Children's literature continues to be one of the most rapidly expanding and exciting inter-disciplinary academic fields--of interest to anyone concerned with literature, education, internationalism, childhood, or culture in general. The second edition of Peter Hunt's acclaimed reference has been thoroughly revised and updated to incorporate the latest scholarship on children's literature from across the world. Expanded to nearly 700,000 words, it includes over 50 new articles on topics--such as Postcolonialism, Comparative Studies, Ancient Texts, Contemporary Children's Rhymes and Folklore, Contemporary Comics, War, Horror, Series Fiction, Film, Creative Writing, "Crossover" literature, and more. The international section has also been expanded to reflect world events, and now includes separate articles on countries--including the Baltic States, the Czech and Slovak Republics, Iran, Korea, Mexico and Central America, Slovenia, and Taiwan. As children's publishing has become a huge international industry and as the genre receives ever-increasing attention and grows faster than ever, this timely, new edition is an indispensable reference work for all literature collections.

Chapter 1 Introduction, Margaret Meek; Chapter 2 Internationalism, the universal child and the world of children's literature, Emer O'Sullivan; Part 1 Theory and critical approaches; Chapter 3 Theorising and theories, David Rudd; Chapter 4 Criticism and the critical mainstream, Deborah Cogan Thacker; Chapter 5 Critical tradition and ideological positioning, Charles Sarland; Chapter 6 History and culture, Tony Watkins; Chapter 7 Linguistics and stylistics, John Stephens; Chapter 8 Reader-response criticism, Michael Benton; Chapter 9 Psychoanalytical criticism, Hamida Bosmajian; Chapter 10 Feminism revisited, Lissa Paul; Chapter 11 Picture books and illustration, Perry Nodelman; Chapter 12 Narrative theory and children's literature, Maria Nikolajeva; Chapter 13 Intertextuality and the child reader, Christine Wilkie-Stibbs; Chapter 14 Comparative children's literature, Emer O'Sullivan; Chapter 15 Bibliography, Matthew Grenby; Part 2 Forms and genres; Chapter 16 Ancient and medieval children's texts, Gillian Adams; Chapter 17 Texts in English used by children, 1550-1800, Margaret Evans; Chapter 18 Myth and legend, Maurice Saxby; Chapter 19 Fairy tales and folk tales, Ruth B. Bottigheimer; Chapter 20 Playground rhymes and the oral tradition, Iona Opie; Chapter 21 Children's rhymes and folklore, Andy Arleo; Chapter 22 Catechistical, devotional and biblical writing, Ruth B. Bottigheimer; Chapter 23 Contemporary religious writing, Rita Ghesquière; Chapter 24 The development of illustrated texts and picture books, Joyce Irene Whalley; Chapter 25 The picture book, Michèle Anstey, Geoff Bull; Chapter 26 Shaping boyhood, Dennis Butts; Chapter 27 Childhood, didacticism and the gendering of British children's literature, Christine Wilkie-Stibbs; Chapter 28 Popular literature, Denis Gifford; Chapter 29 Contemporary comics, Katia Pizzi; Chapter 30 Poetry, Morag Styles; Chapter 31 Animal stories, Simon Flynn; Chapter 32 High fantasy, C.W. Sullivan III; Chapter 33 Domestic fantasy, Louisa Smith; Chapter 34 The family story, Gillian Avery; Chapter 35 School stories, Sheila Ray; Chapter 36 Pony books, Alison Haymonds; Chapter 37 Historical fiction, Janet Fisher; Chapter 38 War, Carol Fox, Peter Hunt; Chapter 39 Horror, Victoria de Rijke; Chapter 40 Science fiction, Jessica Yates; Chapter 41 Series fiction, Victor Watson; Chapter 42 Teenage fiction, Julia Eccleshare; Chapter 43 Crossover literature, Rachel Falconer; Chapter 44 Writers for adults, writers for children, Marian Allsobrook; Chapter 45 Metafictions and experimental work, Robyn McCallum; Chapter 46 Drama, Susanne Greenhalgh; Chapter 47 Story-telling, Mary Medlicott; Chapter 48 Children's information texts, Margaret Mallett;