Description

The York Notes Companion to Children’s Literature explores the literature and criticism of a long-established genre, from fairy tales and early didactic literature through to the classics of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and the modern day. Examining key texts such as Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Swallows and Amazons, Where the Wild Things Are and The Cat in the Hat, the Companion offers close analysis of texts in detailed commentaries, and guides students through key literary theories and debates. Connecting texts to their historical and scholarly contexts, this is essential reading for any student of children's literature.

Table of Contents

Part One: Introduction

Part Two: A Cultural Overview

Part Three: Texts, Writers and Contexts

Alternative Worlds: Carroll, Lewis and Wynne Jones

Real Lives: Alcott, Ashley and Wilson

Adventure Stories: Wyss, Ransome and Muchamore

Rhymes and Rhythms: Stevenson, Seuss and Zephaniah

Picture Books: Sendak, Browne and Child

Young Adult Fiction: Blume, Chambers and Larbalestier

Part Four: Critical Theories and Debates

Criticising Children's Literature

Gender and Sexuality

Children's Literature and Ideology

The Future of Children's Literature

Part Five: References and Resources

Timeline

Further Reading

Index

Back Cover

The York Notes Companion to Children’s Literature explores the literature and criticism of a long-established genre, from fairy tales and early didactic literature through to the classics of the nineteenth and twentieth-centuries and the modern day. Examining key texts such as Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Swallows and Amazons, Where the Wild Things Are andThe Cat in the Hat, the Companion offers close analysis of texts in detailed commentaries, and guides students through key literary theories and debates. Connecting texts with their historical and scholarly contexts, this is essential reading for any student of children’s literature.

 

Each York Notes Companion provides:

Ø      Analysis of key texts and debates

Ø      Extended commentaries for further in-depth analysis of individual texts

Ø      Exploration of historical, social and cultural contexts

Ø      Annotations clarifying literary terms and events in history

Ø      Modern theoretical perspectives in practice

Ø      Timelines and annotated further reading

 

Lucy Pearson has a PhD in children's publishing of the 1960s and 1970s from Newcastle University, where she has taught a range of Children's Literature courses.

 

Peter Hunt is a Visiting Professor at Newcastle University and Professor Emeritus at Cardiff University.

Author

Lucy Pearson has a PhD in the Children's Publishing of the 1960s and 1970s from Newcastle University, where she has taught a range of children's literature courses and is a research collaborator with Seven Stories, Newcastle University’s Centre for Children’s Literature. Herresearch interests are focused around the role of literature in society from an ideological and practical perspective, particularly in the context of children’s literature.

Peter Hunt is a Visiting Professor at Newcastle University and Professor Emeritus at Cardiff University. He an expert in the field of Children’s Literature and the author of An Introduction to Children’s Literature (OPUS, 1994).