This engaging study examines diverse genders and sexualities in a wide range of contemporary fiction for children and young people. Mallans insights into key dilemmas arising from the texts treatment of romance, beauty, cyberbodies, queer, and comedy are provocative and trustworthy, and deliver exciting theoretical and social perspectives.

This is the first extended text-based analysis of the social and political implications of the "Harry Potter" phenomenon. Arguments are primarily based on close readings of the first four "Harry Potter" books and the first two films - in other words, a 'text-to-world' method is followed. This study does not assume that the phenomenon concerns children alone, or should be lightly dismissed as a matter of pure entertainment. The amount of money, media coverage, and ideological unease involved indicates otherwise. The first part provides a survey of responses (both of general readers and critics) to the "Harry Potter" books. Some of the methodological decisions underlying this study itself are also explained here. The second part examines the presentation of certain themes, including gender, race and desire, in the "Harry Potter" books, with a view to understanding how these may impinge on social and political concerns of our world.

Read Pam Allyn's posts on the Penguin Blog
The books to read aloud to children at the important moments in their lives.
In "What to Read When," award-winning educator Pam Allyn celebrates the power of reading aloud with children. In many ways, books provide the first opportunity for children to begin to reflectively engage with and understand the world around them. Not only can parents entertain their child and convey the beauty of language through books, they can also share their values and create lasting connections.
Here, Allyn offers parents and caregivers essential advice on choosing appropriate titles for their children--taking into account a child's age, attention ability, gender, and interests-- along with techniques for reading aloud effectively. But what sets this book apart is the extraordinary, annotated list of more than three hundred titles suitable for the pivotal moments in a child's life. With category themes ranging from friendship and journeys to thankfulness, separations, silliness, and spirituality, "What to Read When" is a one-of-a-kind guide to how parents can best inspire children through reading together. In addition, Pam Allyn includes an indispensable "Reader's Ladder" section, with recommendations for children at every stage from birth to age ten. With the author's warm and engaging voice throughout, discussion questions to encourage in-depth conversations, as well as advice on helping kids make the transition to independent reading, this book will help shape thoughtful, creative, and curious children, imparting a love of reading that will last a lifetime.
These Penguin Young Reader's Books are referenced in "What to Read When"
"Sylvia Jean: Drama Queen " by Lisa Campbell Ernst (Penguin Young Reader's Group: 2005)"Two Is For Twins," by Wendy Cheyette Lewison, illustrations by Hiroe Nakata (Penguin Young Readers: 2006)"Remember Grandma? " by Laura Langston (Penguin Group (USA): May 2004)"Soul Looks Back in Wonder" compiled by Tom Feelings (Puffin Books)"Time of Wonder " by Robert McCloskey (Penguin Books USA, Incorporated: December 1957)"When I was Young in the Mountains"by Cynthia Rylant illustrated by Diane Goode (Penguin Young Readers Group: January 1993)"Nana Upstairs and Nana Downstairs" by Tomie DePaola (Puffin Books, an imprint of Penguin Books, Inc.:1973)"Good Night, Good Knight" by Shelly Moore Thomas, illustrations by Jennifer Plecas (Penguin Young Readers Group: 2002)

Applying a range of critical approaches to works by authors including Susan Cooper, Catherine Fisher, Geraldine McCaughrean, Anthony Horowitz and Philip Pullman, this book looks at the formative and interrogative relationship between recent children's literature and fashionable but controversial aspects of modern Paganism.

The bestselling Annotated Alice was the first work to decode the wordplay and mathematical riddles in Carroll's classic stories.

This book demonstrates how contemporary children's texts draw on utopian and dystopian tropes in their projections of possible futures. The authors explore the ways in which children's texts respond to social change and global politics. The book argues that children's texts are crucially implicated in shaping the values of their readers.

The first book-length look at childhood in Edwardian fiction, this book challenges assumptions that the Edwardian period was simply a continuation of the Victorian or the start of the Modern. Exploring both classics and popular fiction, the authors provide a a compelling picture of the Edwardian fictional cult of childhood.

