Synopses & Reviews
Ever since children have learned to read, there has been childrenand#8217;s literature. Childrenand#8217;s Literature charts the makings of the Western literary imagination from Aesopand#8217;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 childrenand#8217;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. Childrenand#8217;s Literature is an exhilarating quest across centuries, continents, and genres to discover how, and why, we first fall in love with the written word.
and#8220;Lerer has accomplished something magical. Unlike the many handbooks to childrenand#8217;s literature that synopsize, evaluate, or otherwise guide adults in the selection of materials for children, this work presents a true critical history of the genre. . . . Scholarly, erudite, and all but exhaustive, it is also entertaining and accessible. Lerer takes his subject seriously without making it dull.and#8221;and#8212;Library Journal (starred review)
and#8220;Lererand#8217;s history reminds us of the wealth of literature written during the past 2,600 years. . . . With his vast and multidimensional knowledge of literature, he underscores the vital role it plays in forming a childand#8217;s imagination. We are made, he suggests, by the books we read.and#8221;and#8212;San Francisco Chronicle
and#8220;There are dazzling chapters on John Locke and Empire, and nonsense, and Darwin, but Lererand#8217;s most interesting chapter focuses on girlsand#8217; fiction. . . . A brilliant series of readings.and#8221;and#8212;Diane Purkiss, Times Literary Supplement
Review
"It's a thick scholarly tome, but also a charming read that revels in children's imaginations and the timeless works that stimulate them. . . . The book's main attraction is its obvious delight in the subject matter: Lerer perfectly captures the love of literature that follows a voracious child reader into adulthood."
Review
"Children's Literature will make many people reconsider, re-evaluate, and perhaps re-engage with the body of writing that has been generated for the young over the centuries. . . . A well-written and entertaining book."
Review
and#8220;Lererand#8217;s Olympian survey of more than 2,000 years leaves the reader with a stimulating vision of history.and#160;. . . His narrative swells and ebbs like a symphony. . . . To find
Pilgrim's Progress and Weetzie Bat in a single volume is itself a pleasure.and#8221;
Review
and#8220;There are dazzling chapters on John Locke and Empire, and nonsense, and Darwin, but Lererand#8217;s most interesting chapter focuses on girlsand#8217; fiction. In a brilliant series of readings, he uncovers a preoccupation with theatricality in classic fiction for girls, from the melodramatic conduct of Anne of Green Gables to Jo Marchand#8217;s career as dramatist.and#8221;
Review
and#8220;Lererand#8217;s history reminds us of the wealth of literature written during the past 2,600 years. . . . With his vast and multidimensional knowledge of literature, he underscores the vital role it plays in forming a childand#8217;s imagination. We are made, he suggests, by the books we read.and#8221;
Review
and#8220;A wonderful book, with remarkable temporal breadth in its vision of the childrenand#8217;s tradition. Highly effective as a work of synthesis, yet with many, many moments of originality and surprise, even for expert readers. Anyone engaged (whether as scholar, educator, even and#8216;simplyand#8217; as parent) with the psychic life of children will have much to learn from Lererand#8217;s account.and#8221;
Review
and#8220;A breathtakingly powerful and complex history of childrenand#8217;s literature that energizes rather than depletes.and#160;Lerer gives us the facts, but he also weaves experiences and stories into an account that moves in registers ranging from the ecstatic to the elegiac. An ideal guide for students new to the field of childrenand#8217;s literature as well as for scholars familiar with the territory.and#8221;
Review
"Splendidly well written, and both wide-ranging and comprehensive."
