English 228 - Children's Literature

Shapes speak to people. Prose shapes people. From the picture book to the chapter book, this course explores the ways in which literature for children invents the child reading that literature. The course attempts to break through the natural nostalgia for works students know to rediscover their innovative and experimental nature. In so doing, students see these works work their magic on themes that become familiar throughout the semester: identity, nostalgia, interiors and exteriors, authority, independence and dependence, and the nature of wild things. Works may include Peter Rabbit, Where the Wild Things Are, Winnie-the-Pooh, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Secret Garden and The Giver.