

Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy is a worldwide classic of modern literature for both children and adults. Challenging in its intellectual scope, ambitious scale and range of literary reference, it is also hugely controversial due to its critique of organised religion. This collection of original essays by an international team of distinguished scholars assesses Pullman's achievement and introduces readers to some of the key debates surrounding His Dark Materials. Covering topics such as religion, gender, childhood and scientific enquiry, the volume also discusses the Hollywood film of the first book and features a new interview with Pullman himself.

Teaching Children's Literature

Teaching Children's Literature
Author: Diane Duncan
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 230
Release: 2013-01-11
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1136020861

Drawing on a series of recently conducted classroom workshops and live interviews with the authors, this inspiring book examines five popular children’s authors: Philip Pullman, J.K. Rowling, Michael Morpurgo, Anthony Browne, Jacqueline Wilson and the genre of comic books. Four genres are explored in detail: the picture book, written narrative, film narrative and comic books. Teaching Children’s Literature provides detailed literary knowledge about the chosen authors and genres alongside clear, structured guidelines and creative ideas to help teachers, student teachers and classroom assistants make some immensely popular children’s books come alive in the classroom. This accessible and inspiring text for teachers, parents, student teachers and students of children’s literature: includes a variety of discussion, drama, writing and drawing activities, with ideas for Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning which can be used to plan a unit of work or series of interrelated lessons for pupils aged between seven and fourteen years provides detailed, literary knowledge about the authors, their works, language, plot and characterisation, including exclusive transcripts of interviews with three contemporary children’s book authors shows teachers how pupils can be encouraged to become more critical and knowledgeable about screen, picture and comic narratives as well as written narratives demonstrates how reading stories can help connect pupils and teachers to a broader pedagogy in ways which promote deeper thinking, learning and engagement. This lively, informative and practical book will enable teachers, students and classroom assistants to plan inspiring and enjoyable lessons which will encourage them to teach children’s literature in an entirely different and inventive way.

Expendable Natives

Expendable Natives
Author: Roger Anderson
Publisher: Trafford Publishing
Total Pages: 470
Release: 2019-07-22
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1490796096

California sea lions are having seizures on the central coast of California. An eleven-year-old girl, Lissa Seawright, and her dog, Keats, find one of the first victims washed up on a Pacific City beach. Lissa is spending her summer there with her mother, Lorraine. They wait on the beach for hours along with others, including local newspaper reporter Logan Price, for help to arrive. Led by big Jack Kodolsky, the rescuers drive down a couple hours from the Pinniped Rescue Center in Santa Cruz. The veterinarian at the center, feisty Lyra Calhoun, waits at the center to examine the animal. The spectators witness the first rescue, which involves Jack and his team loading 250 pounds of quivering flesh for transfer. The incidence of sea lions under seizure soon becomes an epidemic, but the frustrated vet can’t isolate the cause. Lyra, Jack, Lisa, and Logan begin an investigation to locate the toxic culprit. Is it possible that something dangerous is saturating the sand dunes near Cenco Oil’s Refinery, where Lissa’s mother is the head of public relations? The team’s search will eventually take them from those sand dunes to a deadly confrontation on the water with a psychopathic killer.

His Dark Materials Omnibus

His Dark Materials Omnibus
Author: Philip Pullman
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Total Pages: 946
Release: 2012-01-25
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0307808203

HIS DARK MATERIALS IS NOW AN HBO ORIGINAL SERIES STARRING DAFNE KEEN, RUTH WILSON, JAMES McAVOY, AND LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA! The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass are available together in one volume perfect for any fan or newcomer to this modern fantasy classic series that has graced the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, San Francisco Chronicle, Book Sense, and Publishers Weekly bestseller lists. These thrilling adventures tell the story of Lyra and Will—two ordinary children on a perilous journey through shimmering haunted otherworlds. They will meet witches and armored bears, fallen angels and soul-eating specters. And in the end, the fate of both the living—and the dead—will rely on them. Phillip Pullman’s spellbinding His Dark Materials trilogy has captivated readers for over twenty years and won acclaim at every turn. It will have you questioning everything you know about your world and wondering what really lies just out of reach. Honors and Praise for His Dark Materials: An Entertainment Weekly All-Time Greatest Novel A Newsweek Top 100 Book of All Time "Arguably the best juvenile fantasy novel of the past twenty years." —The Washington Post "Very grand indeed." —The New York Times “Pullman is quite possibly a genius.” —Newsweek Don't miss Philip Pullman's epic new trilogy set in the world of His Dark Materials! ** THE BOOK OF DUST ** La Belle Sauvage The Secret Commonwealth