Multicultural and Ethnic Children’s Literature in the United States

Multicultural and Ethnic Children’s Literature in the United States
Author: Donna L. Gilton
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 435
Release: 2020-02-18
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1538138417

This edition of Multicultural and Ethnic Children’s Literature in the United States addresses both quantitative and more qualitative changes in this field over the last decade. Quantitative changes include more authors, books, and publishers; book review sources, booklists, and awards; organizations, institutions, and websites; and criticism and other scholarship. Qualitative changes include: More support for new and emerging writers and illustrators; Promotion of multicultural literature both in the U.S. and around the world, as well as developments in global literature; Developments in the literatures described throughout this book, as well as in research supporting this literature; The impact of technology; Characteristics and activities of four adult audiences that use and promote multicultural children’s literature, and Changes in leaders and their organizations. This is still a single reference source for busy and involved librarians, teachers, parents, scholars, publishers, distributors, and community leaders. Most books on multicultural children’s literature are written especially for teachers, librarians, and scholars. They may be introductions to the literature, selection tools, teaching guides, or very theoretical books on choosing, evaluating, and using these materials. Multicultural and Ethnic Children’s Literature in the United States focuses much more on the history of the development of this literature, from the nineteenth century to the present day. This book provides much more of a cultural and political context for the early development of this literature. It emphasizes the “self-determining” viewpoints and activities of diverse people as they produce materials for the young. Multicultural and Ethnic Children’s Literature… describes organizations, events, activities, and other contributions of diverse writers, illustrators, publishers, researchers, scholars, librarians, educators, and parents. It also describes trends in the research on the literature. It elaborates more on ways in which diversity is still an issue in publishing companies and an extended list of related industries. It describes related literature from outside of the U.S. and makes connections to traditional global literature. Last, Multicultural and Ethnic Children’s Literature, shows the impact of multiculturalism on education, libraries, and the mainstream culture, in general. While the other books on multiculturalism focus on how to find, evaluate, and use multicultural materials, especially in schools and libraries, this book is concerned over whether and how books are produced in the first place and how this material impact the broader society. In many ways, it supplements other books on multicultural children’s literature.

Inclusive Young Adult Fiction

Inclusive Young Adult Fiction
Author: Melanie Ramdarshan Bold
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 164
Release: 2019-01-04
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 3030105229

This book examines ‘diversity’, or the lack thereof, in young adult fiction (YA) publishing. It focuses on cultural hegemony in the United Kingdom and explores how literary culture aimed at young adults reproduces and perpetuates ‘racial’ and ethnic cultural hierarchies. Diversity is described by the We Need Diverse Books project as ‘all diverse experiences, including (but not limited to) LGBTQIA, Native, people of color, gender diversity, people with disabilities, and ethnic, cultural, and religious minorities’. This study focuses on people of colour. While previous studies have looked at the representation of ethnic minorities in books for children and young adults, this book examines the experiences of ‘own voice’ cultural producers that create a counter-narrative. Specifically, this book will investigate the output and experiences of British young adult fiction authors of colour (BAME authors) published in the UK during the period 2006-2016, drawing upon semi-structured interviews with a sample of authors.

Critical Perspectives on Postcolonial African Children's and Young Adult Literature

Critical Perspectives on Postcolonial African Children's and Young Adult Literature
Author: Meena Khorana
Publisher: Praeger
Total Pages: 202
Release: 1998-04-08
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN:

The past few years mark a growing scholarly interest in African children's literature in the United States. Several books have recently been published on the subject, and the number of papers on African children's literature presented at conferences or published in scholarly journals also seems to have increased. These publications are becoming more and more sophisticated as scholars move away from general country surveys or analyses of publishing conditions and instead analyze literary structures, themes, and illustrations, or apply Marxist, feminist, or postcolonial theories to interpret literary works. The question of an authentic voice in postcolonial African children's literature has emerged as a central concern to those who care about books for African children and young adults. Also of importance is the matter of how Africa is presented in literature for children who do not live on that continent. The essays in this book either take a postcolonial or revisionist approach to the study of colonial literature, or discuss books published after decolonization. The introductory essay provides a general analysis of the key issues facing the publication of children's books in postcolonial Africa—issues of national identity, language, appropriate genres, and relevant themes to inculcate a nationalistic outlook in children and young adults. The chapters that follow are located within this broad framework and are written by expert contributors. While these essays reflect the scholarly interests and specialization of each author, they also span the entire field of African children's literature. The first group of chapters surveys African children's literature from a variety of angles and explores such topics as literacy and the publishing culture in Africa, the role and importance of awards, Nigerian young adult literature, and the relevance of folktales. The book then turns to a discussion of books about Africa written by Western authors for Western readers, which often project values and perspectives that betray a continuing colonial bias. The last part of the book examines more specialized themes and concerns.

Bookbird

Bookbird
Author:
Publisher:
Total Pages: 268
Release: 1997
Genre: Children's literature
ISBN:

Ethics and Children's Literature

Ethics and Children's Literature
Author: Claudia Mills
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 279
Release: 2016-05-13
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1317141407

Exploring the ethical questions posed by, in, and about children’s literature, this collection examines the way texts intended for children raise questions of value, depict the moral development of their characters, and call into attention shared moral presuppositions. The essays in Part I look at various past attempts at conveying moral messages to children and interrogate their underlying assumptions. What visions of childhood were conveyed by explicit attempts to cultivate specific virtues in children? What unstated cultural assumptions were expressed by growing resistance to didacticism? How should we prepare children to respond to racism in their books and in their society? Part II takes up the ethical orientations of various classic and contemporary texts, including 'prosaic ethics' in the Hundred Acre Wood, moral discernment in Narnia, ethical recognition in the distant worlds traversed by L’Engle, and virtuous transgression in recent Anglo-American children’s literature and in the emerging children’s literature of 1960s Taiwan. Part III’s essays engage in ethical criticism of arguably problematic messages about our relationship to nonhuman animals, about war, and about prejudice. The final section considers how we respond to children’s literature with ethically focused essays exploring a range of ways in which child readers and adult authorities react to children’s literature. Even as children’s literature has evolved in opposition to its origins in didactic Sunday school tracts and moralizing fables, authors, parents, librarians, and scholars remain sensitive to the values conveyed to children through the texts they choose to share with them.