Making Americans
Subtitle: children's literature from 1930 to 1960
By: Gary D. Schmidt
Publisher: University of Iowa Press
Published: 2013
Place of publication: Iowa City
Language: eng
Number of pages: 290
ISBN-13: 9781609381929; 9781609382216
Subjects: Children's literature, American; History and criticism; National characteristics, American, in literature; Democracy in literature; Children's literature; Publishing; History; Children; Books and reading
Description: Making Americans is a study of a time when the authors and illustrators of children's books consciously set their eyes on national and international sights, with the hope of bringing the next generation into a full sense of citizenship. Schmidt examines the literature for young people published during a momentous period in our nation's past, and documents in detail its role as an instrument of nation-building and social reform. A thought-provoking contribution to our understanding of children's books as cultural transmitters and transformers.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 249-281) and index.
Table of contents: title: Imagining American democracy: self-reliance and social cooperation; title: James Daugherty: the democracy of the American pioneer; title: Defining American democracy: normalizing inclusion; title: The "Childhood of Famous Americans" series: challenges to mythic narratives; title: Adapting American democracy: responding to the urgencies of war; title: Ingri and Edgar Parin D'Aulaire: America as the land of opportunity; title: Globalizing American democracy: exporting the American heritage; title: Virginia Lee Burton and Robert McCloskey: (in)security in America.