Perry Nodelman

What happens when the assumptions and practices of museum curators and art educators intersect with the assumptions and practices of publishing for children?This study explores how over three hundred children’s picture books, most of them published in the last three decades in English, introduce children to art and art museums. It considers how the books emerge from and relate to a range of theories and assumptions about childhood and childhood development, children’s literature and culture, illustration, visual art, museology, and art education. As well as examining how these theories and assumptions influence what picture books teach young readers about visiting museums and about how to look at and think about art, it examines which artists and artworks appear most often in picture books and offers a survey of different kinds of art-related picture books: ones that claim to be purely informational, ones that make looking at art a game or a puzzle, ones in which children visit art museums, and many more. Since the books all include reproductions of or allusions to museum artworks, the study also considers the problems illustrators face in depicting museum artworks in illustrations in a different style.

A pioneering study of a unique narrative form, Words about Pictures examines the special qualities of picture books—books intended to educate or tell stories to young children. Drawing from a number of aesthetic and literary sources, Perry Nodelman explores the ways in which the interplay of the verbal and visual aspects of picture books conveys more narrative information and stimulation than either medium could achieve alone. Moving from "baby" books, alphabet books, and word books to such well-known children's picture books as Nancy Ekholm Burkert's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Gerald McDermott's Arrow to the Sun, Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are, and Chris Van Allsburg's The Garden of Abdul Gasazi, Nodelman reveals how picture-book narrative is affected by the exclusively visual information of picture-book design and illustration as well as by the relationships between pictures and their complementary texts.

This book is about the implications of novels for young readers that tell their stories by alternating between different narrative lines focused on different characters. It asks: if you make sense of fiction by identifying with one main character, how do you handle two or more of them? Do novels with alternating narratives diverge from longstanding conventions and represent a significant change in literature for young readers? If not, how do these novels manage to operate within the parameters of those conventions? This book considers answers to these questions by means of a series of close readings that explore the structural, educational and ideological implications of a variety of American, British, Canadian and Australian novels for children and for young adults.

Suddenly transported against their will, the Princess Lenora and her fianc , Prince Coren, find themselves in a strange place - bone-chilling cold and snow outside, garish marketplaces and angry people inside. The inhabitants call it the city of Winnipeg. Lenora and Coren, however, have no idea where it is or why they are there. They can't return home because, yet again, their imaginative powers have deserted them. The Winnipeggers refuse to believe Lenora and Coren are who they say they are. Strangely enough, though, they have read about Lenora and Coren in a series of fantasy novels by the authors Carol M. and Perry N. But just who created whom, Lenora and Coren wonder. And how will they ever manage to escape this frightening city, worse than their worst nightmare, so that their long-awaited wedding can finally take place?

"Changing the world was impossible. Creating another one was worse. And escape was out. She was trapped." A collaboration between acclaimed writers Carol Matas and Perry Nodelman, this roller coaster of an adventure is filled with twists and turns, excitement and fun. It is an extraordinary creative fantasy about empowerment that compels readers not to take everything at face value. "A spellbinding fantasy...proof positive that two heads are better than one." -SLJ Best Books of the Year "Strong...a solid fantasy about thinking for oneself, thinking other people's thoughts, and the power of the imagination." -Kirkus Reviews "Original, unpredictable...a kaleidoscope of character, cultures, and events that offers both entertainment and enrichment." -School Library Journal, starred review

Princess Lenora and Prince Coren are finally getting married at the court of Andilla, Coren's homeland, where everyone lives in their imagination. There's just one problem: The Andillans' powers aren't working, and the wedding can't proceed when the sacred Balance is so out of whack. For the headstrong Lenora, this means a new adventure. She and a reluctant Coren head into the Andillan countryside, where they come across the Skwoes, who have absolutely no imagination whatsoever. Are they responsible for the Andillans' loss of power? Whatever the source, the problems are getting worse: Now even Lenora's ability to make her thoughts real is failing. What is more, Lenora has been having a series of nightmares about the evil Hevak. Something has to be done before all of the people in two kingdoms are completely out of their minds.

The headstrong Princess Lenora craves an adventure, and defeating the giant who has appeared up north would be a great one. The trouble is, no one will let her help. They want her to stay behind and plan her wedding to Prince Coren of Andilla, but Lenora has absolutely no use for color schemes or pew ribbons. Using the power to create whatever she imagines - an ability that all Gepethians have, but have agreed not to use - Lenora imagines a duplicate of herself (a duplicate who cares about pew ribbons) to stay at home, while she sets off on her mission. Quickly, Lenora realizes that the giant is just a symptom of a larger problem, and as she is joined by Coren and both of their duplicates, her adventure spirals out of control.

Determined to rescue his baby sister from the Fairies, John Nesbit travels into the world of the Strangers and discovers an unusual world of human-headed flying dogs and a hollow man. When John Nesbit discovers that his little sister has been stolen by a weird group of fairies and replaced with a changeling, he knows he must rescue her. Although his journey to the world of the Strangers will lead to confrontations with terrifying creatures, John is determined to return his sister home safely through his own determination and the helpful insight of a classmate. Simultaneously funny and startling, The Same Place but Different is a richly satisfying adventure that combines British mythology and oral traditions with contemporary characters and settings.

