Radical Children's Literature: Future Visions and Aesthetic Transformations in Juvenile Fiction

228 Pages·2007·1.12 MB·English

by  Kimberley Reynolds

Radical Children’s
Literature
Future Visions and Aesthetic
Transformations in Juvenile Fiction
Kimberley Reynolds
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Radical Children’s Literature
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Also by Kimberley Reynolds
GIRLS ONLY? Gender and Popular Juvenile Fiction in Britain 1880–1910
VICTORIAN HEROINES: Readings and Representations of Women in Nineteenth-Century
Literature and Art (with Nicola Humble)
CHILDREN'S LITERATURE IN THE 1890s AND 1990s
CHILDREN'S BOOK PUBLISHING IN BRITAIN SINCE 1945 (with Nicholas Tucker)
REPRESENTATIONS OF CHILDHOOD DEATH (with Gillian Avery)
FRIGHTENING FICTION (with Geraldine Brennan and Kevin McCarron)
CHILDREN'S LITERATURE AND CHILDHOOD IN PERFORMANCE
CHILDHOOD REMEMBERED
MODERN CHILDREN'S LITERATURE: An Introduction
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Radical Children’s
Literature
Future Visions and Aesthetic
Transformations in Juvenile Fiction
Kimberley Reynolds
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© Kimberley Reynolds 2007
All rights reserved.No reproduction,copy or transmission of this
publication may be made without written permission.
No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced,copied or transmitted
save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the
Copyright,Designs and Patents Act 1988,or under the terms of any licence
permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency,90
Tottenham Court Road,London W1T 4LP.
Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication
may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
The author has asserted her right to be identified
as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published in 2007 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN
Houndmills,Basingstoke,Hampshire RG21 6XS and
175 Fifth Avenue,New York,N.Y.10010
Companies and representatives throughout the world.
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave
Macmillan division of St.Martin’s Press,LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd.
Macmillan® is a registered trademark in the United States,United Kingdom
and other countries.Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European
Union and other countries.
ISBN-13:978–1–4039–8561–3
ISBN-10:1–4039–8561–8
This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully
managed and sustained forest sources.Logging,pulping and manufacturing
processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the
country of origin.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Reynolds,Kimberley.
Radical children’s literature :future visions and aesthetic
transformations in juvenile fiction / Kimberley Reynolds.
p.cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13:978–1–4039–8561–3 (cloth)
ISBN-10:1–4039–8561–8 (cloth)
1.Children’s literature–Political aspects.2.Children’s
literature–Social aspects.I.Title.
PN 1009.5.P64R49 2007
809(cid:1).93358––dc22 2006052965
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07
Printed and bound in Great Britain by
Antony Rowe Ltd,Chippenham and Eastbourne
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For Peter
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Contents
List of Illustrations viii
Acknowledgements ix
Author’s Note xi
1 Breaking Bounds: The Transformative Energy of
Children’s Literature 1
2 Breaking the Frame: Picturebooks, Modernism,
and New Media 24
3 And None of It Was Nonsense 45
4 Useful Idiots: Interactions Between Youth Culture
and Children’s Literature 68
5 Self-harm, Silence, and Survival: Despair and
Trauma in Children’s Literature 88
6 Baby, You’re the Best: Sex and Sexuality in Contemporary
Juvenile Fiction 114
7 Frightening Fiction: The Transformative Power of Fear 131
8 Back to the Future? New Forms and Formats in
Juvenile Fiction 155
Conclusion: The Foundations of Future Fictions 180
Notes 184
Bibliography 193
Index 208
vii
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List of Illustrations
2.1 From Sara Fanelli’s Dear Diary. Illustration © 2000
Sara Fanelli. Reproduced by permission of Walker
Books Ltd, London SE11 5HJ. 40
5.1 The final double-page illustration from Serge Kozlov and
de Vitaly Statzynsky’s Petit-Âne. Reproduced by kind
permission of Vitaly Statzynsky. 94
5.2 Final image from Michael Rosen’s Sad Bookby Michael Rosen,
illustrated by Quentin Blake. Illustration © 2004
Quentin Blake. Reproduced by permission of Walker
Books Ltd, London SE11 5HJ. 98
5.3 ‘Nobody Understands’ (detail) from Shaun Tan’s
The Red Tree. A Lothian book, an imprint of Hachette
Livre Australia Pty Ltd, Melbourne, 2001. Reproduced
by kind permission of Shaun Tan and Hachette
Livre Australia. 100
viii
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Acknowledgements
I owe a great deal to Peter Hunt and Nicholas Tucker, who both kindly read
drafts of this book as it emerged and gave wise advice, strategic feedback and
encouragement as needed. The book is much richer for their contributions;
any errors are mine alone. My husband, Peter Reynolds, also read the manu-
script as it evolved and bore the brunt of my excitements and anxieties. He
also made it possible for me to leave the everyday world behind for some con-
centrated writing weeks. These were times of great quiet and pleasure and
I would not have had them without him. The Faculty of Humanities and
School of English at the Newcastle University gave me a period of leave to
write this book, and my colleagues there were immensely supportive through-
out. Matthew Grenby in particular was uncomplaining about the extra work
my absence created for him – and a wonderful host while I was between
homes as well. Mark Vasey-Saunders was generous with his time and knowledge
of the world of role playing games. Without Kate Chedgzoy and Linda
Anderson’s determination to create a place for children’s literature in the
School of English, there would have been no book. My mother, Bobbie
Griffith, and Mary Nyman, from the Westbrook Library in Connecticut, were
tireless unpaid research assistants. David Rudd read, commented on and care-
fully corrected the final manuscript.
This book has grown out of several years of teaching and research. Many
colleagues and students – not least those at the National Centre for
Research in Children’s Literature and the MA in Children’s Literature at
Roehampton University – have contributed to the thinking it contains at
various stages. There is not space to mention them all by name, but some
have played a particularly important part in this book’s genesis and I want
to thank them for their time, companionship and unfailing interest in chil-
dren’s literature. Special thanks, then, to Noga Applebaum, Laura Atkins,
Sandra Beckett, Clare Bradford, the Children’s Literature UK ListServ,
Valerie Coghlan, Nadia Crandall, Marie Derrien, Alison Evans, Michele
Gill, Susan Hancock, Vanessa Joosen, Gillian Lathey, Tomoko Masaki,
Kathy Meyer, Okiko Miyake, the NorChilNet group – both students and
leaders–Lisa Oakden, Emer O’Sullivan, Lissa Paul, Pat Pinsent, Lisa
Sainsbury, Liz Thiel and Akiko Yamazaki. Lynne Vallone was great at
making sure it got written!
Finally, Paula Kennedy, my Editor at Palgrave, has been a steady support
throughout. I appreciate her belief in the project and her efforts in helping it
take shape.
ix