Annotated Bibliography

Introduction:

My name is Jennifer and I am an approaching senior and elementary education major. I attend Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers Florida where I have lived my entire life. I grew up in a home where there were always books around the house. I was never pushed to read, yet my parents always read to me. I think that’s how I developed a love for reading. However as I grew older my love for reading faded away. Reading became a chore instead of a hobby or adventure. It wasn’t until a trip to the book store my freshman year of college that I found myself sitting on the floor of the

children’s section. It was at that moment when I was surrounded with collections of my favorite memories as a child as well as walls filled with new adventures that I opened a book and Inside that children’s book I started to find that love of reading that I had once lost. The more I read, the more my love was restored. It was also at that moment that I realized I wanted to become an elementary school teacher. I wanted the opportunity to instill that love for reading inside of students. A love that while sometimes may be lost will never completely disappear. When this project was introduced, I was more than excited to dig up my old library card and get started.

Reflection:

When I first walked into the children’s section of the library, I was quite overwhelmed. While each section was categorized and organized. I never knew there were so many published children’s books. Then I met the children’s librarian. As soon as I asked for assistance and presented her with the task at hand, she dropped everything and was eager to stick by my side until we had found all twenty five books of different genres and age levels. Some new and some classics, it seemed like she had read them all. Suddenly the only thing that overwhelmed me was carrying a pile of twenty five books plus a few more back to my car. That was day one. About a month later, my annotated bibliography is complete. Not only did I discover many new books that I had never cracked open before, but I was able to go back and reminisce with classics as well. But this project also went deeper than the content of the books. I became more aware of both award winning books and authors, I discovered exactly what each genre encompassed and focused on classroom connections more than I ever had before. This is one of the most useful assignments I have completed in my college career. So useful in fact that I don’t plan on stopping here. I am inspired and feel that as a teacher it is my responsibility to stay up to date on children’s literature, past, present and future.