Peter Hunt

Passionately enjoyed as much by the young as by adults, children's literature is a vital part of Western culture. Attracting increasing scholarly attention, its indelible influences on most people's psyche attest to its widespread importance. Well-known for his work in the field, Peter Hunt here offers a history of children's literature--primarily British, although including American and other works as well--along with an assessment of its literary, sociological, and pedagogical roles. In addition, Hunt looks at the uses to which children's literature is put, the claims that are made for it, and the difference between children's and adults' ways of reading.

An Introduction to Children's Literature

Dennis Butts

Perhaps it is just something that comes with age or perhaps with reading the same stories over and over and over again to younger ears, but one starts to notice little things that grow to bother you. Be it unresolved subplots, inexplicable escapes or apparent glaring oversights.

And Twenty-six Other Mysteries of Children's Literature

How Did Long John Silver Lose His Leg?

An eclectic, extensively illustrated history of children's literature in English journeys from early hornbooks and classical translations, through nonsense rhymes and fairy tales, to present-day multimedia comic books and computer-based interactive adventures. UP.

An Illustrated History

Children's Literature

Criticism, Theory, and Children's Literature

Wie alles begann

Die Erfindung von Alice im Wunderland

International Companion Encyclopedia of Children's Literature

A collection of short, lively and often amusing essays on various problem and mysteries about children’s literature, raising serious as well as light-hearted issues which will appeal to the general readers as well as the scholar.

Why Was Billy Bunter Never Really Expelled?

This practical guide provides a comprehensive and inviting introduction to English-language children's literature from the eighteenth-century to 2000. The book opens with a discussion of the often controversial theory and history of this influential and entertaining subject, and explores the ways in which it can be approached. The Guide includes: * Detailed critical surveys of the work of forty major authors, from Mrs Sherwood to J. K. Rowling, Louisa May Alcott to Dr Seuss, Mary Grant Bruce to Margaret Mahy, and Quentin Blake to Ted Hughes. * Studies of over twenty key texts, placing each in its historical and generic context: books include the pioneering A Little Pretty Pocket Book (1744), classics such as Tom Brown's Schooldays, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and Seven Little Australians, modern classics from The Hobbit and C. S. Lewis's 'Narnia' books, to Charlotte's Web and Harriet the Spy, as well as influential translations, such as Emil and the Detectives. * Discussion of important issues, themes and genres, including censorship, postcolonialism, fantasy, gender, illustration, and literacy. All of the entries are supported by up-to-date critical bibliographies. Children's Literature offers a helpful and inspiring foundation for further study, and will be an essential resource for students from disciplines as varied as literature, history, education, cultural studies, and the general reader.

Millicent Lenz

This book provides an illuminating guide to literature that creates alternative worlds for young readers. Focusing on the work of Ursula Le Guin, Terry Pratchett and Philip Pullman, the book considers both the genre of 'alternative worlds' and the distinctiveness of these authors' texts, including Philip Pullman's The Amber Sypglass.

Alternative Worlds in Fantasy Fiction

After the success of How Did Long John Silver Lose His Leg?, Dennis Butts and Peter Hunt take their forensic lenses to more mysteries that have troubled readers of children's books over the centuries. Their questions range from the historical to the philosophical, some of which are puzzling, some of which are controversial: Why does it seem there are no Nursery Rhymes before 1744? Why did God start to die in children's books long before Nietzsche noticed it? Why are the schoolgirls at Enid Blyton's St Clare's so horrible? Why are there so many dead parents littering children's books? Why does C.S. Lewis annoy so many people? Why Was Billy Bunter Never Really Expelled? also reveals how an elephant captures Adolph Hitler, who was Biggles's great love, and whose side G.A. Henty was on in the American Civil War, and delivers a plethora of erudite, entertaining answers to questions that you may not have thought of asking. And notably, of course, it explains why William George Bunter, the Fat Owl of the Remove, was never permanently removed from Greyfriars School.

