Only Connect: Readings on Children's Literature [Paperback]

Sheila Egoff (Editor), Gordon Stubbs (Editor), Ralph Ashley (Editor), Wendy Sutton (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 18, 1996 | ISBN-10: 0195410246 | ISBN-13: 978-0195410242 | Edition: 3

First published in 1969, Only Connect is widely accepted as an essential volume for everyone concerned with children's and young adults' literature. This new edition offers a new selection of more than 40 essays and brief studies on history and criticism, literary standards, changing tastes, science fiction, young adult literature, fantasy, the problem novel, racism, and sexism. None of the articles have been featured in either of the previous two editions. Among the essayists are Joan Aiken, Margaret Mahy, P.L. Travers, Perry Nodelman, Brian Attebery, John Rowe Townsend, Myra Cohn Livingston, Peter Hunt, and Jane Yolen. Its assembled learning, common sense, and wit are certain to help librarians, authors, critics, and parents "connect" with children's literature, and thus with the children themselves.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Sheila Egoff is the author of Thursday's Child: Trends and Patterns of Contemporary Children's Literature and Worlds Within: Children's Fantasy from the Middle Ages to Today and co-author (with Judith Saltman) of The New Republic of Childhood: A Critical Guide to Canadian Children's Literature in English. She is Professor Emerita of the School of Librarianship, University of British Columbia. G.T. Stubbs, L.F. Ashley and Wendy Sutton are professors in the Faculty of Education, University of British Columbia

Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 3 edition (April 18, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195410246
• ISBN-13: 978-0195410242
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,208,609 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thought-Provoking Essays, February 13, 2004

By 

cammykitty "cammykitty" (Minneapolis, MN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Only Connect: Readings on Children's Literature (Paperback)

Only Connect is a well chosen group of essays that represent most of the facets of children's literature, from picture books to young adults, from the authors' impressions to the literary critics.

Since there isn't a lot of information on this site about this book, I'll go into detail. The first section "Books and Children" includes a variety of general essays ranging from the importance of literature to children to specific archetypes/motifs that show up in children's writing. The plums of this section are John Daniel Stahl's "The imaginitive Uses of Secrecy in Children's Literature" and Tim Wynne-Jones "An Eye for Thresholds." You won't look at setting the same way again after reading these.

This is followed by 3 sections "Myth and Folklore," "Fantasy" and "Science Fiction." P.L. Travers "Unknown Childhood" is a very mythic essay that will get you thinking about what all those fairy tales actually do for the listener. Margaret Mahy's essay reveals in brief how she develops ideas. Tamora Pierce's essay on "Fantasy: Why kids read it, Why Kids Need it" describes the special quality of YA readers to a T. This essay breaths life into the genre. Terry Pratchett's "Let there be dragons" is a good overview on science fiction, and a good laugh too.

Then there is a section on Poetry, including an essay by the widely acclaimed XJ Kennedy, a section on Picture Books which ranges from Uri Shulevits' "What is a Picture Book" to David Lewis's "The Constructedness of Texts: Picture Books and the Metafictive." Ha ha! Take that you post-modernists! Children's books have had characters popping out of the pages and ripping through their own illustrations for years.

Then there are three essays on Gender Relations. Brian Attebery's "Women's Coming of Age in Fantasy" is definitely food for thought to anyone trying to plot a modern young adult book. Next is you guessed it, a section on YA literature. The Adolescent Novel of Ideas" by Peter Hollindale which talks both about realistic fiction and speculative fiction. Here's a quote to think on "The adolescent novel of ideas is marked at its best by the logic, spaciousness, and lack of compromise of its 'what if's'."

Then the book concludes with "Recent Trends and Overviews" which includes a healthy debate on the use of children's literature for certain agendas, censorship and the publishing industry. Katherine Patterson's essay is very candid, and covers both the creative process and what it is to write historical fiction. It is followed by a very sweet and short piece by Margaret Atwood.

So, if you are interested in Children's Literature, there's enough variety here I'm sure you can find something that interests you.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Only Connect, February 13, 2011

By 

Lisa - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Only Connect: Readings on Children's Literature (Paperback)

Interesting application into the many context of education and those in need of special services.

Reinforces the fact that it may be dangerous to teach as we were taught and that we have to be flexible to meet students at the door step of their learning.