Feeling like a kid; childhood and children's literature

Reference & Research Book News, Feb, 2007

Feeling like a kid; childhood and children's literature.

Griswold, Jerome.

Johns Hopkins U. Press

2006

148 pages

$19.95

Hardcover

PN1009

Griswold (English and comparative literature, San Diego State U.) explores recurring themes or qualities in children's literature, examining their appeal and comparing children's imaginative world with that of adults. In an attractively designed petite volume, enduring stories that feature snugness, scariness (i.e. Where the Wild Things Are, smallness (Gulliver's Travels), lightness (Peter Pan) and the aliveness of the inanimate world (Pinochio), are discussed with an eye to what they reflect of the child's mind and to their potential to help adults once again feel like kids. Some color images support the text.

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