Review
and#8220;Lerer has accomplished something magical. Unlike the many handbooks to childrenand#8217;s literature that synopsize, evaluate, or otherwise guide adults in the selection of materials for children, this work presents a true critical history of the genre. . . . Scholarly, erudite, and all but exhaustive, it is also entertaining and accessible. Lerer takes his subject seriously without making it dull.and#8221;
Review
and#8220;There is hardly a childrenand#8217;s classic, from Robinson Crusoe to Where the Wild Things Are to pop-up books, which [Lerer] does not discuss with sympathy and wit.and#8221;and#160;and#160;
Review
and#8220;A history of children's literature is . . . a history of literature itself and Seth Lerer, by training a medieval philologist like J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, has written a very good one.and#8221;
Review
and#8220;A dazzling cornucopia of erudition and originality on a subject of grave concern in twenty-first century U.S. education and culture. Every page of Seth Lererand#8217;s brilliant book reminds us of the supreme and enduring value of childhood reading. This volume deserves the attention of all who care about the shaping of livesand#8212;educators on all levels, policy makers, psychologists, and parents, as well as scholars. Lerer writes that children's literature is meant and#8216;docere et delectareand#8217; (to instruct and to delight), and this is precisely what he himself has done in this fascinating book.and#8221;
Review
and#8220;Seth Lererand#8217;s
Childrenand#8217;s Literature: A Readerand#8217;s History from Aesop to Harry Potter is unique in its method, depth, and breadth. Lererand#8217;s comprehensive knowledge of ancient and medieval literature serves him well, for he has a singular understanding of how vernacular literature originated and informed literature for children and adults and how childrenand#8217;s literature informed the construction of both childhood and adult readers. It is a joy to read his study because one can sense a serious and sensitive mind at work, seeking to chart a new path through the history of childrenand#8217;s literature. Lerer mixes his personal reading experience with an astute scholarly appreciation of literary reception, and the result is an original study that will contribute to a greater awareness of the profundity of childrenand#8217;s literature.and#8221;
Review
and#8220;Lerer makes some smart, timely arguments. Opening up a too-constricted definition of childrenand#8217;s literature is a crucial corrective;
anyone who studies children before the twentieth century already knows that children read and were influenced by far more than so-called childrenand#8217;s books. It is high time that childrenand#8217;s literary histories acknowledged and analyzed those materials.and#8221;
Review
"Lerer has so many unusual insights, and illuminating observations that anyone who loved reading as a child will find his book utterly absorbing."
Synopsis
Ever since children have learned to read, there has been children s literature. 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. Children s Literature is an exhilarating quest across centuries, continents, and genres to discover how, and why, we first fall in love with the written word.
Lerer has accomplished something magical. Unlike the many handbooks to children s literature that synopsize, evaluate, or otherwise guide adults in the selection of materials for children, this work presents a true critical history of the genre. . . . Scholarly, erudite, and all but exhaustive, it is also entertaining and accessible. Lerer takes his subject seriously without making it dull. Library Journal (starred review)
Lerer s history reminds us of the wealth of literature written during the past 2,600 years. . . . With his vast and multidimensional knowledge of literature, he underscores the vital role it plays in forming a child s imagination. We are made, he suggests, by the books we read. San Francisco Chronicle
There are dazzling chapters on John Locke and Empire, and nonsense, and Darwin, but Lerer s most interesting chapter focuses on girls fiction. . . . A brilliant series of readings. Diane Purkiss, Times Literary Supplement
"
About the Author
Seth Lerer is dean of arts and humanities at the University of California, San Diego. He is the author of many books, including Inventing English: A Portable History of the Language, and the editor of several collections, including The Yale Companion to Chaucer.and#160;
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations
Introductionand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Toward a New History of Childrenand#8217;s Literature
Chapter Oneand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Speak, Child: Childrenand#8217;s Literature in Classical Antiquity
Chapter Twoand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Ingenuity and Authority: Aesopand#8217;s Fables and Their Afterlivesand#160;
Chapter Threeand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Court, Commerce, and Cloister: The Literatures of Medieval Childhood
Chapter Fourand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; From Alphabet to Elegy: The Puritan Impact on Childrenand#8217;s Literature
Chapter Fiveand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Playthings of the Mind: John Locke and Childrenand#8217;s Literatureand#160;
Chapter Sixand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Canoes and Cannibals: Robinson Crusoe and Its Legaciesand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
Chapter Sevenand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; From Islands to Empires: Storytelling for a Boyand#8217;s World
Chapter Eightand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; On beyond Darwin: From Kingsley to Seuss
Chapter Nineand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Ill-Tempered and Queer: Sense and Nonsense, from Victorian to Modern
Chapter Tenand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Straw into Gold: Fairy-Tale Philology
Chapter Elevenand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Theaters of Girlhood: Domesticity, Desire, and Performance in Female Fiction
Chapter Twelveand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Pan in the Garden: The Edwardian Turn in Childrenand#8217;s Literature
Chapter Thirteenand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Good Feeling: Prizes, Libraries, and the Institutions of American Childrenand#8217;s Literature
Chapter Fourteenand#160;and#160; Keeping Things Straight: Style and the Child
Chapter Fifteenand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Tap Your Pencil on the Paper: Childrenand#8217;s Literature in an Ironic Age
Epilogueand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Childrenand#8217;s Literature and the History of the Book
Acknowledgments
Notes
Index