children's literature, the Cold War, and radical politics in the United States /
First Statement of Responsibility
Julia L. Mickenberg.
.PUBLICATION, DISTRIBUTION, ETC
Place of Publication, Distribution, etc.
New York :
Name of Publisher, Distributor, etc.
Oxford University Press,
Date of Publication, Distribution, etc.
2005.
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
Specific Material Designation and Extent of Item
xi, 389 pages :
Other Physical Details
illustrations ;
Dimensions
24 cm
INTERNAL BIBLIOGRAPHIES/INDEXES NOTE
Text of Note
Includes bibliographical references (pages 283-371) and index.
CONTENTS NOTE
Text of Note
Progressive and proletarian precedents -- Lyrical leftists, juvenile publishing, and the politics of progressive education -- "For young revolutionists": Children's literature and the Communist Milieu, 1925-1935 -- Producing dissent -- Work and sing: children's literature and the cultural front, 1935-1945 -- "Pink-tinged pages"? McCarthyism and Children's literature -- Countering the cold war: social significance versus social pressure -- Science and history for girls and boys -- The tools of science: dialectics and children's literature -- Ballad for American children: history, folklore, and leftist civic education.
0
SUMMARY OR ABSTRACT
Text of Note
"At the height of the Cold War, dozens of radical and progressive writers, illustrators, editors, librarians, booksellers, and teachers cooperated to create and disseminate children's books that challenged the status quo. Learning from the Left provides the first historic overview of their work. Spanning from the 1920s, when both children's book publishing and American Communism were becoming significant on the American scene, to the late 1960s, when youth who had been raised on many of the books in this study unequivocally rejected the values of the Cold War, Learning from the Left shows how "radical" values and ideas that have now become mainstream (including cooperation, interracial friendship, critical thinking, the dignity of labor, feminism, and the history of marginalized people), were communicated to children in repressive times.
Text of Note
A range of popular and critically acclaimed children's books, many by former teachers and others who had been blacklisted because of their political beliefs, made commonplace the ideas that McCarthyism tended to call "subversive." These books, about history, science, and contemporary social conditions-as well as imaginative works, science fiction, and popular girls' mystery series-were readily available to children: most could be found in public and school libraries, and some could even be purchased in classrooms through book clubs that catered to educational audiences. Drawing upon extensive interviews, archival research, and hundreds of children's books published from the 1920s through the 1970s, Learning from the Left offers a history of the children's book in light of the history of the history of the Left, and a new perspective on the links between the Old Left of the 1930s and the New Left of the 1960s. Winner of the Grace Abbott Book Prize of the Society for the History of Children and Youth"--GoogleBooks.
TOPICAL NAME USED AS SUBJECT
American literature-- 20th century-- History and criticism.
Authors, American-- 20th century-- Political and social views.
Children's literature, American-- History and criticism.
Cold War in literature.
Politics and literature-- United States-- History-- 20th century.
Radicalism in literature.
Right and left (Political science) in literature.
Écrivains américains-- 20e siècle-- Pensée politique et sociale.
Gauche (Science politique) dans la littérature.
Guerre froide dans la littérature.
Littérature américaine-- 20e siècle-- Histoire et critique.
Littérature de jeunesse américaine-- Histoire et critique.
Politique et littérature-- États-Unis-- Histoire-- 20e siècle.
Radicalisme dans la littérature.
American literature-- 20th century-- History and criticism.
American literature.
Authors, American-- 20th century-- Political and social views.
Authors, American-- Political and social views.
Children's literature, American-- History and criticism.
Children's literature, American.
Cold War (1945-1989) in literature.
Cold War in literature.
Die Linke
Jeugdliteratuur.
Kinderliteratur
Koude Oorlog.
Ost-West-Konflikt
Politics and literature-- United States-- History-- 20th century.