This book is a study of the figure of the ‘child’ as it is presented in the rapidly expanding field of the criticism of children's literature. The book argues that in fact, this same body of criticism — through often contradictory versions of the ‘child’ — reveals the realm of childhood as one constructed by the adult reader. The author demonstrates that both this criticism and the texts it studies are underpinned by the narratives of the liberal arts' educational ideals and their attendant socio-political and personal ideologies. The author places literary discussion into the current wider de ... More

This book is a study of the figure of the ‘child’ as it is presented in the rapidly expanding field of the criticism of children's literature. The book argues that in fact, this same body of criticism — through often contradictory versions of the ‘child’ — reveals the realm of childhood as one constructed by the adult reader. The author demonstrates that both this criticism and the texts it studies are underpinned by the narratives of the liberal arts' educational ideals and their attendant socio-political and personal ideologies. The author places literary discussion into the current wider debates about childhood in psychology and psychotherapy. This lively polemic represents a significant re-thinking of ‘childhood’ and approaches to children's literature.