Area of expertise:

• Literature for Children and Young Adults (including multicultural and international literature, picture books, and poetry)
• Writing for Children and Young Adults

Degrees and Universities:

• Valparaiso University, BS, 1964
• University of Nebraska, MA, 1967
• Michigan State University, PhD, 1986

Publications:

• "Personal Response and Social Responsibility: Responses of Middle-School Students to Multicultural Literature." The Reading Teacher 58 (2005): 750-764.
• "About Writing: A Letter to Stacie." Language Arts 82 (2003): 17-21.
• Teaching and Learning About Multicultural Literature: Students Reading Outside Their Culture in a Middle School Classroom. International Reading Association, 2003.
• "Octagon Magic: Andre Norton and Revitalizing the Girls' Book." Children's Literature in Education 27 (1996): 209 - 218. [co-author Francis Molson]
• "Literature or Life: Shabanu and the Reading of Cultural Literature." Journal of Children's Literature 21 (1995): 37 - 50.
• "Literacy Bibliography -- An Eclectic Selection." Literacy Networks: A Journal of Literacy Providers 1.2 (1995): 37 - 50.
• "I See Me: Readings of Cultural Literature by Elementary Education Students." Journal of Children's Literature 20 (1994): 94 - 96.
• "The Formal Oral Group Exam: Challenges and Possibilities." ERIC/RCS. June, 1992.
• "The Effects of Listening to and Discussing Different Qualities of Children's Literature Read Aloud on the Narrative Writing of Fifth-Graders." Research in the Teaching of English 24 (1990): 397-414.
• "Critical Thinking and the Perception of Aesthetic Form." Language Arts 15 (1988): 103-112.
• "Black Literature for the Middle School: The Legacy of Ralph Ellison in Virginia Hamilton's Justice Trilogy." English Journal (1984): 42-48.
• "Abstraction in Illustration: Is it Appropriate for Children?" Children's Literature in Education 15 (1984): 103-112.