Keywords for Children's Literature, Second Edition

Introduces key terms, global concepts, debates, and histories for Children's Literature in an updated edition

Over the past decade, there has been a proliferation of exciting new work across many areas of children’s literature and culture. Mapping this vibrant scholarship, the Second Edition of Keywords for Children’s Literature presents original essays on essential terms and concepts in the field. Covering ideas from “Aesthetics” to “Voice,” an impressive multidisciplinary cast of scholars explores and expands on the vocabulary central to the study of children’s literature.

The second edition of this Keywords volume goes beyond disciplinary and national boundaries. Across fifty-nine print essays and nineteen online essays, it includes contributors from twelve countries and an international advisory board from over a dozen more. The fully revised and updated selection of critical writing—more than half of the essays are new to this edition—reflects an intentionally multinational perspective, taking into account non-English traditions and what childhood looks like in an age of globalization.

All authors trace their keyword’s uses and meanings: from translation to poetry, taboo to diversity, and trauma to nostalgia, the book’s scope, clarity, and interdisciplinary play between concepts make this new edition of Keywords for Children’s Literature essential reading for scholars and students alike.

Philip Nel is University Distinguished Professor of English at Kansas State University. He is the author or co-editor of eleven books, the most recent of which is Was the Cat in the Hat Black?: The Hidden Racism of Children's Literature, and the Need for Diverse Books.Paul Lissa :

Lissa Paul, Professor at Brock University in the Niagra Region of Canada, has authored or edited seven books, has chapters in nineteen and publishes widely in international journals. Her most recent book is Eliza Fenwick: Early Modern Feminist. She is currently working on an edition of Fenwick's letters.Christensen Nina :

Nina Christensen is Professor of Children's Literature at Centre for Children's Literature and Media, Aarhus University, Denmark. Her main research interests are the history of children's literature, picturebooks and the relationship between children's literature and changing ideas concerning childhood, subjects on which she has published a number of books and articles.

Philip Nel is University Distinguished Professor of English at Kansas State University. He is the author or co-editor of eleven books, the most recent of which is Was the Cat in the Hat Black?: The Hidden Racism of Children's Literature, and the Need for Diverse Books.

Lissa Paul, Professor at Brock University in the Niagra Region of Canada, has authored or edited seven books, has chapters in nineteen and publishes widely in international journals. Her most recent book is Eliza Fenwick: Early Modern Feminist. She is currently working on an edition of Fenwick's letters.

Nina Christensen is Professor of Children's Literature at Centre for Children's Literature and Media, Aarhus University, Denmark. Her main research interests are the history of children's literature, picturebooks and the relationship between children's literature and changing ideas concerning childhood, subjects on which she has published a number of books and articles.

"Anyone who reads the collection may find herself—as this reviewer did—continuing the scholarly conversation by putting the premises of one essay in dialogue with others in the volume…. [O]ne of the intellectual pleasures Keywords offers is surprising readers to reconsider their understanding of words that they may have taken for granted.”
—Adrienne Kertzer, The Lion and the Unicorn, Vol. 46., No. 1 (Jan 2022).

Jack Zipes, University of Minnesota:
Keywords for Children's Literature demonstrates how sophisticated the critical approaches to the burgeoning field of children's literature have become. Not only do the essays on keywords, written by some of the most capable professors in the field, elaborate important concepts in the history of children's literature, but they cover significant cultural debates and discussions. This superb volume of scholarship demonstrates definitively that adult literature cannot be understood without grasping its roots in children's literature.

Donald E. Pease, author of Theodor SEUSS Geisel:
By distilling the complex uses of its core terms, the contributors to Keywords for Children's Literature have produced an indispensable handbook for scholars in this dynamic field.

Myra Zarnowski, Teachers College Record:
Overall, this volume succeeds quite well in focusing attention on how we discuss children's literature. The[se] essays are models of thoughtful inquiry into words we frequently use, often without considering how they have been transformed over time.

J. Stevens, Choice:
This book presents ... thoughtful essays based on various concepts pertaining to children's literature, including genres, literary theories, and the history of children's literature ... This volume will be very useful, especially for colleges and universities with children's literature programs. Highly recommended.

Claudia Mills, Children's Literature Association:
Even the most sophisticated scholars will enjoy seeing how their colleagues achieve the feat of crafting such delicious distillations within the given space constraints. This book is a monumental achievement.