Children's Literature
A Reader's History from Aesop to Harry Potter

I chose this book for my Social History of Children's Literature class based on the first few chapters, which did a great job of exposing some of the pre-17th century roots of children's reading. Even there, his rather idiosyncratic approach to children's books (they are all about reading and writin......more

Disappointing, because it sounded so good! Incredibly dry (which is hard to do with something as wonderful as classic children's literature!) and really poor literary analysis. Skip it.......more

A very readable book that I used in my History of Children's Literature grad class. I enjoyed the historical aspect and how societal changes has affected how books are written and read today.......more

I really like Lerer's senses of the poetry in his prose--this isn't a dry theory book. However, his training as a philologist tends to make his entire outlook philological. There are many times I was disappointed in the binaries he would construct without addressing, and other times when his chapter......more

I really enjoyed and found helpful Dr. Lerer's analysis of ancient literature. While I found myself disagreeing with some of his assertions as he discussed more modern literature, I do have to admit this book made me rethink some of my own opinions about children's literature.......more