Canons of Childrens Literature (2 Vols. Set) (Hardcover-2012)

Today, when the literature for adults is deteriorating, good books for children seem to be the only hope, the only refuge, appealing not only to the child in the adult, but to the adult in the child too. Mirroring the society from which the children arise, the book Children’s Literature (Vol. I) strives towards cultivating awareness and understanding of current children's literature, authors and illustrators. Woven thematically around modern critical debates, it explores the vision and wonder of the world of children’s literature. Integrating instruction and entertainment, oral and written traditions, realism and fantasy, words and pictures, classics and adaptations, and perspectives on childhood and adult life, the book intends to illuminate the rich diversity of children’s literature studies. The book draws perspectives from various terrains like psychology, education, history, cultural studies and literary criticism. It attempts to examine how literary forms and genres, diverse influences, and evolving attitudes towards childhood have shaped the field of children’s literature. It encourages both the students and scholars of English literature to challenge common assumptions about children, childhood, and children’s books. The book will prove useful for the students and teachers of English literature, particularly children’s literature, and researchers in these fields. To those who wish to know about various attributes of children’s literature, it will provide for a richly rewarding reading. Concurrent with increasing scholarly attention towards children’s literature, Canons of Children’s Literature, (Vol. II) explores an emerging body of literature that has thus far garnered little serious critical attention. The book critically examines how children’s writers have positioned children as powerful participants in the project of enabling positive social transformation and argues that those children’s texts are crucially implicated in shaping the values of their readers. The authors explore the fashions in which children’s texts respond to social change and global politics, giving shape to children’s perceived anxieties and desires. Deliberately concise, the book offers succinct yet beautifully written discussions that reflect the tone and feel of children’s books. Featuring discussions of the latest works of children’s literature, the text showcases the growing importance of young adult literature and has paid careful attention to the diversity in children’s literature which will equip both the scholars and students of English literature with dynamic new responses on this ‘brave new literature.’