This book offers insights into the translation and adaptation of illustrated texts in an era in which visual texts are perceived as a dominant perceptual frame for interpreting social and cultural phenomena. Using source texts including illustrated books, comics, graphic novels and animated films, the authors analyze their translations and adaptations to address the works as multimodal entities, in which even the replacement of one component affects the entire whole. Interviews with the artists - writers, illustrators and animators - will shed more light on the observations. This volume's unique focus on the visual mode and the impact of its replacement on the multimodal whole is a topic that has not attracted as much attention as the translation of the verbal component, and will appeal to students and researchers of translation and adaptation, popular culture, media and communication, and children's literature alike.

Children's texts are highly responsive to social change and to global politics, and are implicated in shaping the values of children and young people. "New World Orders," now in paperback for the first time, shows how texts for children and young people have responded to the cultural, economic and political movements of the last fifteen years. With a focus on international children's texts produced between 1988 and 2006, the authors discuss how utopian and dystopian tropes are pressed into service to project possible futures to child readers. The book considers what these texts have to say about globalization, neocolonialism, environmental issues, pressures on families and communities, and the idea of the posthuman. This fascinating volume is the first thorough study of how children's books imagine and propose possible worlds and societies.

This book offers a new history of the fairy tale, revealing the creative role of periodical publication in shaping this popular genre. Sumpter explores the fairy tale's reinvention for (and by) diverse readerships in unexpected contexts, including debates over evolution, colonialism, socialism, gender and sexuality and decadence.

In this book, Ewers provides students and professors with a new system of categorization for a differentiated description of children's literature. In the early 1970s, Swedish children's literature scholar Gote Kingberg worked to establish a system of scientific terminology for international use, but these terms are now somewhat antiquated. This book offers a much-needed update, systematically analyzing the field and articulating its key definitions, terms, and concepts.

International in scope, this study touches on subjects including the distribution of primers and textbooks, the means by which children's books are evaluated and classified, and the ways in which children's literature can find an adult audience. Also discussed are the system of symbols, norms, concepts, and discourses that have evolved during the past two centuries, leading to an investigation of how authors and publishers have endeavored to make literature "appropriate" for children and of what it means to accommodate children's needs, wishes, and values. Throughout, Ewers provides concrete examples and clear definitions of terms so that any scholar interested in children's literature will find this book approachable, insightful, and one that crosses cultural boundaries.

Can fairy tales subvert consumerism? Can fantasy and children's literature counter the homogenizing influence of globalization? Can storytellers retain their authenticity in the age of consumerism? These are some of the critical questions raised by Jack Zipes, the celebrated scholar of fairy tales and children's literature. In this book, Zipes argues that, despite a dangerous reconfiguration of children as consumers in the civilizing process, children's literature, fairy tales, and storytelling possess a uniquely powerful (even fantastic)capacity to resist the "relentless progress" of negative trends in culture. He also argues that these tales and stories may lose their power if they are too diluted by commercialism and merchandising.

Stories have been used for centuries as a way to teach children (and adults) how to see the world, as well as their place within it. In Relentless Progress, Zipes looks at the surprising ways that stories have influenced people within contemporary culture and vice versa. Among the many topics explored here are the dumbing down of books for children, the marketing of childhood, the changing shape of feminist fairy tales, and why American and British children aren t exposed to more non-western fairy tales. From picture books to graphic novels, from children s films to video games, from Grimm s fairy tales to the multimedia Harry Potter phenomenon, Zipes demonstrates that while children s stories have changed greatly in recent years, much about these stories have remained the same despite their contemporary, high-tech repackaging.

Relentless Progress offers remarkable insight into why classic folklore and fairy tales should remain an important part of the lives of children in today s digital culture.

"New World Orders" demonstrates how contemporary children's texts draw on utopian and dystopian tropes in their projections of possible futures. In examining a diverse range of international children's literature and film produced between 1988 and 2006, the authors explore the ways in which children's texts respond to social change and global politics, giving shape to children's perceived anxieties and desires. The book argues that children's texts are crucially implicated in shaping the values of their readers.

This book reappraises the place of children's literature, showing it to be a creative space where writers and illustrators try out new ideas about books, society, and narratives in an age of instant communication and multi-media. It looks at the stories about the world and young people; the interaction with changing childhoods and new technologies.

