Synopses & Reviews
Ever since children have learned to read, there has been childrenand#8217;s literature. Childrenand#8217;s Literature charts the makings of the Western literary imagination from Aesopand#8217;s fables to Mother Goose, from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland to Peter Pan, from Where the Wild Things Are to Harry Potter.
The only single-volume work to capture the rich and diverse history of childrenand#8217;s literature in its full panorama, this extraordinary book reveals why J. R. R. Tolkien, Dr. Seuss, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Beatrix Potter, and many others, despite their divergent styles and subject matter, have all resonated with generations of readers. Childrenand#8217;s Literature is an exhilarating quest across centuries, continents, and genres to discover how, and why, we first fall in love with the written word.
and#8220;Lerer has accomplished something magical. Unlike the many handbooks to childrenand#8217;s literature that synopsize, evaluate, or otherwise guide adults in the selection of materials for children, this work presents a true critical history of the genre. . . . Scholarly, erudite, and all but exhaustive, it is also entertaining and accessible. Lerer takes his subject seriously without making it dull.and#8221;and#8212;Library Journal (starred review)
and#8220;Lererand#8217;s history reminds us of the wealth of literature written during the past 2,600 years. . . . With his vast and multidimensional knowledge of literature, he underscores the vital role it plays in forming a childand#8217;s imagination. We are made, he suggests, by the books we read.and#8221;and#8212;San Francisco Chronicle
and#8220;There are dazzling chapters on John Locke and Empire, and nonsense, and Darwin, but Lererand#8217;s most interesting chapter focuses on girlsand#8217; fiction. . . . A brilliant series of readings.and#8221;and#8212;Diane Purkiss, Times Literary Supplement
Review
"There is hardly a children's classic, from Robinson Crusoe to Where the Wild Things Are to pop-up books, which [Lerer] does not discuss with sympathy and wit." New York Sun
Synopsis
Ever since children have learned to read, there has been children's literature. Its history is inseparable from the history of childhood, as children are indelibly molded by the tales they hear and read stories they will one day share with their own sons and daughters.
Children's Literature charts the makings of the Western literary imagination from Aesop's fables to Mother Goose, from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland to Peter Pan, from Where the Wild Things Are to Harry Potter. Seth Lerer here explores the iconic books, ancient and contemporary alike, that have forged a lifelong love of literature in young readers during their formative years. Along the way, Lerer also looks at the changing environments of family life and human growth, schooling and scholarship, and publishing and politics in which children found themselves changed by the books they read. This ambitious work appraises a broad trajectory of influences including Shakespeare's plays, John Locke's theories of education, Darwin's On the Origin of Species, and the Puritan tradition which have each shaped children's literature through the ages as well.
The only single-volume work to capture the rich and diverse history of children's literature in its full panorama, this extraordinary book reveals why J. R. R. Tolkien, Dr. Seuss, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Shel Silverstein, and many others, despite their divergent styles and subject matter, have all resonated with generations of readers. Children's Literature is an exhilarating quest across centuries, continents, and genres to discover how, and why, we first fall in love with the written word.
About the Author
Seth Lerer is the Avalon Foundation Professor in Humanities and professor of English and comparative literature at Stanford University. He is the author of many previous books, including Inventing English: A Portable History of the Language, and the editor of several collections, including The Yale Companion to Chaucer.
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations
Introductionand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Toward a New History of Childrenand#8217;s Literature
Chapter Oneand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Speak, Child: Childrenand#8217;s Literature in Classical Antiquity
Chapter Twoand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Ingenuity and Authority: Aesopand#8217;s Fables and Their Afterlivesand#160;
Chapter Threeand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Court, Commerce, and Cloister: The Literatures of Medieval Childhood
Chapter Fourand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; From Alphabet to Elegy: The Puritan Impact on Childrenand#8217;s Literature
Chapter Fiveand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Playthings of the Mind: John Locke and Childrenand#8217;s Literatureand#160;
Chapter Sixand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Canoes and Cannibals: Robinson Crusoe and Its Legaciesand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
Chapter Sevenand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; From Islands to Empires: Storytelling for a Boyand#8217;s World
Chapter Eightand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; On beyond Darwin: From Kingsley to Seuss
Chapter Nineand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Ill-Tempered and Queer: Sense and Nonsense, from Victorian to Modern
Chapter Tenand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Straw into Gold: Fairy-Tale Philology
Chapter Elevenand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Theaters of Girlhood: Domesticity, Desire, and Performance in Female Fiction
Chapter Twelveand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Pan in the Garden: The Edwardian Turn in Childrenand#8217;s Literature
Chapter Thirteenand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Good Feeling: Prizes, Libraries, and the Institutions of American Childrenand#8217;s Literature
Chapter Fourteenand#160;and#160; Keeping Things Straight: Style and the Child
Chapter Fifteenand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Tap Your Pencil on the Paper: Childrenand#8217;s Literature in an Ironic Age
Epilogueand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Childrenand#8217;s Literature and the History of the Book
Acknowledgments
Notes
Index