Blowing Our Own Horn Department

Coats, Karen The Bloomsbury Introduction to Children’s and Young Adult Literature. Bloomsbury, 2017 441p
Library ed. ISBN 978-1-4725-7554-8 $102.00
Paper ed. ISBN 978-1-4725-7553-1 $33.95

Karen Coats, professor of English at Illinois State University and longtime Bulletin reviewer, published The Bloomsbury Introduction to Children’s and Young Adult Literature in November. Topics include genres and forms ranging from fiction to poetry to graphic novels to picture books, and each chapter ends with an “Extending Your Study” section, with suggestions for reading, writing, and discussion as well as essays from prominent scholars and writers of children’s and YA literature. Coats also looks at the history of childhood and adolescence, the way our perception regarding childhood has changed over time, and various theoretical approaches. The final chapter is dedicated to guidance on studying literature for youth. A glossary, academic references, and an index are included.