Reflections about Author Study

I have never done an author study before, and I found the experience very useful for me as a reader of children's literature, and also as a future teacher of children's literature. It is really a different experience to read a body of work by one author than it is to read pieces of their work haphazardly. I was really able to get a sense of who Cynthia Rylant is as an author, but I didn't just learn about her; I found myself thinking about the literary elements of these books, the themes, the imagery, similarities, differences, etc. I really felt like I was immersed in her work and it made me think more deeply about children's literature in general. I think that the knowledge that I gained from this will help me to make more educated book choices. For example, I know that if I want to discuss themes or imagery, a book by Cynthia Rylant would be a great place to start looking. Similarly, I think this type of study would help children. It would help them in their own book choices, because they would have a starting place and would know what to expect from different authors. It would help them to learn what they like and what they don't like, and develop their taste as readers. This type of study would be great to use in the classroom to compare and contrast, and to talk about themes and bigger ideas. I had a really positive experience with this and will definitely keep "author study" in my bag of ideas for when I am developing my own reading curriculum in my classroom.