Children's Literature and Imaginative Geography

Where do children travel when they read a story? In this collection, scholars and authors explore the imaginative geography of a wide range of places, from those of Indigenous myth to the fantasy worlds of Middle-earth, Earthsea, or Pacificus, from the semi-fantastic Wild Wood to real-world places like Canada’s North, Chicago’s World Fair, or the modern urban garden.

What happens to young protagonists who explore new worlds, whether fantastic or realistic? What happens when Old World and New World myths collide? How do Indigenous myth and sense of place figure in books for the young? How do environmental or post-colonial concerns, history, memory, or even the unconscious affect an author's creation of place? How are steampunk and science fiction mythically re-enchanting for children?

Imaginative geography means imaged earth writing: it creates what readers see when they enter the world of fiction. Exploring diverse genres for children, including picture books, fantasy, steampunk, and realistic novels as well as plays from Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Ireland from the early nineteenth century to the present, Children’s Literature and Imaginative Geography provides new geographical perspectives on children’s literature.

Our present-day awareness of the environment and its fragility has fostered a keen interest in the study of geography in fiction

geographical approach new to the study of children’s literature

puts Canadian children’s literature on the international stage

makes clear both the hopefulness and beauty of imaginative geography in children's literature and engenders environmental appreciation both in the world of fiction and in our own world
Contributors
Deirdre F. Baker, University of Toronto, ON
Christine Bolus-Reichert, University of Toronto, ON
Alan Cumyn, writer, Ottawa, ON
Petra Fachinger, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON
Joanne Findon, Trent University, Peterborough, ON
Colleen Franklin, (retired), Nipissing University, North Bay, ON
Heather Fitzsimmons Frey, York University, Toronto, ON
Monika B. Hilder, Trinity Western University, Langley, BC
Margot Hillel, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, Australia
Aïda Hudson, University of Ottawa, ON  
Peter Hynes, University of Saskatchewan, SK
Linda Knowles, independent scholar, Surrey, England
Meredith Lewis, independent scholar, Vermont, USA
Janet Lunn, writer, (d) Ottawa, ON
Shannon Murray, University of Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown, PEI
Cory Sampson, University of Ottawa, ON
Alan West, University of Ottawa, ON
Sarah Winters, Nipissing University, North Bay, ON
Melissa Li Sheung Ying, McEwan University, Edmonton, AB