Course Details in 2025/26 Session

Module Title	LH Bedtime Stories: Reading Children’s Picture Books
School	Eng, Drama, & Creative Studies
Department	English Literature
Module Code	09 37165
Module Lead	Emily Wingfield
Level	Honours Level
Credits	20
Semester	Semester 2
Pre-requisites
Co-requisites
Restrictions	None
Contact Hours	Lecture-10 hours Seminar-20 hours Guided independent study-170 hours Total: 200 hours
Exclusions
Description	As you reach the end of your undergraduate degree, Bedtime Stories offers an exciting opportunity for you to engage anew with contemporary children’s picture books. Bringing to bear skills developed across your degree, we’ll approach an array of picture books from a variety of critical and creative perspectives. In addition to regular case studies of particular authors and/or illustrators we’ll consider topics such as: the history of picture books; picture books in the classroom (touching here on the practices and policies of early years literacy); picture books in the community (to include the role of libraries, and charities and organisations such as: The National Literacy Trust, Coram Beanstalk, BookTrust, Storybook Dads); the importance of diversity and inclusivity; the role of social media (including key bloggers and Instagram accounts); publishing and marketing; adaptations and performance (stage, tv, radio); and digital picture books. We’ll also explore key and emerging themes of children’s picture books (such as family, friendship, growing up, emotions, the animal kingdom, nature and the environment), the relationship between word and image, formal features (such as vocabulary, rhyme and rhythm), and the picture book as object and performance, relating our discussion throughout to broader theories of and approaches to children’s literature. Varying from year to year, there will be opportunities for collaboration with local libraries and archives, schools/early years’ providers, and community projects; students will also have the chance to contribute to module-specific social media accounts.
Learning Outcomes	By the end of the module students should be able to: Demonstrate knowledge and a critical/theoretical understanding of the production and reception of children’s picture books, and of their authors and illustrators; Evidence knowledge and understanding of the specific critical, cultural and educational debates concerning children’s literature more generally and picture books in particular; Apply appropriate wider literary critical/or theoretical approaches to the analysis of children’s picture books; Reflect critically on creative and/or educational projects involving children’s picture books, produced either by themselves and/or others.
Assessment	37165-01 : Portfolio : Coursework (100%)
Assessment Methods & Exceptions	Portfolio of work totalling 3,500 words (100%) Reassessment: Resubmission of failed component(s)
Other
Reading List