Children's literature : a reader's history, from Aesop to Harry Potter / Seth Lerer.

Title :

Children's literature : a reader's history, from Aesop to Harry Potter

Author:

Lerer, Seth, 1955-

Format:

Books

Summary:

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. Seth Lerer here explores the iconic books, ancient and contemporary alike, that have forged a lifelong love of literature in young readers during their formative years. Along the way, Lerer also looks at the changing environments of family life and human growth, schooling and scholarship, and publishing and politics in which children found themselves changed by the books they read. This ambitious work appraises a broad trajectory of influences--including Shakespeare's plays, John Locke's theories of education, Darwin's On the Origin of Species, and the Puritan tradition--which have each shaped children's literature through the ages as well.--From publisher description.

Language:

English

ISBN - ISSN:

0226473007

9780226473000

Physical Description:

ix, 385 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Contents:

Introduction: Toward a new history of children's literature -- Speak, child: children's literature in classical antiquity -- Ingenuity and authority: Aesop's fables and their afterlives -- Court, commerce, and cloister: the literatures of medieval childhood -- From alphabet to elegy: the Puritan impact on children's literature -- Playthings of the mind: John Locke and children's literature -- Canoes and cannibals: Robinson Crusoe and its legacies -- From islands to empires: storytelling for a boy's world -- On beyond Darwin: from Kingsley to Seuss -- Ill-tempered and queer: sense and nonsense, from Victorian to modern -- Straw into gold: fairy-tale philology -- Theaters of girlhood: domesticity, desire, and performance in female fiction -- Pan in the garden: the Edwardian turn in children's literature -- Good feeling: prizes, libraries, and the institutions of American children's literature -- Keeping things straight: style and the child -- Tap your pencil on the paper: children's literature in an ironic age -- Children's literature and the history of the book.

Toward a new history of children's literature -- Speak, child: children's literature in classical antiquity -- Ingenuity and authority: Aesop's fables and their afterlives -- Court, commerce, and cloister: the literatures of medieval childhood -- From alphabet to elegy: the Puritan impact on children's literature -- Playthings of the mind: John Locke and children's literature -- Canoes and cannibals: Robinson Crusoe and its legacies -- From islands to empires: storytelling for a boy's world -- On beyond Darwin: from Kingsley to Seuss -- Ill-tempered and queer: sense and nonsense, from Victorian to modern -- Straw into gold: fairy-tale philology -- Theaters of girlhood: domesticity, desire, and performance in female fiction -- Pan in the garden: the Edwardian turn in children's literature -- Good feeling: prizes, libraries, and the institutions of American children's literature -- Keeping things straight: style and the child -- Tap your pencil on the paper: children's literature in an ironic age -- Children's literature and the history of the book.

Subject:

Children's literature -- History and criticism.

First Title value, for Searching:

Children's literature : a reader's history, from Aesop to Harry Potter / Seth Lerer.

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Library	Audience	Home Location	Material Type	Shelf Number	Status
Searching... Central	Adult	Non-fiction	Book	809.89282 L615	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Central	Adult	Non-fiction	Book	809.89282 L615	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

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

Author Notes

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.

Reviews (3)

Booklist Review

The erudite Lerer, whose Inventing English (2007) was enthusiastically reviewed in these pages, has now undertaken an ambitious, one-volume history of children's literature. He begins in classical antiquity and ends with the salutary likes of Weetzie Bat and the Time Warp Trio, giving particular attention along the way he being a philologist to the language of literature, whether critical or narrative. Always in search of large ideas and overarching themes, he has what many may find an annoying tendency to pronounce (The book now ends with bedtime as all great children's stories really do) and to presume his reader's tacit agreement, offering far too many propositions beginning How can we not . . . Nevertheless, Lerer does an extraordinary job of expanding our understanding of individual titles by richly contextualizing them in the world of their creation and stimulates readers' imaginations by some surprising juxtapositions (Darwin and Dr. Seuss!). Though the book's principal audience will be an academic one, general readers will find much of interest here as well.--Cart, Michael Copyright 2008 Booklist

Choice Review

Splendidly well written, and both wide-ranging and comprehensive, this account of western European and American children's literature is, as Lerer (Stanford) writes, "a history of what children have heard and read" from classical antiquity to the current day. Covered are Homer, Aesop, and Virgil; medieval "alphabets, prayer books, Psalters and primers"; works that conveyed the Puritans' worldview (The New England Primer, Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress) and the "moral growth centered on the sensory perception of the outer world" (e.g., Defoe's Robinson Crusoe); the Darwinian age (e.g., Kipling's The Jungle Book); and much more. Throughout, Lerer elucidates changing attitudes toward the child and childhood and especially the importance of books to children--as physical artifacts, possessions, and personal keys to knowledge. Lerer is a gifted interpreter not only of tales for children but also of the illustrations that so often shape the young reader's first (and lasting) impression of a text. He concludes that "the story of the child is the story of literature itself," and he reminds the reader that those who enter a work of fiction "step back into a childhood of 'what if' or 'once upon a time.'" Summing Up: Essential. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals; general readers. J. J. Benardete The New School

Library Journal Review

Apropos of his subject matter, Lerer (English & comparative literature, Stanford; Inventing English) 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, from Aesop to the present. Scholarly, erudite, and all but exhaustive, it is also entertaining and accessible. Lerer takes his subject seriously without making it dull. He asks important questions about writers' intentions and readers' reactions, about why some texts endure and others do not, about the influence of science and religion on children's literature, and even about the impact of libraries and literary prizes upon the genre. He traces the lineage from fairy tales to Philip Pullman, from comic books to anime, analyzing the appeal of the various forms of children's literature, the cultural forces that mold it, and its transformative effect on anyone who has ever been a child. Essential for academic libraries; highly recommended for public libraries.--Alison M. Lewis, Drexel Univ., Philadelphia (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

List of Illustrations

Introduction

Toward a New History of Children's Literature

Chapter 1 Speak, Child: Children's Literature in Classical Antiquity

Chapter 2 Ingenuity and Authority: Aesop's Fables and Their Afterlives

Chapter 3 Court, Commerce, and Cloister: The Literatures of Medieval Childhood

Chapter 4 From Alphabet to Elegy: The Puritan Impact on Children's Literature

Chapter 5 Playthings of the Mind: John Locke and Children's Literature

Chapter 6 Canoes and Cannibals:Robinson Crusoeand Its Legacies

Chapter 7 From Islands to Empires: Storytelling for a Boy's World

Chapter 8 On beyond Darwin: From Kingsley to Seuss

Chapter 9 Ill-Tempered and Queer: Sense and Nonsense, from Victorian to Modern

Chapter 10 Straw into Gold: Fairy-Tale Philology

Chapter 11 Theaters of Girlhood: Domesticity, Desire, and Performance in Female Fiction

Chapter 12 Pan in the Garden: The Edwardian Turn in Children's Literature

Chapter 13 Good Feeling: Prizes, Libraries, and the Institutions of American Children's Literature

Chapter 14 Keeping Things Straight: Style and the Child

Chapter 15 Tap Your Pencil on the Paper: Children's Literature in an Ironic Age Epilogue Children's Literature and the History of the Book

Acknowledgments

Notes

Index

Available:*

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Summary

Author Notes

Reviews (3)

Booklist Review

Choice Review

Library Journal Review

Table of Contents