Children's Literature Studies: A Research Handbook

Description

Children's literature is a rapidly expanding field of research which presents students and researchers with a number of practical and intellectual challenges. This research handbook is the first devoted to the specialist skills and complexities of studying children's literature at university level. Bringing together the expertise of leading international scholars, it combines practical advice with in-depth discussion of critical approaches. Wide- ranging in approach, Children's Literature Studies: A Research Handbook: - Considers 'children's literature' in its fullest sense, examining visual texts (such as picturebooks), films, computer games and other 'transformed' texts, as well as more traditional modes of writing for children - Offers a step-by-step guide to devising, starting and carrying out a research project (such as a dissertation or thesis), and advice on what kinds of research it is possible and profitable to undertake - Surveys the different methodologies and theoretical approaches used by children's literature scholars - Includes case studies, questions and exercises to reinforce ideas discussed in each chapter - Provides lists of further reading and a specialist glossary that will remain a useful reference resource This handbook will be an essential companion for those studying children's literature, whether as undergraduates, postgraduates, or beyond.

KIMBERLEY REYNOLDS Professor of Children's Literature in the School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics at Newcastle University, UK. She was President of the International Research Society for Children's Literature (2003 - 2007). Recent publications include Radical Children's Literature: Future Visions and Aesthetic Transformations which received the Children's Literature Association Award in 2009 and Modern Children's Literature: An Introduction. M. O. GRENBY Reader in Children's Literature in the School of English at Newcastle University, UK. He is the author of several books on children's literature and eighteenth-century culture, including The Child Reader 1700-1840 and The Anti-Jacobin Novel, and is the co-editor of Popular Children's Literature in Britain and The Cambridge Companion to Children's Literature.

'A terrific and very timely book. Reynolds and Grenby have commissioned some of the best children's literature scholars (themselves included) to address key topics in research and criticism, and the result is a volume at once theoretically sophisticated and highly practical.' - Kenneth Kidd, Associate Professor, University of Florida, USA 'An extremely useful handbook that provides excellent advice on how to approach literary-critical research into children's literature.' - Lisa Sainsbury, National Centre for Research in Children's Literature, Roehampton University, UK