The Norton Anthology of Childrens Literature

The Norton Anthology of Children’s Literature brings together the work of 170 writers and illustrators, tracing the historical development of genres and traditions over 350 years of children’s literature in English. Drawing on new scholarship exploring the social and cultural contexts of children’s literature, this flexible core anthology provides a teachable collection for a wide range of courses—the historical survey and period courses; theme- or topic-based courses; and interdisciplinary courses.

Complete Works—the Best Value for Students

The Norton Anthology of Children’s Literature includes over 40 longer works in their entirety, from The New England Primer to Robert Louis Stevenson’s A Child’s Garden of Verses (one of 9 poetry collections whose texts are included complete); from Mildred Taylor’s prize-winning novel of an African American childhood, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, to David Macaulay’s picture book BAAA. In addition to these longer works, over 40 complete shorter works are also included, providing instructors even greater choice and flexibility.

The Visual Tradition

Giving full representation to the central role of images in children’s literature, this visually striking anthology includes over 400 images, with 60 in full color. These images range from facsimiles of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century alphabets, primers, and chapbooks—many heretofore available only in rare book collections—to selections from nineteenth- and twentieth-century comics and picture books.

Unprecedented Attention to Historical Contexts

The Norton Anthology of Children’s Literature breaks new ground in its attention to the pivotal roles played by religion, domestic culture, education philosophy and policy, literacy, publishing, and perceptions of race, class, and gender, among other topics, in shaping children’s literature and childhood itself. Section introductions, headnotes, a historical timeline, and special "Texts and Contexts" sections reflect recent research in these topics.

Likewise, the anthology pays deserved attention to historically important genres and forms such as alphabets, chapbooks and primers, and readers, as well as often-neglected ones such as comics and science fiction.

Flexible and Teachable Organization

To give instructors flexible teaching clusters within the chronological flow of the volume, The Norton Anthology of Children’s Literature is organized by form and genre, with works arranged chronologically within each section. Each section includes a "core" text or texts—frequently taught works that are included complete—supported by "satellite" texts—shorter or excerpted works that can be taught as complements or counterpoints. This structure encourages students to draw connections among forms and genres as they developed over time.

Helpful Editorial Apparatus

This anthology provides section introductions and author headnotes that are concise yet thorough; annotations that are explanatory, not interpretive; and bibliographies selected for student readers. A timeline of children’s literature places the works in cultural and literary context.

Student Web Site

The Student Web Site includes self-grading review quizzes, a rich bank of annotated web resources for study and research, a timeline, and public domain images from the anthology.

Teaching with The Norton Anthology of Children’s Literature: A Guide for Instructors

A valuable tool for building courses using The Norton Anthology of Children’s Literature, the Course Guide includes Goals and Key Questions; Suggested Readings for Thematic and Interdisciplinary Courses; discussions of each author or text, including lists of themes, characteristics, teaching strategies and questions, and a bibliography focused on pedagogic articles; essay topics and exam questions; and a multimedia resource list.

Norton Resource Library

Instructor resources in the Norton Resource Library include downloadable, customizable versions of the Course Guide and the timeline from the anthology as well as annotated links to pedagogic resources (sample syllabi, critical essays, bibliographies, archival texts and images) and professional resources.