This volume discusses children's literature through the ages from fairy tales and early didactic literature through to the classics of the 19th and 20th centuries and the modern day.

Lucy Pearson's lively and engaging book examines British children's literature during the period widely regarded as a a second golden age'. Drawing extensively on archival material, Pearson investigates the practical and ideological factors that shaped ideas of a good' children's literature in Britain, with particular attention to children's book publishing. Pearson begins with a critical overview of the discourse surrounding children's literature during the 1960s and 1970s, summarizing the main critical debates in the context of the broader social conversation that took place around...

Over the last twenty years, Jacqueline Wilson has published well over 100 titles and has become firmly established in the landscape of Children's Literature. She has written for all ages, from picture books for young readers to young adult fiction and tackles a wide variety of controversial topics, such as child abuse, mental illness and bereavement. Although she has received some criticism for presenting difficult and seemingly 'adult' topics to children, she remains overwhelmingly popular among her audience and has won numerous prizes selected by children, such as the Smarties Book Prize....