The Child and the Book
A Psychological and Literary Exploration

The author's acute criticism offers a balanced view of a stimulating and sometimes controversial subject.

Nicholas Tucker (Author)

9780521398350, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 13 September 1990

272 pages
21.5 x 13.6 x 2.3 cm, 0.33 kg

Children's responses to literature are equally fascinating from the psychological and the literary point of view. Nicholas Tucker's exploratory study traces the relationship between the child and the book using both these perspectives, from the baby's first picture book to the moment when the adolescent reader takes up adult literature. In addition, it examines critically arguments for extra care and censorship in the selection of books for children, and conversely looks at what children's books can offer the adult reader. Ranging from nursery rhymes and fairy stories to comics, popular best-sellers and modern children's writing, the author's acute criticism offers a balanced view of a stimulating and sometimes controversial subject.

Acknowledgements
Introduction
1. First books (ages 0-3)
2. Story and picture books (ages 3-7)
3. Fairy stories, myths and legends
4. Early fiction (ages 7-11)
5. Juvenile comics (ages 7-11)
6. Literature for older children (ages 11-14)
7. Selection, censorship and control
8. Who reads children's books?
Notes
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Popular psychology [VSP], Child & developmental psychology [JMC], Literary theory [DSA]