photo of stacks (lower floor)

Canadian Literature & Poetry
in English

Children’s Literature

Encyclopedias

The Oxford Handbook of Canadian Literature Sugars, Cynthia, editor A comprehensive, authoritative guide to many different genres, topics, and aspects of Canadian literary history, including children’s literature.
The Republic of Childhood: A Critical Guide to Canadian Children’s Literature in English Egoff, Sheila A. A collection of critical essays, which are organized by genres and topics in Canadian children’s fiction and nonfiction: oral tradition, Inuit and Indigenous stories, folktales, fantasy, historical fiction, the realistic animal story, history and biography, poetry and plays, illustration and design, picture books and picture storybooks, and early Canadian children’s books. Each essay traces the development of the genre or subject and is accompanied by a list of books, published up to the mid-1970s. Second edition.

Bibliographies

Bibliography of Canadian Bibliographies Ingles, Ernie et al., editors The section entitled “Arts and Humanities” includes a list of bibliographies on children’s literature. A comprehensive and exhaustive bibliography of published bibliographies.

History, Literary Interpretation & Criticism

Home Words: Discourses of Children’s Literature in Canada Reimer, Mavis, editor The edited volume explores the idea of “home” through the issues of exile, immigration, homelessness, land use, the impact of imperialism, and other topics in the history and intrepretation of Canadian children’s books. The analysis is rooted in the interdisciplinary approach to children’s literature.
From Nursery Rhymes to Nationhood: Children’s Literature and the Construction of Canadian Identity Galway, Elizabeth A. Studies children’s literature published between 1867 and 1911 in the context of the emergence of the Canadian national identity and nationalism. Topics that Galway explores are the depictions of history, French Canadians, and Indigenous Peoples in children’s books, regionalism, landscape, environment, and others.
From Colonial to Modern: Transnational Girlhood in Canadian, Australian, and New Zealand Children’s Literature, 1840–1940 Smith, Michelle J., et al., editors Through a comparison of Canadian, Australian, and New Zealand texts published between 1840 and 1940, the editors develop a new history of colonial girlhoods revealing how girlhood in each of these emerging nations reflects a unique political, social, and cultural context from the perspectives of print culture, the notions of girlhood throughout the British Empire, family, race, work, and education
Picturing Canada: A History of Canadian Children’s Illustrated Books and Publishing Edwards, Gail, and Judith Saltman Examines illustrated children’s books from geographical, historical, and cultural perspectives on the Canadian national identity, published between the 1890s to 2005. The authors also study the institutions and the professionals involved in the Canadian book writing, publishing, and reading, including authors, publishers, illustrators, editors, librarians, booksellers, and critics.
Only Connect: Readings on Children’s Literature Egoff, Sheila, editor Forty-eight known writers discuss all aspects of children’s literature and Egoff provides a synthesized critique of writing intended for children.

Anne of Green Gables

100 Years of Anne with an “e”: The Centennial Study of Anne of Green Gables Blackford, Holly, editor Analyzes the career of L.M. Montgomery, her writing practices, influence on Canadian fiction. Other topics included in the collection study the shifting views and definitions of childhood, domesticity, identity and place, Anne on film, and the aesthetic and cultural legacy of the novel.
Looking for Anne: How Lucy Maud Montgomery Dreamed Up a Literary Classic Gammel, Irene Part biography, part cultural history, the book studies the popular-culture images that inspired Montgomery and which she incorporated into the novel, such as religious newspapers, women’s magazines, advertisements, mass market periodicals, and other publications.
Anne Around the World: L.M. Montgomery and Her Classic Ledwell, Jane and Jean Mitchell, editors A collection of essays analyzing the reception and the enduring popularity of Anne of Green Gables internationally and the influence of Montgomery’ work on other authors. The essays critically examine the issues of class, race, gender, and colonial history, and discuss Anne’s place within the context of children’s world literature.

Journals

Jeunesse: Young People, Texts, Cultures University of Winnipeg Centre for Research in Young People’s Texts and Cultures Peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary, and international journal publishing research on cultural representations of children, including their depiction in children’s and young-adult literature.
Canadian Children’s Book News Canadian Children’s Book Centre A quarterly magazine publishing book reviews, author and illustrator interviews, profiles of publishers and bookstores, and news about children’s education and reading.

reviewed & updated 20 May 2021 | compiled by Agatha Barc, MI