Childrens Literature

This practical guide provides a comprehensive and inviting introduction to English-language children's literature from the eighteenth-century to 2000.

The book opens with a discussion of the often controversial theory and history of this influential and entertaining subject, and explores the ways in which it can be approached.

The Guide includes:

* Detailed critical surveys of the work of forty major authors, from Mrs Sherwood to J. K. Rowling, Louisa May Alcott to Dr Seuss, Mary Grant Bruce to Margaret Mahy, and Quentin Blake to Ted Hughes.

* Studies of over twenty key texts, placing each in its historical and generic context: books include the pioneering A Little Pretty Pocket Book (1744), classics such as Tom Brown's Schooldays, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and Seven Little Australians, modern classics from The Hobbit and C. S. Lewis's 'Narnia' books, to Charlotte's Web and Harriet the Spy, as well as influential translations, such as Emil and the Detectives.

* Discussion of important issues, themes and genres, including censorship, postcolonialism, fantasy, gender, illustration, and literacy.

All of the entries are supported by up-to-date critical bibliographies.

Children's Literature offers a helpful and inspiring foundation for further study, and will be an essential resource for students from disciplines as varied as literature, history, education, cultural studies, and the general reader.

This practical guide provides a comprehensive and inviting introduction to English-language children's literature from the eighteenth-century to 2000.

The book opens with a discussion of the often controversial theory and history of this influential and entertaining subject, and explores the ways in which it can be approached.

The Guide includes:

• Detailed critical surveys of the work of forty major authors, from Mrs Sherwood to J. K. Rowling, Louisa May Alcott to Dr Seuss, Mary Grant Bruce to Margaret Mahy, and Quentin Blake to Ted Hughes.



• Studies of over twenty key texts, placing each in its historical and generic context: books include the pioneering A Little Pretty Pocket Book (1744), classics such as Tom Brown's Schooldays, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and Seven Little Australians, modern classics from The Hobbit and C. S. Lewis's 'Narnia' books, to Charlotte's Web and Harriet the Spy, as well as influential translations, such as Emil and the Detectives.



• Discussion of important issues, themes and genres, including censorship, postcolonialism, fantasy, gender, illustration, and literacy.

Children's Literature offers a helpful and inspiring foundation for further study, and will be an essential resource for students from disciplines as varied as literature, history, education, cultural studies, and the general reader.

Booknews

An historical examination of the last two centuries of children's literature in English is followed by sections on 38 writers (from Louisa May Alcott and Lewis Carroll to J.K. Rowling); 32 major works or series; and 13 topics (including fantasy, colonialism, and literacy). The historical section is historicist<-- >Hunt (English, Cardiff U.) is concerned with children's literature against the backdrop of its own time, as well as the times of subsequent audiences. Yet, Hunt remarks, children's literature often has a long shelf life which "can be seen as the result of deliberate acts of commercial conservatism." Entries on writers are critico- literary, not biographical; and entries on works are short, addressing some combination of critical history, literary history, and Hunt's own commentary. The many and short treatments make this a reference to consult on the way to more in-depth study. A many-faceted chronology is a valuable feature. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Peter Hunt is Professor of English at Cardiff University. He has written eleven books and over 200 articles on children's literature. Among his most recent books are the International Companion Encyclopedia of Children's Literature (1996), Children's Literature: An Illustrated History (1995) and Children's Literature: An Anthology 1801-1902 (Blackwell Publishers, 2000).