• Considers how children's literature has helped to shape and direct ideas about culture, society and childhood
• Looks at different types of children's literature from picture books and explicit young adult fiction to computer games and eBooks
• Raises questions about the future of children's literature; what shape should it take?
• Ideal starting point for anyone studying children's literature, or who is simply interested in understanding why it is so popular with students, and why adults are now reading children's books
• Explores the crossover with adult fiction, considering how far negative depictions of the future for children may contribute to a lack of social vision

 
Children's literature takes many forms - works adapted for children in antiquity, picture books and pop-ups - and now includes the latest online games and eBooks. This vast and amorphous subject is both intimately related to other areas of literary and cultural investigation but also has its own set of concerns, issues and challenges. 

From familiar authors including Beatrix Potter and Roald Dahl, classic books such as Pooh, Alice in Wonderland, and The Secret Garden, to modern works including Harry Potter and the Twilight series, thisVery Short Introduction provides an overview of the history of children's literature as it has developed in English, whilst at the same time introducing key debates, developments, and figures in the field.

Raising questions about what shape the future of literature for children should take, and exploring the crossover with adult fiction, Reynolds shows that writing for children - whether on page or screen - has participated in shaping and directing ideas about culture, society and childhood.