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"MICHELLE ANN ABATE"
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No kids allowed : children's literature for adults
What do Adam Mansbach's Go the F**k to Sleep and Barbara Park's MA! There's Nothing to Do Here! A Word from your Baby-in-Waiting have in common? Both are large-format picture books that you might find in the children's section of your local bookstore. However, their subject matter is decidedly intended for parents rather than children. In No Kids Allowed, Michelle Ann Abate examines a constellation of such books which she argues form a paradoxical new genre: children's literature for adults.
Distinguishing children's literature for adults from YA and middle-grade fiction that appeals to adult readers, Abate argues that there is something unique and fascinating about this phenomenon in contemporary US culture. While historical studies of children's literature show that its relationship with adulthood is varied and complex, Abate suggests that this recent outcropping has its genesis with the 1986 publication of Dr. Seuss's You're Only Old Once!, cleverly subtitled A Book for Obsolete Children. Principally defined by its form and audience, children's literature, Abate demonstrates, engages with more than mere nostalgia when recast for grown-up readers. Parodies, politics, innuendo, and knowing prose captured in simple language and colorful illustrations do not infantilize adult readers; instead, they suggest that the relationship between childhood and adulthood may be something other than linear.
Ultimately, Abate explores what happens to children's literature when arguably its most fundamental characteristic is removed: a readership of children. No Kids Allowed is the first book-length study of children's literary forms—including board books, coloring books, bedtime stories, and series detective fiction—written and published specifically for an adult audience. Abate's project examines how these narratives question the boundaries of children's literature while they simultaneously challenge the longstanding Western assumption that adulthood and childhood are separate and even mutually exclusive.
eBook
Global Perspectives on Tarzan
This collection seeks to understand the long-lasting and global appeal of Tarzan: Why is a story about a feral boy, who is raised by apes in the African jungle, so compelling and so adaptable to different cultural contexts and audiences? How is it that the same narrative serves as the basis for both children's cartoons and lavish musical productions or as a vehicle for both nationalistic discourse and for light romantic fantasy? Considering a history of criticism that highlights the imperialistic, sexist, racist underpinnings of the original Tarzan narrative, why would this character and story appeal to so many readers and viewers around the world? The essays in this volume, written by scholars living and working in Australia, Canada, Israel, The Netherlands, Germany, France and the United States explore these questions using various critical lenses. Chapters include discussions of Tarzan novels, comics, television shows, toys, films, and performances produced or distributed in the U.S., Canada, Israel, Palestine, Britain, India, The Netherlands, Germany and France and consider such topics as imperialism, national identities, language acquisition, adaptation, gender constructions, Tarzan's influence on child readers and Tarzan's continued and broad influence on cultures around the world. What emerges, when these pieces are placed into dialogue with one another, is an immensely complex picture of an enduring, multi-faceted global pop culture icon.
eBook
Raising Your Kids Right
Dr. Seuss's classic character the Lorax has delighted children for decades while passing along a powerful message about environmental responsibility. The book's young readers, and their parents, would likely be surprised by the emergence of a new character, Truax, a kindly logger created by a longtime employee of the wood products industry, who, not surprisingly, has a far different viewpoint to share. Yet the Truax character, and the book of the same name, is just one example of a growing genre of conservative-themed narratives for young readers spawned by the continuing strength of the American political right.Highlighting the works of William Bennett, Lynne Cheney, Bill O'Reilly, and others, Michelle Ann Abate brings together such diverse fields as cultural studies, literary criticism, political science, childhood studies, brand marketing, and the cult of celebrity.Raising Your Kids Rightdispels lingering societal attitudes that narratives for young readers are unworthy of serious political study by examining a variety of texts that offer information, ideology, and even instructions on how to raise kids right, not just figuratively but politically.
eBook
Taking The Hidden Staircase to the Murder Castle: The Nancy Drew Mystery Series and the First Serial Killer in the United States
The author argues that the references to Chicago in the Nancy Drew novel The Hidden Staircase (1930) suggest a new way of interpreting the text-namely by seeing links to real- life serial killer H. H. Holmes.
Journal Article
Reading Capital
Michelle Ann Abate examined the typographical features of the comics and graphic novels frequently finding their way into ELA classrooms and discovered that they may be more challenging for struggling readers than most teachers think.
Journal Article
Mickey Mouse as Teddy's Bear: The Political Cartoons of Clifford Berryman and the Origins of Disney's Iconic Character
This essay makes a case for a possible new source of influence on Mickey Mouse: the political cartoons of Clifford Berryman and his signature figure, Teddy's Bear. The visual similarities between Berryman's famous cub and Disney's Mouse are striking; I argue that they are too strong to be merely coincidental. Placing the iconic Mouse in dialogue with Teddy's Bear adds a new dimension to oft-discussed elements within Disney animation, such as the construction of cuteness, the exploration (as well as exploitation) of innocence, and the treatment-along with Mickey's infamous early mistreatment-of animals.
Journal Article