Humor in Contemporary Junior Literature

Humor in Contemporary Junior Literature

Author: Julie Cross

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2010-12-14

Total Pages: 265

ISBN-13: 1136839879

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In this new book, Julie Cross examines the intricacies of textual humor in contemporary junior literature, using the tools of literary criticism and humor theory. Cross investigates the dialectical paradoxes of humor and debunks the common belief in oppositional binaries of ‘simple’ versus ‘complex’ humor. The varied combinations of so-called high and low forms of humor within junior texts for young readers, who are at such a crucial stage of their reading and social development, provide a valuable commentary upon the culture and values of contemporary western society, making the book of considerable interest to scholars of both children’s literature and childhood studies. Cross explores the ways in which the changing content, forms and functions of the many varied combinations of humor in junior texts, including the Lemony Snickett series, reveal societal attitudes towards young children and childhood. The new compounds of seemingly paradoxical high and low forms of humor, in texts for developing readers from the 1960s onwards, reflect and contribute to contemporary society’s hesitant and uneven acceptance of the emergent paradigm of children’s rights, abilities, participation and empowerment. Cross identifies four types of potentially subversive/transgressive humor which have emerged since the 1960s which, coupled with the three main theories of humor – relief, superiority and incongruity theories – enables a long-overdue charting of developments in humor within junior texts. Cross also argues that the gradual increase in the compounding of the simple and the complex provide opportunities for young readers to play with ambiguous, complicated ideas, helping them embrace the complexities and contradictions of contemporary life.


The Elementary School Library Collection

The Elementary School Library Collection

Author: Lauren K. Lee

Publisher: Brodart Company

Published: 1994

Total Pages: 1350

ISBN-13: 9780872720961

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**** Cited in Sheehy and Walford, this comprehensive reference recommends print and audiovisual materials as well as microcomputer software and CD-ROM products for preschool through sixth grade children. The present edition includes 12,294 recommended titles, 3,070 being new listings. Each entry notes the format(s) available and provides cataloging and ordering information, a critically descriptive annotation, interest and reading level estimates, and priority for acquisition. For school, public, and academic librarians, and preservice and inservice faculty. Published by the Brodart Company, 500 Arch St., Williamsport, PA 17705. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR


What Do Children Read Next?

What Do Children Read Next?

Author: Candy Colborn

Publisher: Gale Cengage

Published: 1994

Total Pages: 1200

ISBN-13:

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Contains entries for approximately 2000 books aimed at young readers. About half the titles were published between 1989 and 1994 and the remaining half are older titles which have stood the test of time.