and another Twenty-Five Mysteries of Children's Literature

'How did Long John Silver Lose His Leg?' is a diverting tour through some of the bestloved classics of children's literature, addressing many of the unanswered questions that inspire intense speculation when the books are laid down. Could Bobbie's train really have stopped in time ('The Railway Children')? Did Beatrix Potter have the 'flu in 1909, and did this lead to a certain darkness in her work ('The Tale of Mr Tod')? Would the 'rugby football' played by Tom Brown be recognised by sportsmen today ('Tom Brown's Schooldays')? The authors speculate entertainingly and informatively on the anomalies and unexplained phenomena found in children's literature and, having established the cultural importance of children's books in the modern age, also consider the more serious issues raised by the genre. Why are we so defensive of the idyllic worlds presented in children's books? Why have some of our best-loved authors been outed as neglectful parents to their own children? Should we everseparate the book from its creator and appreciate the works of writers convicted of crimes against children? A treat for any enthusiast of children's literature, two of the most distinguished writers on the subject provide rich detail, witty explication, and serious food for thought.

and Twenty-Six Other Mysteries of Children's Literature

How Did Long John Silver Lose his Leg

J.R.R. Tolkien is arguably the most influential and popular of all fantasy writers. Although his position and status have long been controversial, his popularity has not faded. His best-loved works, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, have sold millions of copies around the world and continue to enthral readers young and old. This lively collection of original essays examines The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings in the light of children's literature theory and approaches, as well as from adult and fantasy literature perspectives. Exploring issues such as gender, language, worldbuilding, and ecocriticism, the volume also places Tolkien's works in the context of a range of visual media, including Peter Jackson's film adaptations.

J.R.R. Tolkien

The pilot of a U.S. Navy A-6 Intruder offers a compelling, firsthand account of Desert Storm from the perspective of his missions in the air over the Persian Gulf. Original.

An A-6 Intruder Pilot's War

Angles of Attack

From the carrier launch in total darkness to the gut-dropping rolls through enemy antiaircraft fire, Peter Hunt puts you in the pilot's seat for the flight of your life.Moments after the first Gulf War began, attack pilot Pete Hunt was catapulted into the night sky from the deck of the USS Ranger. For the next six weeks, Hunt executed dozens of bombing missions into Kuwait and Iraq, including all-weather low-level attacks, A-6 Intruder missions so hazardous that they would never be flown in combat again. Whether Hunt was dropping laser-guided bombs on precision targets, supporting the Marines on the ground, or conducting attacks along the infamous “highway of death,” America's mission was clear – to force the invading Iraqi army out of Kuwait.Operation Desert Storm - America's first full-scale conflict since Vietnam - proved to the world that the U.S. military was still battle-ready after decades of Cold War and set the stage for military interventions for years to come. Hunt's gripping depiction of A-6 Intruders in combat is a thought provoking account of what America asks of her military every day.This…Gulf War memoir is excellent; it really does put the reader in the cockpit...Peter Hunt's enthusiastic account is one of the best of the type this reviewer has read in recent years. Peter Mersky, The Hook – Journal of Carrier Aviation Book Review, February 2003.

Senior Lecturer in English and Children's Literature Peter Hunt

Arthur Ransome

This book challenges conventional opinion by arguing that slaves and Helots played an important part in classical Greek warfare. Although rival city-states often used these classes in their own forces or tried to incite their enemies' slaves to rebellion or desertion, such recruitment was ideologically awkward: slaves or Helots, despised and oppressed classes, should have had no part in the military service so closely linked with citizenship, with rule, and even with an individual's basic worth. Consequently, their participation has tended to drop out of the historical record. Focusing on Herodotus, Thucydides, and Xenophon, this study attempts to demonstrate the actual role played by slaves and Helots in warfare, the systematic neglect of the subject by these historians, and the ideologies motivating this reticence.

Slaves, Warfare, and Ideology in the Greek Historians

The International Companion Encyclopedia answers these questions and provides comprehensive coverage of children's literature from a wide range of perspectives. Over 80 substantial essays by world experts include Iona Opie on the oral tradition, Gillian Avery on family stories and Michael Rosen on audio, TV and other media. The Companion covers a broad range of topics, from the fairy tale to critical theory, from the classics to comics. Structure The Companion is divided into five sections: 1) Theory and Critical Approaches 2) Types and Genres 3) The Context of Children's Literature 4) Applications of Children's Literature 5) The World of Children's Literature Each essay is followed by references and suggestions for further reading. The volume is fully indexed.

Analyzes the work within the context of author Kenneth Grahame's changing English society, and discusses its dual appeal to children and adults

A Fragmented Arcadia

The Wind in the Willows

Laura Tosi

"The Alice and Pinocchio stories connected to a worldwide audience almost like folktales and fairy tales and became fixtures of postmodernism. This comparative reading explores their imagery and history, and through literary criticism and author biographies, and discusses them in the broader context of British and Italian children's stories"--

Peter Hunt

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