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RR 2012/119 The Oxford Handbook of Children's Literature Edited by Julia L. Mickenberg and Lynne Vallone Oxford University Press Oxford and New York, NY 2011 xv + 584 pp. ISBN 978 0 19 537978 5 £95/$150
Keywords Children (age groups), Guides and handbooks, Literature
Review DOI 10.1108/09504121211211325
The editors' goal "was to create an interdisciplinary book that uses literary texts to introduce theoretical, methodological, and critical approaches, as well as historical, political, and sociological themes". It is primarily therefore a collection of 26 analytical articles with an extensive and searching introduction, though the basic facts are given concerning the authors and works that are discussed. Part 1, "Adults and children's literature", begins with a chapter on the "Fundamentals of children's literature criticism" by Peter Hunt that raises essential issues such as what the term "children's book" means as opposed to other books. Readers may of course make their own selection of articles but Hunt's chapter is in indispensable beginning to a study of children's literature. By the way, J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter appears in this first part in an article by Karin E. Westman. Part 2 is called "Pictures and poetics"...