Modern Children’s Literature

An established introductory textbook that provides students with a guide to developments in children's literature over time and across genres. This stimulating collection of critical essays written by a team of subject experts explores key British, American and Australian works, from picture books and texts for younger children, through to graphic novels and young adult fiction. It combines accessible close readings of children's texts with informed examinations of genres, issues and critical contexts, making it an essential practical book for students.This is an ideal core text for dedicated modules on Children's literature which may be offered at the upper levels of an undergraduate literature or education degree. In addition it is a crucial resource for students who may be studying children's literature for the first time as part of a taught postgraduate degree in literature or education.New to this Edition:- Revised and updated throughout in light of recent children's books and the latest research- Includes new coverage of key topics such as canon formation, fantasy and technology- Features an essay on children's poetry by the former Children's Laureate, Michael Rosen

List of Contributors List of Boxes List of Figures Acknowledgements Introduction; Catherine Butler PART I: MAPPING THE TERRITORY 1. The Classic and the Canon in Children's Literature; Peter Hunt 2. Fantasy in Children's Fiction; Farah Mendlesohn 3. Psychoanalytic Approaches to Children's Literature; David Rudd 4. Reading Contemporary Picture Books; Judith Graham 5. Poetry for Children; Michael Rosen PART II: TEXTS AND GENRES 6. Family, Identity and Nationhood: Family Stories in Anglo-American Children's Literature, 1930-2000; Lucy Pearson 7. Theories of Genre and Gender: Change and Continuity in the School Story; Pat Pinsent 8. Literature of War: Comparative and Autobiographical Approaches; Gillian Lathey 9. Language, Genres and Issues: The Socially Committed Novel; Pat Pinsent 10. Past Settings, Contemporary Concerns: Feminist Historical Fiction in the Late Twentieth Century; Peter Bramwell 11. Postmodernism, New Historicism and Postcolonialism: Some Recent Historical Novels; Pat Pinsent PART III: APPROACHES AND ISSUES 12. Chronotopes and Heritage: Time and Memory in Contemporary Children's Literature; Lisa Sainsbury 13. Childhood, Youth Culture and the Uncanny: Uncanny Nights in Contemporary Fiction for Young People; Lisa Sainsbury 14. Magic and Maturation: Uses of Magic in Fantasy Fiction; Peter Bramwell 15. Supermen, Cyborgs, Avatars and Geeks: Technology and the Human in Contemporary Young Adult Fiction; Richard Shakeshaft 16. Voicing Identity: The Dilemma of Narrative Perspective in Twenty-First-Century Young Adult Fiction; Maria Nikolajeva Further Reading Index.