Discusses literary developments in seventeenth century England which caused certain authors, for ideological reasons, to focus a new attention on children. During this period, the emphasis was on presenting children in a more realistic fashion. Literary selections are included. (DB)

Examines the appealing factors of the "Mr. Men" series of story books. (HOD)

Analyzes the book "Five Run Away Together" from the popular but controversial children's series by Enid Blyton; acknowledges some of the negative factors critics have seen in Blyton's books but also points to some values the books have for children. (GT)

If children are not present in most travel literature--precisely because the genre has most typically been the domain of solitary male travelers who are escaping domestic obligation, routine, the familiar, and the family--they nevertheless are an integral part of the genre. The traveler is in many ways a child, an innocent abroad. Traveler writers…

A study compared children's literature which was both popular with children and had received literary awards to those works which achieved only literary awards. Seventeen works of fiction were analyzed and categorized for themes, style, and structure. One adult and one child were interviewed for each work and asked questions about their opinion…

The purposes of this study were to investigate the phenomenon of children's interest in fairy tales, to identify the point at which the reader's interest corresponds most highly with the nature of a book or story, and to analyze the sources of data that lead to common characteristics between reader and tale. Chapters include discussion of analytic…

Reflects on childhood memories of reading a number of books by Leo Edwards and Margaret Pedler. (EL)

An experienced children's writer and teacher argues for the right balance of the richly strange and comfortably familiar in books for young children. (HOD)

This guide (originally published in 1985) introduces the visual approach to writing children's books, an approach which can help a writer release a flow of images and avoid wordiness. The aim of the guide is to teach the fledgling writer/illustrator to ask important questions about the structure of the intended book (and to find the answers) and…

These two teaching guides, one for the novel "Summer Song," (appropriate for grades 5 through 8) and one for the novel "Libby Bloom" (appropriate for grades 3 through 6) are designed to help teachers use these children's books in interdisciplinary classroom settings. The "Summer Song" guide offers thematic links on…

Report on a doctoral dissertation concerned with the problem of whether children self-select reading material that corresponds with their ability to read. (RB)

Analyzes the plot structure of the 61 most popular picture books on the 1982 "Children's Choices" list and discusses interesting trends found in the list. (FL)

Calls attention to the area of children's drama and cites several works of interest. (FL)

Reveals that middle school students enjoy the books of Enid Blyton because they launch immediately into the action and are full of action throughout; they keep description to a minimum; and they contain characters who are about the same age as the readers. (FL)