The study of children’s literature is currently centred on literary studies, educational studies, and a third more diverse group of many other related disciplines, including history, bibliography, sociology and psychology. All of these then overlap with cultural studies and contribute to the rapidly growing meta-discipline of childhood studies. Fascinating and insightful, this four-volume collection gathers together fundamental and essential essays from across the spectrum of disciplines, and is organized so that each volume focuses on one general interest group or area. With entries from specialist and professional journals across the world, this is a unique resource to complement the burgeoning numbers of specialist and reference books in the field.

Peter Hunt, Professor Emeritus at Cardiff University, was the first specialist in Children's Literature to be appointed full Professor of English in a British University.He has written or edited eighteen books on the subject, together with over 200 articles and 150 reviews. He has also published four novels for young adults, and his books have been/are being translated into Danish, Japanese, Greek, Persian and Korean. He has lectured at over 100 universities and colleges in 20 countries, from Finland to New Zealand and Japan, including periods as Visiting Professor at Universities in the USA and Visiting Fellow in Australia. The International Society for the Fantastic in the Arts presented him with their Distinguished Scholarship Award in 1995 and in 2003 he won the Brothers’ Grimm Award for services to children’s literature, from the International Institute for Children’s Literature in Osaka.His latest publication is the second edition of the International Companion Encyclopedia of Children’s Literature (Routledge, 2 volumes, 2004) and he is one of the editors of the Norton Anthology of Children’s Literature (January 2005).