This study invites Deleuze into the genre of children's literature and explores how Deleuzian concepts can enhance our readings of this literature whose implied readership masks much paradox. In Deleuze in Children's Literature, Jane Newland focuses on the children's texts written by some of the authors who fascinate Deleuze, including Virginia Woolf, James Joyce, Lewis Carroll, Andre Dhotel, Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio and Michel Tournier: authors who recur across Deleuze's work and shape his literary writings. With chapters on pure repetition, becoming, cartographies, stuttering and nonsense, Newland demonstrates how these concepts, central to Deleuzian philosophy, can invigorate readings of children's literature. Deleuze in Children's Literature brings together Deleuzian thought and contemporary scholarship in children's literature to provide a novel and timely insight into readings of children's literature in the twenty-first century.

The Sino-Japanese War (1937 - 1945) was fought in the Asia-Pacific theatre between Imperial Japan and China, with the United States as the latter's major military ally. An important line of investigation remains, questioning how the history of this war has been passed on to post-war generations' consciousness, and how information sources, particularly those exposed to young people in their formative years, shape their knowledge and bias of the conflict as well as World War II more generally. This book is the first to focus on how the Sino-Japanese War has been represented in non-English and English sources for children and young adults. As a cross-cultural study and an interdisciplinary endeavour, it not only examines youth-orientated publications in China and the United States, but also draws upon popular culture, novelists' memoirs, and family oral narratives to make comparisons between fiction and history, Chinese and American sources, and published materials and private memories of the war. Through quantitative narrative analysis, literary and visual analysis, and socio-political critique, it shows the dominant pattern of war stories, traces chronological changes over the seven decades from 1937 to 2007, and teases out the ways in which the history of the Sino-Japanese War has been constructed, censored, and utilized to serve shifting agendas. Providing a much needed examination of public memory, literary representation, and popular imagination of the Sino-Japanese War, this book will have huge interdisciplinary appeal, particularly for students and scholars of Asian history, literature, society and education.

"Teaching Children's Literature" provides an account of the various intellectual and educational traditions within which children's literature has been taught, and some historical context for the current position of the discipline. The volume also clarifies the relationships between these traditions and suggests theoretical and practical ways in which they may be brought to bear on each other. Drawing on the international expertise of some of the most eminent practioners in the field, the text shares and disseminates the best teaching practice in both undergraduate and postgraduate study.

This literary companion surveys the young adult works of American author Marion Zimmer Bradley, primarily known for her work in the fantasy genre. An A to Z arrangement include coverage of novels (The Catch Trap, Survey Ship, The Fall of Atlantis, The Firebrand, The Forest House and The Mists of Avalon), the graphic narrative Warrior Woman, the Lythande novella The Gratitude of Kings, and, from the Darkover series, The Shattered Chain, The Sword of Aldones and Traitor's Sun. Separate entries on dominant themes--rape, divination, religion, violence, womanhood, adaptation and dreams--comb stories and longer works for the author's insights about the motivation of institutions that oppress marginalized groups, especially women.

This collection is the first of its kind to interrogate both literal and metaphorical transatlantic exchanges of culture and ideas in nineteenth-century girls' fiction. As such, it initiates conversations about how the motif of travel in literature taught nineteenth-century girl audiences to reexamine their own cultural biases by offering a fresh perspective on literature that is often studied primarily within a national context. Women and children in nineteenth-century America are often described as being tied to the home and the domestic sphere, but this collection challenges this categorization and shows that girls in particular were often expected to go abroad and to learn new cultural frames in order to enter the realm of adulthood; those who could not afford to go abroad literally could do so through the stories that traveled to them from other lands or the stories they read of others' travels. Via transatlantic exchange, then, authors, readers, and the characters in the texts covered in this collection confront the idea of what constitutes the self. Books examined in this volume include Adeline Trafton's An American Girl Abroad (1872), Johanna Spyri's Heidi (1881), and Elizabeth W. Champney's eleven-book Vassar Girl Series (1883-92), among others.

This annotated bibliography organized geographically by world region and country, describing nearly 700 books representing 73 countries is a valuable resource for librarians, teachers, and anyone else seeking to promote international understanding through children's literature. It is the third volume sponsored by the United States Board on Books for Young People. The first, Carl M. Tomlinson's Children's Books from Other Countries (1998) is a compendium of international children's literature with annotations of both in and out of print books published between 1950 and 1996. Susan Stan's The World Through Children's Books (2002) was the second and it included books published between the years 1997 and 2000. Crossing Boundaries includes international children's books published between 2000 and 2004, as well as selected American books set in countries other than the United States. Editor Doris Gebel has compiled an important tool for providing stories that will help children understand our differences while simultaneously demonstrating our common humanity.

