Children’s Literature

Acknowledgements Chronology Introduction Chapter 1: Fables Definitions, early history and audience The evolution of Aesop Humanitarian and pantheistic fables Dystopian and environmentalist fables Political fables Fables and race Fables of personal fulfilment Chapter 2: Poetry Definitions and early history Devotional, vernacular and cautionary verse Nonsense and narrative verse Sentimental cynicism 'Urchin verse' Chapter 3: Moral and Instructive Tales Realism and didacticism The eighteenth-century moral tale The modern moral tale The moral tale in the nineteenth century Chapter 4: The School Story Definitions, national tradition and early history The individual and the community The school ethos The politics of school: class and empire The modern school story: challenging the conventions Chapter 5: The Family Story Definitions The instructive family The imperialist family The confining family The political family Non-traditional families The vertical family Chapter 6: Fantasy Fantasy, reality and the interface between them Fantasy, history, ideology Fantasy and the politics of gender Fantasy, freedom, order and empowerment Fantasy, didacticism and the search for selfhood Chapter 7: The Adventure Story Definitions and blurred boundaries The fantasy of empowerment Adventure and Morality Authenticity and Exoticism The politics of adventure: gender and empire Student Resources Glossary Further Reading Index.