This is an original, scholarly yet accessible contribution to the field of children's fiction. It focuses on gender in relation to children's fiction and the role that language plays in this relationship. Girls' and boys' reading itself is looked at, as well as the books that they encounter including the Harry Potter series, Louis Sachar's prizewinning Holes, fairy tales and school reading schemes. The book treats fiction as fiction, using as its guiding principles the multimodality of much childrens fiction; that fiction is almost always dialogic; that the feminist movement has had considerable influence on textual representations of women, men, boys and girls and that language (including what the characters say, and how, and what is said about them) is a key to the different readings of fictional texts. This will be a valuable resource for researchers in and students of linguistics, language studies and English literature.

Over the past few decades there have been intense debates in education surrounding children's literacy achievement and ways to promote reading, particularly that of boys. The Harry Potter book series has been received enthusiastically by very many children, boys and girls alike, but has also been constructed in popular and media discourses as a children's, particularly a boys', literacy saviour. Children's Literacy Practices and Preferences: Harry Potter and Beyond provides empirical evidence of young people's reported literacy practices and views on reading, and of how they see how the Harry Potter series as having impacted their own literacy. The volume explores and debunks some of the myths surrounding Harry Potter and literacy, and contextualizes these within children's wider reading.

Language and Gender

• presents an up-to-date introduction to language and gender
• includes diverse work from a range of cultural, including non-Western, contexts, and represents a range of methodological approaches
• gathers together influential readings from key names in the discipline, including: Deborah Cameron, Mary Haas and Deborah Tannen.

Written by an experienced teacher and researcher in the field, Language and Gender is an essential resource for students and researchers of Applied Linguistics.

The accompanying website to this book can be found at http: //www.routledge.com/textbooks/0415311047/

Language and Gender

• presents an up-to-date introduction to language and gender
• includes diverse work from a range of cultural, including non-Western, contexts, and represents a range of methodological approaches
• gathers together influential readings from key names in the discipline, including: Deborah Cameron, Mary Haas and Deborah Tannen.

Written by an experienced teacher and researcher in the field, Language and Gender is an essential resource for students and researchers of Applied Linguistics.

The accompanying website to this book can be found at http: //www.routledge.com/textbooks/0415311047/

Over the past few decades there have been intense debates in education surrounding children's literacy achievement and ways to promote reading, particularly that of boys. The Harry Potter book series has been received enthusiastically by very many children, boys and girls alike, but has also been constructed in popular and media discourses as a children's, particularly a boys', literacy saviour. Children's Literacy Practices and Preferences: Harry Potter and Beyond provides empirical evidence of young people's reported literacy practices and views on reading, and of how they see how the Harry Potter series as having impacted their own literacy. The volume explores and debunks some of the myths surrounding Harry Potter and literacy, and contextualizes these within children's wider reading.

This is an original, scholarly yet accessible contribution to the field of children's fiction. It focuses on gender in relation to children's fiction and the role that language plays in this relationship. Girls' and boys' reading itself is looked at, as well as the books that they encounter including the Harry Potter series, Louis Sachar's prizewinning Holes, fairy tales and school reading schemes. The book treats fiction as fiction, using as its guiding principles the multimodality of much children's fiction; that fiction is almost always dialogic; that the feminist movement has had considerable influence on textual representations of women, men, boys and girls and that language (including what the characters say, and how, and what is said about them) is a key to the different readings of fictional texts. This will be a valuable resource for researchers in and students of linguistics, language studies and English literature.