Understanding Children's Literature - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0415375479 ISBN 13: 9780415375474

Publisher: Routledge, 2005

Synopsis

Edited by Peter Hunt, a leading figure in the field, this book introduces the study of children’s literature, addressing theoretical questions as well as the most relevant critical approaches to the discipline.

The fourteen chapters draw on insights from academic disciplines ranging from cultural and literary studies to education and psychology, and include an essay on what writers for children think about their craft. The result is a fascinating array of perspectives on key topics in children’s literature as well as an introduction to such diverse concerns as literacy, ideology, stylistics, feminism, history, culture and bibliotherapy.

An extensive general bibliography is complemented by lists of further reading for each chapter and a glossary defines critical and technical terms, making the book accessible for those coming to the field or to a particular approach for the first time.

In this second edition there are four entirely new chapters; contributors have revisited and revised or rewritten seven of the chapters to reflect new thinking, while the remaining three are classic essays, widely acknowledged to be definitive.

Understanding Children’s Literature will not only be an invaluable guide for students of literature or education, but it will also inform and enrich the practice of teachers and librarians.

About this title

Review:

"The specialized material, introductory approach, and plenitful bibliography would make this an excellent text for a graduate course in children's literature. Approachable but noy jargon-laden, this volume could give students of nearly any critical preference a jump-start into their own research." -Bonnie Gaarden, edinboro university of Pennsylvannia, American Literature, March 2002 "The bibliographical utility and survey of the strengths and weaknesses of various critical approaches are sure to make this an influential text in the teaching of children's literature.." -Canadian Literature, Summer 2002

About the Author:

Peter Hunt was the first specialist in Children’s Literature to be appointed professor in a UK English Department; he has written or edited 16 books on the subject. In 2003 he won the International Brothers Grimm Award from the International Children’s Literature Institute, Osaka, for outstanding services to world children’s books studies.

About this edition

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0415375479
• ISBN 13: 9780415375474
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 240
• Editor: Hunt Peter