(Ebook) Children’s Literature: A Reader’s History, from Aesop to Harry Potter by Seth Lerer ISBN 9780226473000, 9780226473017, 9780226473024, 0226473007, 0226473015, 0226473023
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 & 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, despite their divergent styles & subject matter, have all resonated with generations of readers. Children’s Literature is an exhilarating quest across centuries, continents, & genres to discover how, & 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, & all but exhaustive, it is also entertaining & accessible. Lerer takes his subject seriously without making it dull.”—Library Journal “Lerer’s history reminds us of the wealth of literature written during the past 2,600 years. . . . With his vast & 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.”—SF Chronicle “There are dazzling chapters on John Locke & Empire, & nonsense, & Darwin, but Lerer’s most interesting chapter focuses on girls’ fiction. . . . A brilliant series of readings.”—Diane Purkiss, Times Literary Supplement Seth Lerer is distinguished professor of literature at UC San Diego. He is the author of 9 previous books, & received the National Book Critics Circle Award & the Truman Capote Prize in Criticism for Children’s Literature.
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