UBC Theses and Dissertations

UBC Theses Logo

UBC Theses and Dissertations

Shaping the children's literature canon : an analysis of editorials from The Horn Book Magazine, 1924 - 2009 Weisman, Kathryn Jean

Abstract

This study analyzes The Horn Book Magazine editorials, published between 1924 and 2009, to ascertain the editors’ promotion of the library canon of children’s literature. The editorials concerned with Horn Book’s communities of readers are considered using Benedict Anderson’s critical lens of imagined communities; the review- and critically-themed editorials are examined using the theories of K. T. Horning, Deborah Stevenson, and Lillian H. Smith; the editorials related to the image of childhood are investigated utilizing the frameworks of childhood outlined by Andrew Stables; and the editorials involving social and political themes are explored using the critical assumptions of Gail Schmunk Murray. The analysis concludes, overall, that the Horn Book editors celebrate creators and promoters of canonical children’s literature; esteem high literary quality over popularity or pedagogical utility; view the image of childhood from a mostly Romantic perspective; and have shifted perspectives over time regarding comments about social and political events from a mostly neutral, non-committal stance to one of increasingly open views, especially with regard to censorship, multiculturalism, and current events.

Item Media

Item Citations and Data

Rights

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International