Historical Children's Literature

The study of children's illustrated books is located within the broad histories of print culture, publishing, the book trade, and concepts of childhood. An interdisciplinary history, Picturing Canada provides a critical understanding of the changing geographical, historical, and cultural aspects of Canadian identity, as seen through the lens of children's publishing over two centuries.

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. 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, Beatrix Potter, and many others, despite their divergent styles and subject matter, have all resonated with generations of readers.

The rich and varied landscape of Canadian children's literature has been largely unexplored by American readers, but Elizabeth Waterston's engaging survey provides them with an invitation to discover the full range of Canadian writing for children - from colonial folktales and historical novels to fantasy literature and contemporary science fiction. Waterston's informative study brings to life Canadian history and culture and illuminates a unique literary community in which acclaimed adult writers like Margaret Atwood, Margaret Laurence, and Mordechai Richler are also the authors of children's books.

The Norton Anthology of Children's Literature brings together the work of 170 writers and illustrators, tracing the historical development of genres and traditions over 350 years of children's literature in English. Drawing on new scholarship exploring the social and cultural contexts of children's literature, this flexible core anthology provides a teachable collection for a wide range of courses--the historical survey and period courses; theme- or topic-based courses; and interdisciplinary courses.

Of all types of literature, children's literature is perhaps the best loved, most varied, and most subtly influential. This beautifully illustrated volume traces the history of children's literature in Britain, the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, from the earliest printed books to the present day. It takes `children's literature' to mean books designed for children, as well as books of childhood, and so embraces everything from religious tracts to multi-media comics, from the `classic' to the unashamedly popular.