Informal Field Study

EDU 443 Literature for Children & Teens

Describe the interviewees: Who did you interview? How old were they? What are their genders? Where do they live? How do you know them? Why did you pick them? What are their interests (i.e. sports, games, etc.)? What did you notice about the personalities or other characteristics of your interviewees?

I conducted my interview with some of the children at my childcare center. The children I chose were an 11-year-old girl, a ten-year-old boy and an 8-year-old boy. They all live in the community surrounding the center which I work. The girl lives a farther distance than the boys who are cousins coincidentally. I picked these children because I know that they like to read and show a strong interest in books. The girl likes to cheer and often when she goes outside that is what she is doing, working on flips or teaching the other girls some of the routines she has learned from cheering. The ten- year old is very athletic and likes to play with anything related to a ball. (Football, baseball, basketball, soccer etc.) and is often the one who initiates the games. The 8-year old boy likes video games and action figures so most times when he is not reading that is what he is doing playing with the games or coloring in an action figure book or drawing pictures of his own created action figures. What I have noticed about all the individuals I chose was while they are all different they all still have the same love for reading.

Describe the interview questions: What questions did you ask them to ascertain their reading interests? Include at least three questions.

These are a few of the questions I asked the children, they seemed nervous at first but then opened when we started talking about books.

Describe the results: What did you learn about your interviewees reading interests? Do you think these findings would align with a more general population or were they unique to the people you interviewed? How do these findings align with the article you read?

What is your favorite kind of book to read and why?
If you could escape into any book you’ve read what would it be?
When you are reading a book, do you like to read books by the same author or in the same category? (I had to explain what category was to the 8-year old.)

The results of the questions were just as I expected. The children love reading and they had no problem sharing with me how much they do. I learned from the girl (N. Smith, August 2,2018) that her favorite books were ones about love and girl stuff. She was currently reading Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume that her mom had given her. From the 8-year old boy (J. Bell, August 2,2018) I learned that he likes Star Wars and books of that nature. He wasn’t currently reading a book but was going to go to the library on the day the interview was conducted. The 10-year old (Z. Johnson, August 3,2018) loves books about sports and anything about outer space which shocked me. He was indulged in a book about the Boston Celtics when we interviewed. I think these findings aligned more with these unique children that were interviewed. The findings from the children interviewed didn’t really align with the articles I read because each child was different and distinct in how they chose their reading materials.

Describe the implications: How would you use this data if you were a librarian? Consider your collections development. What books/resources would you buy?

If I were a librarian I would make sure the books on the shelves matched up demographically to what the children questioned read. I think the similarities of them to their friends would. Books I would buy would be of the same genre and some that are like give them a variety of options.

Find one book to recommend to each of your interviewees. Explain why you chose the book and why you think the person you interviewed will enjoy this particular book. If you cannot find an exact title, describe a book in general terms (such as genre or interests) you think each would enjoy. The book can be fiction or non-fiction.

The book I would recommend to the girl student would be Otherwise Known as Shelia the Great

This book is basically the part two of Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing and so I think she would enjoy it as much as she likes the first. Plus, it is also by Judy Blume who has a great way of making books come to life.

For the 8-year old boy I would recommend the latest installment of Star Wars depending on where he was at reading them and go from there. All the Star Wars books and movies are good.

He can’t go wrong with either title he selects.

For the 10- year old boy I would suggest for him the book This book is packed with all the who’s, what’s, when’s, and why’s of space and it’s kid friendly so he wouldn’t be lost in the adult lingo.