Description: This new series offers readers thorough and lively introductions to literary periods, movements, authors, and genres from the Anglo-Saxon tradition to Postmodernity. Each accessible, engaging volume in the series is written by a leading specialist in the field. Chapters are devoted to the coverage of cultural context, the provision of brief but detailed biographical essays, critical coverage of key works, and surveys of themes and topics. Bibliographies suggesting further reading are also included. Readers new to a literary period or genre will discover all they need to know in these volumes, which are as stimulating to read as they are convenient to use.

This practical guide provides a comprehensive and inviting introduction to English-language children's literature, from the eighteenth century to the present day. The book opens with a discussion of the often controversial theory and history of this influential and entertaining subject, and explores the ways in which it can be approached.

The guide includes detailed critical surveys of the work of 40 major authors, from Mrs. Sherwood J. K. Rowling, Louisa May Alcott to Dr. Seuss, Mary Grant Bruce to Margaret Mahy, and Quentin Blake to Ted Hughes. It also features studies of over 20 key texts that place each in its historical and generic context. Books include the pioneering A Little Pretty Pocket Book (1744); classics such as Tom Brown's Schooldays, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and Seven Little Australians; modern classics from The Hobbit and C. S. Lewiss "Namia" books to Charlotte's Web and Harriet the Spy; as well as influential-translations such as Emil and the Detectives. Finally, it contains discussions of important issues,themes, and genres, including censorship, postcolonialism, fantasy, gender, illustration, and literacy. Each entry is supported by up-to-date critical bibliographies.

Children's Literature offers a helpful and inspiring foundation for further study, and will be an essential resource for students from disciplines as varied as literature, history, education, cultural studies. It will also appeal to the general reader.

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