Literature for Children: A Short Introduction

Literature for Children covers the full range of subjects typically addressed in children’s literature, while focusing on genres and concepts rather than on particular authors. The book’s concise, accessible, inviting style includes many specific illustrations and explanations as examples of the concepts presented and allows readers to spend more time reading the primary texts. Included are topics for consideration and discussion at the end of each chapter, many bibliographies of both scholarly resources and children’s books, an extensive glossary, a list of children’s literature research sources, and lists of children’s book awards, making the book an outstanding, useful resource.

David L. Russell is Professor of Languages and Literature at Ferris State University and co-editor of The Lion and the Unicorn. In addition to book-length studies of Scott O’Dell and Patricia MacLachlan, he has published numerous scholarly articles on a wide range of subjects in children’s literature.