by Amy Gage

Lee Galda is a widely published author, including the seminal Literature and the Child, coauthored with Bernice E. Cullinan. She organizes two children’s literature events in the Twin Cities each year, reviews children’s books, sat on the Newbery Awards committee, and received teaching awards.

Professor Lee Galda offers a student an example from a picture book.

But one of the most defining aspects of Galda’s professional life is the fact that she is also the fourth woman in the college to make a significant impact on the quality of books available for young readers and the broader understanding of how children approach reading. “The college has a long and interesting history on this topic,” says Galda.

Galda became part of the college’s heritage of scholarship in children’s literature in 1998 when she left the respected children’s literature program at the University of Georgia to join the faculty here. She was honored to follow in the footsteps of three outstanding scholars.

The visionary who established the college’s reputation in children’s literature was Dora V. Smith, a professor of English education who created the first course on children’s literature in any college of education. “Generally those classes were found in the English department or in library science, never education,” Galda explains.

Smith retired in 1958, after 41 years of teaching. Norine Odland followed, cultivating relationships with children’s book authors such as Beverly Cleary and Tomie DePaola. “She established the name of the college and the University of Minnesota in the field of children’s literature,” says Galda.

A former student of Odland’s, Dianne Monson, took over the professorship when Odland retired in 1989 after 50 years, and continued to expand the college’s scholarship of children’s literature.

Currently Galda is developing a new course on culturally diverse literature and continues her decades-long interest in exploring how young people read and respond. “It’s always a new experience when a reader engages with a book.”