A COMPANION TO CHILDREN'S LITERATURE
A collection of international, up-to-date, and diverse perspectives on children's literary criticism
A Companion to Children's Literature offers students and scholars studying children's literature, education, and youth librarianship an incisive and expansive collection of essays that discuss key debates within children's literature criticism. The thirty-four works included demonstrate a diverse array of perspectives from around the world, introduce emerging scholars to the field of children's literature criticism, and meaningfully contribute to the scholarly conversation.
The essays selected by the editors present a view of children's literature that encompasses poetry, fiction, folklore, nonfiction, dramatic stage and screen performances, picturebooks, and interactive and digital media. They range from historical overviews to of-the-moment critical theory about children’s books from across the globe.
A Companion to Children's Literature explores some of the earliest works in children's literature, key developments in the genre from the 20th century, and the latest trends and texts in children's information books, postmodern fairytales, theatre, plays, and more. This collection also discusses methods for reading children's literature, from social justice critiques of popular stories to Black critical theory in the context of children's literary analysis.
"Notes on Contributors x Introduction xvii Karen Coats, Deborah Stevenson, and Vivian Yenika-Agbaw Part I: Early Works 1 1 Juvenile Nonfiction before the Golden Age of Anglo-American Children's Literature 3 Ivy Linton Stabell 2 The Beginnings of Fiction for Children 14 Claudia Nelson 3 Folklore in Children's Literature 26 Debra Mitts-Smith 4 The Victorian Picturebook 39 Hannah Field 5 The Child-Centered Universe of Nineteenth-Century Children's Nonfiction 58 Elizabeth Massa Hoiem Part II: Twentieth-Century Developments 71 6 Developments in Fiction for Children 73 Mary Jeanette Moran 7 Developments of Picturebooks 84 Bettina Kümmerling-Meibauer 8 Walt Disney and the Fairy Tale 96 Paula T. Connolly 9 Stay Tuned: A Political History of Saturday Morning Cartoons 105 Peter C. Kunze 10 Live-Action Films for Children 118 Kathy Merlock Jackson 11 BreakBeat and the New Auditory Avant-garde -- for Children! (Or, That New-fangled Noise the Kids Are All Going On About) 129 Michael Heyman and Joseph T. Thomas, Jr. 12 Children's Literature of the Anglophone Caribbean 144 Sujin Huggins Part III: Contemporary Trends and Texts 155 13 Children's Information Books: Initiatives and Trends 157 Elizabeth Bush 14 Contemporary Trends in Fiction for Children 168 Thaddeus Andracki 15 Contemporary Poetry for Children: Toward Diversity, Complexity, and Innovation 179 Rachel Conrad 16 Picturebook Futures 193 Evelyn Arizpe and Emma McGilp 17 Postmodern Fairy Tales 207 Cherie Allan 18 Theatre and Playwriting for Young Audiences 218 Nicole B. Adkins 19 The Portrayal of Girlhoods in Graphic Narratives for Children 232 Elizabeth Marshall 20 Playing Children's Literature: Games in and the Gamification of Books for Kids 242 Gretchen Papazian 21 Digital Children's Literature: Current Understandings and Future Directions 258 Dani Kachorsky Part IV: Ways of Reading 271 22 Critical Multiculturalism and Children's Literature: Trends and Possibilities 273 Vivian Yenika-Agbaw 23 Cultural Diversity and Social Justice: Readings from the South 287 Macarena García González 24 Black Critical Theory in Children's Literary Analysis: Why It Matters 299 Roberta Price Gardner 25 Critical Discourse Studies and the Scholarship of Children's Literature 314 Rebecca Rogers and Doris Villarreal 26 Disability 330 Elizabeth A. Wheeler 27 Growing Up Together: Children's Literature and Women's Studies 341 Susan Larkin 28 Read, Write, Play, Review: Young Children's Connected Reading Communities 352 Marianne Martens 29 Posthumanism 364 Zoe Jaques 30 Narrative Theory and Children's Literature 376 Mike Cadden 31 Animal Studies 390 Rachel Falconer 32 Trauma Studies 403 Adrienne Kertzer 33 Censorship and Children's Literature 414 Emily J.M. Knox 34 The Commodification, ""Diversification,"" and Walliams-fication of the British Children's Book Market 426 Melanie Ramdarshan Bold Index 441"
Karen Coats is Professor of Education and Director of the Centre for Research in Children's Literature at the University of Cambridge. Deborah Stevenson is a retired Clinical Assistant Professor at the School of Information Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She was editor of the Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books and Director of the Center for Children's Books. Vivian Yenika-Agbaw was Professor of Education, Literature and Literacies, and African Studies at Pennsylvania State University. She has authored or co-edited several books, including Representing Africa in Children's Literature: Old and New Ways of Seeing.
