Books Received
Buy Issue for $25 at JHUP- Books Received
Classic Animal Stories. Edited by Sally Grindley. New York: Kingfisher, 2008.
This collection consists of sixteen animal stories by such authors as Joy Adamson, Betsy Byars, Joel Chandler Harris, Rudyard Kipling, and Oscar Wilde. The collection includes both realistic and fantasy stories. Sally Grindley provides an informative headnote for each story.
Critical Perspectives on Harry Potter. 2nd ed. Edited by Elizabeth E. Heilman. New York and London: Routledge, 2009.
Since the publication of the first edition of this book in 2003, J. K. Rowling has completed her famous Harry Potter series. In recognition of this development, Elizabeth Heilman has updated this collection of scholarly essays on the Harry Potter phenomenon. The collection consists of eighteen chapters, which are organized into the following four sections: Perspectives on Identity and Morality; Critical and Sociological Perspectives; Literacy Elements and Interpretations; and Cultural Studies and Media Perspectives.
The Japanification of Children's Popular Culture: From Godzilla to Miyazaki. Edited by Mark I. West. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2009.
The contributors to this volume discuss how Japanese trends and cultural products have had a major impact on children's popular culture in America. Among the nineteen contributors, several are well known in the field of children's literature studies, including Jan Susina, Rieko Okuhara, and Nathalie op de Beeck.
A Picture Book Primer: Understanding and Using Picture Books. By Denise I. Matulka. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 2008.
As Denise Matulka states in her introduction, her goal in writing this book is to "help readers better understand what picture books are, how they evolved over time, what elements they are composed of, how they are designed and made, and some of the issues involved in using picture books with readers" (xv). She more than accomplishes this goal. Her discussion of the art terms and techniques related to picture books is especially helpful for readers who approach picture [End Page 65]books from more of a literary rather than an artistic background.
Summer Reading Renaissance: An Interactive Exhibits Approach. By Rita Solton. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 2008.
Intended primarily for librarians and media specialists who run summer reading programs for children, this guidebook provides practical guidelines for creating interactive centers designed to encourage children to read. Rita Solton draws on ideas from the museum world to come up with exhibits that far transcend the traditional bulletin boards used in libraries of yesteryear. [End Page 66]
