Now available in the CTDA – a series of audio recordings of lectures delivered by author and illustrator James Marshall to Francelia Butler’s Children’s Literature course from 1976-1990. Marshall is best known for the George and Martha series of picture books. The recordings span 16 visits Marshall made to Dr. Butler’s class, and demonstrate with wit and humor Marshall’s thoughts on writing, illustration, the publishing industry, and creativity. Butler’s course became one of the largest and most popular courses at the University of Connecticut, in part because of the opportunity it offered students to learn from guest lecturers that included Madeleine L’Engle, Maurice Sendak, and Isaac Bashevis Singer, among others. 

In Butler’s obituary, the New York Times described her course as “a platform for reform.” Butler lifted the academic standing of the study of children’s literature, establishing the journal Children’s Literature and the Children’s Literature Association in 1972 and helping to create the children’s literature division of the Modern Language Association.  

Listen to the recordings and learn more at http://hdl.handle.net/11134/20002:19970056JML.