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The Canonical Status of Children’s Book Authors: The Self-Image of Dutch Children’s Writers since the 1990s
- Bookbird: A Journal of International Children's Literature
- Johns Hopkins University Press
- Volume 52, Number 4, 2014
- pp. 45-57
- 10.1353/bkb.2014.0127
- Article
- Additional Information
The literary emancipation of children’s literature which started in the 1990s has slightly improved the canonical status of children’s authors. On the basis of a case-study of Dutch children’s book writers this article argues that this small step forward towards external literary recognition is paralleled by more self-confidence and self-esteem among the authors themselves. Evidence is found in the writers’ acknowledgement of the importance of children’s books as part of the literary system.