Don't Tell the Grown-Ups: The Subversive Power of Children's Literature [Paperback]

Alison Lurie (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 20, 1998

In sixteen spirited essays, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Alison Lurie, who is also one of our wittiest and most astute cultural commentators, explores the world of children's literature--from Lewis Carroll to Dr. Seuss, Mark Twain to Beatrix Potter--and shows that the best-loved children's books tend to challenge rather than uphold respectable adult values.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

While not a comprehensive history of the unorthodox in children's books, the 16 essays collected here (some from the New York Review of Books and Children's Literature ) do offer witty and illuminating insights into the classics they explore. Chapters on folktales, Greenaway, Nesbit, Barrie, and Milne are especially rich. Lurie may win new readers for Shardik , T.H. White, and William Mayne. Essays on Mrs. Clifford's and F.M. Ford's little-known stories unconvincingly stretch the "subversive" to include these writers' very private, and even unbalanced, use of unconventional material, while Chapters 3 and 4, on adult books, have crept in on a subversive mission of their own. Although the theme announced in the subtitle is not so strong a unifying thread as one might wish, the book is worth having for its careful, reasonably feminist, and often fascinating readings of some enduring texts.
- Patricia Dooley, Univ. of Washington Lib. Sch., Seattle
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Back Bay Books (July 20, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316246255
• ISBN-13: 978-0316246255
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.8 x 8.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #400,673 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars solid examination of classic children's literature, October 7, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Don't Tell the Grown-Ups: The Subversive Power of Children's Literature (Paperback)

In this excellent overview, Lurie points out the subtle ways that many classic children's authors such as Barrie, Burnett, Milne, Nesbit, and Carroll embedded social criticism within their stories. Lurie has a smooth, intelligent style, and a refreshing dry wit that sets this book apart from much literary criticism. My only complaint is that I would have preferred a bit more focus on the subversive texts themselves, rather than on the life stories of their authors; but then, I'm not too fond of biographical criticism as a whole. All in all, highly recommended.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What your child should read and why....., December 8, 2001

By 

LeBoucher (Paris, France) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Don't Tell the Grown-Ups: The Subversive Power of Children's Literature (Paperback)

A collection of essays - in some ways uneven - covering a wide range of children's literature and so-called children's authors. The biographies are intriguing and combined with Ms Luries's wit and scholarship, the book makes for an excellent introduction to the theme.
The word "subversive" in the title may be a little misleading - "the great books that bridge the gap between infant reading and adult reading" might be a better title but not nearly as catchy!

8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good children book author = crazy?, April 12, 2003

By 

"cpiy" (Chicago) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Don't Tell the Grown-Ups: The Subversive Power of Children's Literature (Paperback)

After reading this book, one might think that to be a good children book writer, one needs to be somewhat disfunctional in adult society!
All the chapters in the book are very interesting, with biographical data about the authors themselves. This book also introduces many classic children book titles, some of which I read later and enjoyed.
Lurie's remarks are always very intelligent and realistic, and it is a pleasure to read her commentary. The purpose of the book is not to tell which books are subversive, nor which books you should buy for your children. Instead it says which titles have survived through the ages and continue to be popular among children, even if they are somewhat dated, and some of the author's explanations as for why.