Everyone knows Rumpelstiltskin's story-or thinks they do. But this innocent-seeming tale hides generations of women's shrewd accounts of their relationships with men. And the verdict is not flattering. The fairytale may count among the world's oldest dirty jokes. The theme of the tale, an observation repeated and varied throughout, mocks male inadequacy in many forms, beginning with sexual failure. The punchline misplaced, over time its wickedly funny insights about adult life passed for childish nonsense. The story hides, in plain sight, criticism of workplace sexual harassment-centuries before society took notice of the indignity. Rumpelstiltskin tells a feminist tale with lessons for men and women, about what women said to each other when they thought their private conversation and complaints passed unnoticed. In the story's different versions, the Brothers Grimm, who recorded the tale, missed women's wry observations.

"This is a great resource that fills a tremendous need. It should be on parents' shelves at home as well as in every school." —Alvin F. Poussaint, M.D. Harvard Medical School

These are exciting times for African American children's literature. Never before have there been so many titles available. Now the three mothers who founded Black Books Galore! —the nation's leading organizer of festivals of African American children's books —share their expert advice on how to find and choose the best. This fully annotated guide opens the door to a wonderful world of reading for the children in your life. Here are the most positive, the best-written, and the most acclaimed books in every category, including board books, story and picture books, fiction, nonfiction, poetry, history, biography, fables, and more.

Invaluable for parents, teachers, and librarians, this easy-to-use, illustrated reference guide features:

• Quick, lively descriptions of 500 books, plus 200 additional recommendations
• Helpful guidelines for encouraging young readers
• Easy-to-find listings organized by age level and indexed by title, topic, author, and illustrator
• Portraits of selected authors and illustrators
• Listings of award winners and Reading Rainbow Books.

The story of Winnie, the real Canadian bear that captured the heart of Christopher, son of A.A. Milne, and became immortalized in the Winnie the Pooh stories, is told against the backdrop of the First World War. In August 1914, a Canadian soldier and veterinarian named Lieutenant Harry Colebourn, en route to a training camp in Quebec, purchased a black bear cub in White River, Ontario, which he named Winnipeg. First a regimental mascot for Canadians training for wartime service, Winnie then became a star attraction at the London Zoo, and ultimately inspired one of the best-loved characters in children's literature. For those many generations of readers who adored Winnie the Pooh, and for those intrigued by the unique stories embedded in Canadian history, this book is a feast of information about a one-of-a-kind bear set during a poignant period of world history. Today Winnie "lives on" at the London Zoo, in White River and in Winnipeg. Her remarkable legacy is celebrated in many ways - from statues and plaques to festivals and museum galleries.

Your one-stop guide to writing and selling books for children
Get the tools you need to:
* Develop story ideas that work
* Strengthen your writing skills
* Improve your work habits
* Write for different age groups
* Look at your work critically
* Submit proposals and manuscripts
* Find the right publisher for your work
* Understand and negotiate contracts
* Work with agents and editors
* Join the writing community

Do you dream of becoming the next J. K. Rowling? Are you excited about writing for children but have no idea how to begin or where to send your material? Now, respected children's writer Barbara Seuling gives you the essential steps to getting published in the competitive, exciting world of children's literature.
From finding story ideas and creating character sketches to plotting, writing dialogue, editing, and revising your work, you'll learn how to complete a manuscript and prepare it for submission. Whether you want to write picture or chapter books, fiction or nonfiction, poetry or plays, Seuling helps you master the different genres and capture a child's interest and imagination, from the early years to young adult. Her fully revised guide also covers the major developments in book publishing, including vital information about using the Internet to research the market and contact publishers. Seuling even discusses recent successes such as the Harry Potter series, as well as the growth of Amazon.com.
Complete with updated lists of writing organizations, marketing information, and recommended reading, this is the only guide you need to start writing, get published, and touch the lives of children.

For centuries, the Arthurian legends have fascinated and inspired countless writers, artists, and readers, many of whom first became acquainted with the story as youngsters. From the numerous retellings of Malory and versions of Tennyson for young people to the host of illustrated volumes to which the Arthurian Revival gave rise. From the Arthurian youth groups for boys (and eventually for girls) run by schools and churches to the school operas, theater pieces, and other entertainment for younger audiences; and from the Arthurian juvenile fiction sequences and series to the films and television shows featuring Arthurian characters, children have learned about the world of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table.