While at first glance it may seem strange that so many films portray children as monstrous characters, the essays in this collection begin by recognizing the pervasive popularity, and the wide variety, of such characterizations. Perhaps because of the wisdom received from our Romantic forebears about the purity of the child, fictional imaginings of children as monsters exercise a tremendous fascination for film audiences, and have for several decades. These opposing, and yet co-dependent, tendencies are reflected in the modern connotations of the phrases child-like (innocent) and childish (selfish, perhaps even evil.) Yet unlike most previous scholarly work on this cultural phenomenon, the essays in this collection do not remain arrested by this reductive binary, but strive to unearth the many possibilities, meanings and forms that are hidden by the two-faced mask our imaginings of children all too often wear.

This collection applies the characterizations of children and childhood made in Deleuze and Guattari's work to concerns that have shaped our idea of the child. Bringing together established and new voices, the authors cover philosophy, literature, religious studies, education, sociology and film studies. These essays question the popular idea that children are innocent adults-in-the-making. They consider aspects of children's lives such as time, language, gender, affect, religion, atmosphere and schooling. As a whole, this book critically interrogates the pervasive interest in the teleology of upward growth of the child.

This collection applies the characterisations of children and childhood made in Deleuze and Guattari's work to concerns that have shaped our idea of the child. Bringing together established and new voices, the authors cover philosophy, literature, religious studies, education, sociology and film studies. They consider aspects of children's lives such as time, language, gender, affect, religion, atmosphere and schooling. As a whole, this book critically interrogates the pervasive interest in the teleology of upward growth of the child.