Children's Literature in Context

Description

Children's Literature in Context is a clear, accessible and concise introduction to children's literature and its wider contexts. It begins by introducing key issues involved in the study of children's literature and its social, cultural and literary contexts. Close readings of commonly studied texts including Lewis Carroll's Alice books, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the Harry Potter series and the His Dark Materials trilogy highlight major themes and ways of reading children's literature. A chapter on afterlives and adaptations explores a range of wider cultural texts including the film adaptations of Harry Potter, The Chronicles of Narnia and The Golden Compass. The final section introduces key critical interpretations from different perspectives on issues including innocence, gender, fantasy, psychoanalysis and ideology. 'Review, Reading and Research' sections give suggestions for further reading, discussion and research. Introducing texts, contexts and criticism, this is a lively and up-to-date resource for anyone studying children's literature.

Fiona McCulloch is Head of English at the University of Bradford, UK.

Children's Literature in Context is a meeting ground where literary history meets literary criticism in a broad intertextual reach. Here is a journey for the reader who travels from definitions of the genre to socio-political contexts, to close readings of classic and contemporary texts, to a critical framework of interpretations and perspectives, to expansive cultural adaptations. At each juncture McCulloch interweaves theory with striking ease, linking children's literature to a larger world of literature and philosophy. Her readings of texts are fresh, provocative, coherent. Designed to serve as a textbook, McCulloch's work is also a handbook to the field, offering a range of resources for students and scholars, a spacious landscape. -- Anne Lundin, Professor Emerita, University of Wisconsin-Madison, School of Library & Information Studies, USA Featured in the Times Higher Education Literature Textbook round-up.