As a child god from Chinese legends, the figure of Nezha has a strong appeal to children, and his story has been adapted to various media. This article examines Nezha's image in three animated films, exploring how this figure has been altered to represent Chinese children and youth and symbolize their subjectivity. From a revolutionary hero to a…

The aim of this article is to trace the literary historiography of the Bengali "rupkatha" or the fairy tale. It is a conscious decision to use the two terms--"rupkatha" and fairy tale interchangeably in the paper because it has been argued that the genre of the Bengali "rupkatha" received its shape and form in…

Story Makers Press (SMP) is a University-based publisher which co-constructs stories with under-represented groups of children in order to diversify representation in children's literature and disrupt the way adult perceptions of normality pattern children's literature (aetonormativity). In this paper we analyse six drama and creative writing…

This article analyses the role of plants in three well publicised Nordic climate fictions for young adults: "Memories of Water" by Emmi Itäranta, originally published in 2012, "The World According to Anna" (2013) by Jostein Gaarder, and "Bouvetøya 2052" (2015) by Lars Maehle. Departing from the wider scholarly field…

This paper reads the U.K. Government's "fundamental British values" project alongside two children's Gothic novels, "Coram Boy" (2000) by Jamila Gavin and "City of Ghosts" (2009) by Bali Rai. In 2011 the U.K. Government outlined what it described as "fundamental British values" (FBV), making it a requirement…

Aidan Chambers' "Breaktime" (1978) is famous for its unique narrative style and sexual content. This focus has obscured another significant aspect of the novel: the role of social class in "Breaktime" and Chambers' working-class background have rarely been explored. Chambers was an example of what Richard Hoggart calls…

Before Charlie Chan and Fu Manchu became household names, San Francisco-born detective Mr. Wang and his rival Jugatai, the Manchu head of the Secret Society of Federated Asia, entertained young British readers in the early twentieth century. This article examines these under-explored characters, created by the prolific military…

This article considers Guillermo Del Toro's "Pan's Labyrinth" as a text which utilises key codes and conventions of children's literature as a means of encountering the trauma of Fascism. The article begins by placing "Pan's Labyrinth" at a contextual crossroads involving fairy tale and a Spanish cinematic tradition and…

This article examines the verse-novel, a genre that has gained some prominence in children's fiction in the last ten years. Reasons why this may be so are suggested and the chief evolving characteristics of the genre in both content and style are discussed. Notable examples of the verse-novel from Australia, the USA and the UK are analysed.…

Discusses the creation of "The Encyclopaedia of School Stories," a two-volume reference work on the much-loved but much-derided genre of school stories (with their single-sex cast and emphasis on values like honor, loyalty, and playing the game). Describes the origins of the project, and some of the decisions and experiences of the team…

Discusses the difficult and painstaking process of researching the lives of the writers of girls' school stories for "The Encyclopaedia of School Stories," published in the summer 2000. Notes that frequently, very little was known about the authors, and often existing information was inaccurate. Offers details of the encyclopaedia and…

Discusses Jean Fritz's book "Homesick" as a work of art on the borderline between biography and fiction. Suggests young readers should be provided accurate historical knowledge in order to (1) understand the characters' emotions and experiences, and (2) prevent traditional misconceptions from being perpetuated. (NH)