New book on children's literature

Professor of Education Studies Susan Lehr has edited Shattering the Looking Glass: Challenge, Risk, and Controversy in Children's Literature (Christopher-Gordon, 2008).

According to the publisher, Shattering the Looking Glass is "a thorough, comprehensive volume that defines, analyzes, defends, and often critiques the current state of Children's Literature within American Culture." The book is aimed at teachers, librarians, and academics, and address the influence of politics and cultural trends on children's literature and its use in the classroom.

In addition to editing the volume, Lehr interviewed educator Shelley Harwayne, poet Naomi Shihab Nye and bookseller Frank Hodge. She also wrote Chapter 11, "Feminist Women Writers of the 18th Century: Those Barbarous and Didactic Women"; Chapter 12, "Contemporary Women Writers: Undercutting the Patriarchy"; and Chapter 19, "Heroism in Children's Fantasy: Secondary Worlds Worth Visiting."

Lehr's other work includes Beauty, Brains, and Brawn: The Construction of Gender in Children's Literature (Heinemann, 2001); Battling Dragons: Issues and Controversy in Children's Literature (Heinemann, 1995); and The Child's Developing Sense of Theme: Responses to Literature (Teachers College Press, 1991).

Lehr was president of the Children's Literature Assembly for the National Council of Teachers of English, has chaired committees for state and national book awards, including NCTE's Notable Books in the Language Arts, and served on the editorial boards of professional journals such as The Reading Teacher and Language Arts. In 1990 she developed and chaired the first Charlotte Award, a children's choice book award for the New York State Reading Association.

With Karen Brackett, Lehr developed and co-directed the Journeys And Reflections: An Educational Study Program in South Africa program. Her current research focuses on contemporary feminist children's authors, including eighteenth century women who wrote radical texts for children and were eventually dismissed as didactic authors.

More on Shattering the Looking Glass at the publisher's Web site.