Perry Nodelman's latest novel "successfully walks the line between light and dark fantasy" as Johnny Nesbit returns once again for a fight against the Strangers--this time for his own life (Lela Olszewski). Johnny Nesbit knows all about the Strangers -- after all, the fairies stole his baby sister a year ago. So when Johnny wakes up in a pink bedroom, in a strange house, within a glass bottle, he is certain the Strangers are responsible. Even weirder, the bottle in which Johnny is stuck is held by his former classmate, Cheryl Zennor. The new, pint-sized Johnny must once again risk his life to put a stop to the Strangers as he fights to get himself and Cheryl home, and rescue the small army of green-skinned children Cheryl cares for. Knowing that things are never as easy as they seem when the Strangers are involved, Johnny is prepared for one dangerous escape mission....

This book is about the implications of novels for young readers that tell their stories by alternating between different narrative lines focused on different characters. It asks: if you make sense of fiction by identifying with one main character, how do you handle two or more of them? Do novels with alternating narratives diverge from longstanding conventions and represent a significant change in literature for young readers? If not, how do these novels manage to operate within the parameters of those conventions? This book considers answers to these questions by means of a series of close readings that explore the structural, educational and ideological implications of a variety of American, British, Canadian and Australian novels for children and for young adults.

What exactly is a children's book? How is children's literature defined as a genre? A leading scholar presents close readings of six classic stories to answer these questions and offer a clear definition of children's writing as a distinct literary form. Perry Nodelman begins by considering the plots, themes, and structures of six works: "The Purple Jar," Alice in Wonderland, Dr. Doolittle, Henry Huggins, The Snowy Day, and Plain City-all written for young people of varying ages in different times and places-to identify shared characteristics. He points out markers in each work that allow the adult reader to understand it as a children's story, shedding light on ingrained adult assumptions and revealing the ways in which adult knowledge and experience remain hidden in apparently simple and innocent texts. Nodelman then engages a wide range of views of children's literature from authors, literary critics, cultural theorists, and specialists in education and information sciences. Through this informed dialogue, Nodelman develops a comprehensive theory of children's literature, exploring its commonalities and shared themes. The Hidden Adult is a focused and sophisticated analysis of children's literature and a major contribution to the theory and criticism of the genre.

What exactly is a children's book? How is children's literature defined as a genre? A leading scholar presents close readings of six classic stories to answer these questions and offer a clear definition of children's writing as a distinct literary form. Perry Nodelman begins by considering the plots, themes, and structures of six works: "The Purple Jar," Alice in Wonderland, Dr. Doolittle, Henry Huggins, The Snowy Day, and Plain City-all written for young people of varying ages in different times and places-to identify shared characteristics. He points out markers in each work that allow the adult reader to understand it as a children's story, shedding light on ingrained adult assumptions and revealing the ways in which adult knowledge and experience remain hidden in apparently simple and innocent texts. Nodelman then engages a wide range of views of children's literature from authors, literary critics, cultural theorists, and specialists in education and information sciences. Through this informed dialogue, Nodelman develops a comprehensive theory of children's literature, exploring its commonalities and shared themes. The Hidden Adult is a focused and sophisticated analysis of children's literature and a major contribution to the theory and criticism of the genre.

Focuses on illustration and contains essays on why and how books were chosen, a list of all books in the three volumes, and predictions for future classics. Picture books covered include titles by Edward Ardizzone, L. Leslie Brooke, Virginia Lee Burton, Randolph Caldecott, Walter Crane, Wanda GD'ag, Kate Greenaway, Ezra Jack Keats, Robert Lawson, Leo Lionni, Robert McCloskey, Beatrix Potter, McCloskey Rackham, Maurice Sendak, and Dr. Seuss.

Critical essays on children's novels by Louisia May Alcott, Lloyd Alexander Frances Hodgson Burnett, Lewis Carroll, Carlo Collodi, Eleanor Estes, Louis Fitzhugh, Esther Forbes, Kenneth Grahame, Irene Hunt, Rudyard Kipling, Madeline L'Engle, C.S. Lewis, George MacDonald, A.A. Milne, L.M. Montgomery, E. Nesbit, Mary Norton, Robert C. O'Brien, Phillipa Pearce, Arthur Ransome, Johanna Spyri, Robert Louis Stevenson, J.R.R. Tolkien, Mark Twain, E.B. White, T.H. White, and Laura Ingalls Wilder.

A pioneering study of a unique narrative form, Words about Pictures examines the special qualities of picture books—books intended to educate or tell stories to young children. Drawing from a number of aesthetic and literary sources, Perry Nodelman explores the ways in which the interplay of the verbal and visual aspects of picture books conveys more narrative information and stimulation than either medium could achieve alone. Moving from "baby" books, alphabet books, and word books to such well-known children's picture books as Nancy Ekholm Burkert's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Gerald McDermott's Arrow to the Sun, Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are, and Chris Van Allsburg's The Garden of Abdul Gasazi, Nodelman reveals how picture-book narrative is affected by the exclusively visual information of picture-book design and illustration as well as by the relationships between pictures and their complementary texts.