What Makes Books Great? Introducing Art to Children

What Makes a Book Great? (3:18) We pose the question "What makes a book great?" to Jon Ostenson, an English professor at BYU. What if the answer isn’t merely a matter of personal tastes? Ostenson specializes in literature for teens and young adults. He suggests that we make the effort as adults to read a little more widely so we can better understand what our teens are reading. Having taught Junior High and High School English in Utah, he presently teaches courses in adolescent literature and publishes on the topic. One-Thousand Books Before Kindergarten (14:57) Rachel talks to Lynda Palma of the BYU Museum of Art where she is an Art Educator. Our topic is the importance of art in a child’s life and how it can help them broaden their horizons. Palma has enjoyed a long and rewarding career in museum studies, beginning as a registrar of the BYU art collection, then as the collections manager and, now, as an educator at the BYU Museum of Art. Lynda also spent several years teaching in the music and humanities departments at BYU.  Poetry of Leslie Norris (25:07) We finish the show with two charming poems read by the late Welsh poet, Leslie Norris from his book, Norris’s Ark.