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Hintz and Tribunella state the scope and intended audience for Reading Children's Literature admirably clearly in their preface. This is a textbook designed to be used in children's and young adult literature courses at the undergraduate level that aim to give students and instructors an introduction to "the critical and cultural conversations involving children's literature," "key concepts and genres within the field," and a variety of "methods for reading children's literature analytically" (20). It is intended to supplement the literary texts assigned in undergraduate courses on children's literature in English, education, or library-science departments.
As a textbook, Reading Children's Literature does not aim to break any new scholarly ground, but it does an excellent job of outlining major genres, concepts, and critical debates in the field, and it would be a valuable resource for students and instructors. (Notwithstanding the title, the book also includes information on young adult literature.) The information is presented clearly and concisely, and the book is laid out well, with a detailed table of contents that includes subsections within chapters, a glossary of common terms, a list of works cited for each chapter, and an index. The book is divided into a preface for instructors; an "Introduction for Students" that addresses common assumptions about children's literature, briefly defines the practice of critical reading, and defends the critical analysis of children's literature; and thirteen chapters. The chapters are wide-ranging, covering a mix of history, genre, and topical issues: "Historicizing Childhood," which offers an overview of the ways childhood and adolescence have been constructed in the western world; "The Early History of Children's Literature" to the mid-twentieth century;...