How the Reader Matters. Autobiographies of Childhood for Young Readers

Abstract

In the 1990s, autobiographies of childhood were one of the most important publishing trends. These autobiographies challenge the Romantic notion of childhood, thus contributing to the contemporary societal debate about children and childhood in crisis. Taking into consideration that ideas about children and childhood are at the heart of children’s literature, it is remarkable that autobiographies of childhood for young readers go unnoticed in the discussion.