Reading Globally, K-8: Connecting Students to the World Through Literature

About Barbara A. LehmanEvelyn B. FreemanPatricia L. (Louise) ScharerPatricia L. Scharer

Barbara A. Lehman is Professor of Teaching and Learning at The Ohio State University where she teaches graduate courses in children's literature and literacy at the Mansfield Campus. Her scholarly interests focus on multicultural and global children's literature and child-centered literary criticism. She co-edited Teaching with Children's Books: Paths to Literature-Based Instruction (National Council of Teachers of English NCTE 1995) and co-authored with Evelyn Freeman Global Perspectives in Children's Literature (Allyn & Bacon 2001). Her third title Children's Literature and Learning: Literary Study Across the Curriculum was published by Teachers College Press (2007). She has had articles published in ChLA Quarterly Children's Literature in Education and the Journal of Children's Literature among others. She has co-edited the Journal of Children's Literature (Children's Literature Assembly of NCTE) and Bookbird: A Journal of International Children's Literature for the International Board on Books for Young People. She has served on and chaired book and author award committees such as NCTE's Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children Committee the Children's Literature Assembly's Notable Books in the Language Arts Committee the Hans Christian Andersen Award U.S. nominating committee the USBBY's Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award nominating committee the International Reading Association's Arbuthnot Award Committee and the Notable Books for a Global Society Committee and the ChLA Article Award Committee. She is president-elect of USBBY (to be president in 2011). She was a Fulbright Scholar in South Africa during 2004-2005 and the 2009 recipient of the Arbuthnot Award from the International Reading Association. Dr. Evelyn B. Freeman is Dean and Director of The Ohio State University-Mansfield. She also serves as Executive Dean for Ohio State's regional campuses. Dr. Freeman is professor in the School of Teaching and Learning and teaches courses in children's literature and language arts. Her research interests focus on multicultural and global children's literature and nonfiction literature for children. She has served as co-editor of the Journal of Children's Literature Bookbird: A Journal of International Children's Literature and the Children's Books column of The Reading Teacher. She has co-authored three books: Using Nonfiction Trade Books in the Elementary Classroom (1992 NCTE); Connecting Informational Children's Books with Content Area Learning (1997 Allyn and Bacon); and Global Perspectives in Children's Literature (2001 Allyn and Bacon). Dr. Freeman has written numerous book chapters and her articles have appeared in Language Arts Bookbird and The Reading Teacher. She has presented at professional conferences nationally and internationally. Active in professional organizations Dr. Freeman chaired the Notable Books for a Global Society Committee and the Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children Committee. She has served on USBBY's Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award Nominating Committee. In 2007 she received the Distinguished Service Award from the National Council of Teachers of English. Dr. Freeman is immediate Past-President of the Children's Literature Assembly of NCTE. Patricia L. Scharer is a Professor of Education at The Ohio State University. Her research interests include early literacy development phonics and word study and the role of children's literature to foster both literary development and literacy achievement. Her research has been published in Reading Research Quarterly Research in the Teaching of English Educational Leadership Language Arts The Reading Teacher Reading Research and Instruction and the yearbooks of the National Reading Conference and the College Reading Association. She has served as co-editor of the Journal of Children's Literature Bookbird: A Journal of International Children's Literature and the Children's Books column of The Reading Teacher. Professor Scharer is also co-editor of Extending Our Reach: Teaching for Comprehension in Reading Grades K-2 and Guiding K-3 Writers to Independence: The New Essentials. She is co-author of Rethinking Phonics: Making the Best Teaching Decisions. She is a member of the national Literacy Collaborative Trademark Committee and recently conducted federally-funded research in partnership with University of Chicago Lesley University and Stanford University.