Department of Children's Literature

Faculty
Cathryn M. Mercier, Professor, Children’s Literature and Director of the Graduate Degree Programs in Children’s Literature, and Director of the Center for the Study of Children’s Literature
Kelly Hager, Professor of English
Abbye Meyer, Assistant Professor NTT, Children’s Literature
Amy Pattee, Associate Professor of Library and Information Science

Degree Programs

The Department of Children’s Literature offers the Master of Arts in Children’s Literature (MA)
In addition, the department offers the Master of Fine Arts in Writing for Children (MFA)

Dual Degree Programs

The Department of Children’s Literature offers the Master of Arts in Children’s Literature (MA) and the Master of Fine Arts in Writing for Children (MFA)
The Department of Children’s Literature offers the following dual graduate degree program: Children's Literature (MA)/ Writing for Children (MFA)
In collaboration with the School of Library and Information Science, the following dual graduate degree program are offered: Children’s Literature (MA) / MS Library and Information Science

Study in Boston or in Amherst
In collaboration with The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, Simmons offers the M.A. in Children's Literature, M.F.A. in Writing for Children, M.A. in Children's Literature/M.F.A. dual degree, and M.A. in Children's Literature/M.S. in Library Science dual degree offered in collaboration with Simmons University’s School of Library and Information Science program at Mount Holyoke. Students may opt to study mostly at one place or to split their studies between the two sites and make choices depending on specific course offerings.

Internships and Experiential Learning
Children’s Literature students take advantage of internships in Boston and beyond to build their skills and resumes. Learning from mentors in their fields proves invaluable to one’s choice of profession. Students have interned at publishing houses such as Delacorte, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Charlesbridge, Candlewick, Scholastic, Penguin, David Godine, and St. Martin's in addition to interning at a variety of literary agencies in Boston and New York. The Horn Book, Inc. guarantees two internships per year to Simmons students and students report that this engagement in children’s book reviewing fortifies their coursework in criticism and assessment. Students also find experiential opportunities at advocacy groups, such as Reach Out and Read and the Boston Book Festival. Some students also seek professional internships with local schools and libraries. Internships often carry a stipend or hourly wage; they do not earn academic credit.

General Electives for Children’s Literature programs

The Children’s Literature graduate degree programs offers four-credit and two-credit courses.

Below, please find the list of electives for all graduate degree programs in Children’s Literature and Writing for Children. For a list of Core Courses, please see the individual degree programs. In some cases, a core course in one program (e.g., CHL 430-Writing for Children I is a requirement in the MFA program) counts as an elective in another program (e.g., ChL 430-Writing for Children I counts as an elective in the MA program).

Course	Title	Credits
CHL 404A	Poetry for Young Readers: You be the Judge (h) (g)	2
CHL 411	Victorian Children’s Literature (h)	4
CHL 413	Contemporary Realistic Fiction for Young Adults (gfor MFA only; required MA)	4
CHL 414	Fantasy and Science Fiction (g for MFA only; required MA)	4
CHL 415	The Whole Book APproach	2
CHL 419B	Humor (g)	2
CHL 420	Thesis	4
CHL 421	History of Children's Book Publishing	4
CHL 422	Editing the Children's Book Manuscript	2
CHL 423	19^thCentury American Children’s Literature (h)	4
CHL 424B	Nonsense and Subversive Rhymes (h)(g)	2
CHL 424C	Series Fiction (h) (g)	2
CHL 427	Special Topics: Folk & Fairy Tales (h) (g)	2
CHL 427B	The Americanization of Fairy Tales (h) (g)	2
CHL 428A	A Single Text: The Graphic Novel and The Wizard of Oz (h) (g)	2
CHL 429A	Re-Reading Race in Classic Children’s Literature (h)	2
CHL 429B	The Girl Reader 1868 – 1908	2
CHL 429C	Culture Matters (h)	4
CHL 429D	The Girl Reader 1908-1934 (h)	2
CHL 430	Writing for Children I	4
CHL 434	The Child and the Book	4
CHL 435A	Creators and Aesthetics: Focus on an Artist	2
CHL 435B	Creators and Aesthetics: Focus on a Writer	2
CHL 436A	Nonfiction-Narrative (g)	2
CHL 436B	Nonfiction-Expository (g)	2
CHL 436C	Metafiction and Self-Reflexivity (h) (g)	2
CHL 437	Special Topics : Positionality	2
CHL 450	Independent Study	1 - 4
CHL 451	The Reviewer	2
CHL 50X	Summer Symposium and Institute	4

(h) indicates that the course counts toward the required four credits of history for the MA degree
(g) indicates that the course counts toward the required four credits of genre elective for the MFA degree. A course can count toward one category only. For example, ChL 427 can count two credits toward the MFA student’s history elective or genre elective; however, it cannot count in both categories.
(h) Please note that not every course is offered every semester, or even every year.

Weekend and Intensive Courses

Two (2) credit courses may be scheduled to occur during a weekend, during which students may meet up to eight hours daily to engage in coursework. Similarly, some four (4) credit courses in summers, weekends, or other times of year may follow an intensive, immersive format.