Hetty Feather

Today’s children’s and young adult literature ranges from tales of knights, dragons and wizards, to dystopian societies, mystery, humor, and the like. Children’s lit in the 1700’s and earlier was more focused on moralizing. Stories simply had to teach a lesson! Today on Worlds Awaiting Rachel Wadham welcomes Jamie Horrocks, BYU English Professor and an expert in Victorian literature and culture. Horrocks talks about the Golden age of Children’s literature that dawned in Victorian Great Britain. Society had begun to realize that children have a sense of wonder and imagination. Children were more than little people in need of preaching. Jamie Horrocks researches Victorian aesthetics and the intersection of literature and art, especially in the late nineteenth century. She has published on Oscar Wilde, Vernon Lee, Virginia Woolf, and the Aesthetic Movement.

Up next, Rachel chats with children’s and young adult literature expert, Karen Coats about contemporary mysteries for children. What’s really in this genre for kids? What speaks to young minds the most? Karen Coats is a professor of English at Illinois State University. She publishes widely on the many ways youth literature both responds to and shapes contemporary culture. She’s also author of multiple books on children’s literature including The Bloomsbury Introduction to Children’s and Young Adult Literature.