This article reviews Margaret Meek Spencer's body of work in relation to the various policies that she critiqued from the Bullock Report in 1974 to the National Literacy Strategy in 2004. She analysed increasingly conservative moves to promote a dominant, elitist version of school literacy. A Critical Realist perspective aligns with Margaret Meek…

To examine the relationship between the literary responses and the moral responses of 11-year-old children to selected literary works, a study was conducted involving 28 mature sixth-grade readers. The subjects participated in eight lessons where widely recognized literary works containing moral dilemmas were read. Their responses were given in…

Discusses some of the problems facing educational researchers of children's literature. (RB)

Discusses "Little Daylight," an original fairy tale that lies within George MacDonald's children's book "At the Back of the North Wind." Shows how the tale encapsulates some of MacDonald's key philosophical concepts, and subverts numerous expectations a reader may bring to the fairy-tale genre. (SR)

Discusses portrayals of animals in children's realistic animal fiction over the course of the 20th century. Shows how the definition of animal hero generally changed from wild animals that were heroic for surviving against all odds to domesticated animals that were heroic for rescuing humans from wild beasts. Discusses animals as victims. (SR)

Considers the resistance of preservice teachers to address sociopolitical dimensions within the context of children's literature. Presents an account of an incident, a description of the research that the author conducted, theoretical explanations, strategies which she has utilized for countering the resistance, and reasons why research such as…

Few children possess the knowledge and experience to identify the best books from the numbers that flood the market, so it is wise for authors, publishers, librarians, teachers, and parents to be aware of any body of informed critical opinion regarding excellence in books for children. The contribution of the conscientious critic is as valuable to…

Various aspects of 145 representative oral and written compositions of six- and seven-year-old new literates are discussed in this paper. The determination to label these compositions as "primitive fiction" was made primarily on the assumption that children's first attempts at fictive narrative take on the aspects of their cultural literary…

To survey the Newbery Award books as a group, to recognize literary qualities to discern trends and changing patterns, and to perceive the influence of the books singled out as the best in American children's literature was the purpose of this study. For ease of comparison the books were grouped according to genre. The main features of each type…

This study was based on the idea that a structural analysis of picture storybooks might offer implications for the use of structural criticism in the teaching of children's literature. One hundred picture storybooks were analyzed inductively for certain basic components of plot structure which were termed actions. The analysis of the books…

Presents the responses of three fifth-grade students to two current children's novels to show how popular literature and personal response can provide teachers with insights about the literary understanding of their students. (HTH)

Discusses children's pictures termed "visual manifold narratives" (picture books that develop more than one narrative line by including two or more sets of separate pictures on the page). Discusses some uses of the manifold narrative, the reader's role in constructing meaning, subversion of the linear narrative, the metafictionality of manifold…

Compares the characteristics of children's books that received critical acclaim from adults and were "Children's Choices" to books that received critical acclaim only. Finds that the stylistic and structural differences between the two groups of books are more apparent than variations in themes. (RS)

Offers a structural analysis of the children's picture book "Burglar Bill" by Janet and Allan Ahlberg. (SR)

Asserts that certain traits and factors, such as persistence through failure and a tolerance for frustration, help children overcome life's problems. Analyzes 30 award-winning children's books from 1928 to 1987 and 14 "children's favorites" to determine if these books contain characters and plots that display resiliency. (MM)