Children's Literature: A Course for Adults

Delve into the origins and evolution of nursery rhymes, exploring possible historical references from Mary, quite contrary, to Humpty Dumpty, and how these rhymes blend history, morality, and entertainment.

Discover how nursery rhymes reflect history and culture, from 16th–18th century origins, Mary Cooper and John Newbery publishing, to Mother Goose, censorship, and global spread.

Explore the origins and spread of fairy tales and folk tales. Trace German roots, shifting endings from dark to hopeful, and discuss archetypal motifs and audiences across adults and children.

Explore the Grimms brothers' fairy tales, from the 1812 'Children and Household Tales' and their shaping of the fairy tale genre while preserving the oral tradition.

Explore Hans Christian Andersen, a major victorian-era children's writer who authored 156 fairy tales across nine volumes, blending child appeal with adult insight.

Examine how Walt Disney reshaped fairy tales, changing tone and endings to suit modern sensibilities, with key comparisons of The Little Mermaid, Snow White, and Frozen.

Follow the little mermaid as she trades her voice for human legs to win a prince, confronts the sea witch, and ends with dawn and bubbles on the sea.

Discover how Victorian children's literature emerged as a distinct genre amid child labor and education reforms. The lecture places Alice's Adventures in Wonderland within this shift toward playful, imaginative tales.

Explore Lewis Carroll (Charles Dodgson), a mathematician, photographer, and author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking Glass, Jabberwocky, and The Hunting of the Snark.

Explore Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, and how they helped end didactic children's literature, spark fantasy, and inspire art, film, and poems.

Explore reading Alice's adventures in Wonderland, tracing her changing size, puzzling language, and encounters with the White Rabbit as she navigates a surreal, playful world.

Frances Hodgson Burnett, an Anglo-American novelist and playwright, wrote Little Lord Fauntleroy, A Little Princess, and the Secret Garden. Her life spanned poverty, prolific publishing, and evolving beliefs.

Examine uncomfortable elements in The Secret Garden, including racism and ableism, and assess how to address colonial attitudes and disability depictions in classic children's literature.

Read about Mary Lennox's early life and isolation at Misselthwaite Manor in a reading from The Secret Garden, detailing a cholera outbreak and her parentless beginnings.

An excerpt from the Wind in the Willows follows a mole abandoning whitewash to answer spring in a sunlit meadow, discovering the holiday's best part is watching others work.

Explore the life of Kenneth Graham, creator of The Wind in the Willows and The Reluctant Dragon, from Edinburgh roots and a Bank of England career to his literary legacy.

Discover anthropomorphism, assigning human traits to non-human entities in children's literature. See Wind in the Willows and Peter Rabbit illustrate animals exchanging dialogue and teaching moral lessons.

Explore the pioneer of merchandising and the role of illustrations in children's literature, focusing on Beatrix Potter and the bunny character connected to a student named Peter.

Explore Peter Rabbit in this reading, discovering the illustrations and following Peter's adventures as he navigates Mr. McGregor's garden, dodges danger, and returns home.

Explore Beatrix Potter’s pioneering blend of storytelling and merchandising as a children’s author and illustrator, and her role as a natural scientist and conservationist shaping the National Trust in Lakeland.

Explore Beatrix Potter's iconic illustrations, from precise observational drawing and anatomical accuracy to anthropomorphism and watercolor style, and trace her pioneering merchandising of Peter Rabbit.

Listen to a reading from Anne of Green Gables that traces Anne's history from childhood in Bolingbroke to her reflections on names, romance, and buried hopes.

Explore Lucy Maud Montgomery's journey from Prince Edward Island childhood to a prolific writer behind Anne of Green Gables, shaped by gender expectations and personal trials.

Explore why Anne Shirley endures as a beloved female protagonist, tracing her evolution from an orphaned girl to a resilient teacher and mother across the Anne of Green Gables series.

Read from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, chapter one, as the March sisters face poverty, practice sacrifice, and strengthen family bonds during a hard winter.

Explore Louisa May Alcott, abolitionist and feminist author of Little Women, rooted in American Transcendentalism, who nursed in the Civil War and helped found the Women's Educational and Industrial Union.

Explore how Jo March parallels Louisa May Alcott, highlighting autobiographical echoes, tomboyish traits, and writing drive within Little Women, while considering marriage, independence, and the Alcotts’ finances.

Explore why Little Women endures as a literary and pop culture phenomenon, highlighting Jo March as an unconventional heroine, the sisters' ambitions, and the family drama and women's roles.

Enid Blyton built a prolific, marketing-driven children's literature empire with classics like the Famous Five and Malory Towers, while facing criticism for racism, sexism, and xenophobia.

Discover Noddy’s early toyland adventures in the naughty books, with postwar illustrators van der Beek and Vink, and the court ruling that Noddy is a toy.

Explore the famous five by Enid Blyton, featuring Julian, George, Dick, Anne, and Timmy in summer adventures with criminals and lost treasure.