This module will introduce students to a range of literature which traces the development of childhood as a social idea from the mid-18th century, through Romantic and Victorian constructions of childhood, 20th century uses of children’s literature to explore childhood in an uncertain age, and on to recent young adult fiction. Themes explored will be the invention of childhood, relations with the adult world, portals to other places, storytelling as a protection from danger, fantasy and negotiations of childhood in the future.

The course will be taken by English students, creative writing students wishing to familiarise themselves with the conventions of writing for children, and Education students wishing to gain an insight into children’s reading.

Texts studies on the course:
A selection of fairy tales
Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865)
C S Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950)
Philip Pullman, Northern Lights (1995)
J K Rowling, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (1997)
Gary Ross (dir), The Hunger Games (2012)

One hour common lecture and 2 hour seminars for different groups.

10 minute Oral and visual presentation in pairs (25%)
2000 word essay (75%)

McCulloch, Fiona (2011). Children's Literature in Context. London: Continuum.
Gamble, Nikki; Yates, Sally (2008). Exploring Children's Literature. London: Sage.
Hunt, Peter (1990). Children's Literature: the development of criticism. London: Routledge
The Journal of Aesthetic Education Vol. 43, No. 2, Summer, 2009 – special issue on children’s literature (JSTOR)
Carpenter, Humphrey; Prichard, Mari (1984). The Oxford Companion to Children's Literature. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Mills, Claudia (ed). (2016). Ethics and Children's Literature. Ashgate.
Lerer, Seth (2014). Children's Literature: A Reader's History, from Aesop to Harry Potter. Chicago
University of Chicago Press
Echterling, Clare (2016). “Postcolonial Ecocriticism, Classic Children's Literature, and the Imperial-Environmental Imagination in The Chronicles of Narnia”. The Journal of the Midwest Modern Language Association. Vol. 49, No. 1 (Spring), pp. 93-117.
Association. Vol. 49, No. 1 (Spring), pp. 93-117.

Library
JSTOR
Box of Broadcasts

1. demonstrate a knowledge of children’s literature from fairy tales to the present
Knowledge & Understanding

2. locate children’s texts in relation to changing attitudes to childhood over time
Enquiry

3. identify and critically evaluate key themes emerging and developing in children’s literature from fairy tales to the present
Analysis

4. demonstrate a detailed knowledge of the critical perspectives employed in the analysis of children’s literature
Application

5. develop a sustained critical argument, employing literary critical theories where appropriate, in analysing, contextualising and comparing texts
OR
produce a sustained piece of children’s literature demonstrating an advanced knowledge of the devices and methods of children’s literature studied on the module
Problem solving
Communication