This revised and updated edition provides children's and young adult librarians, teachers, literature classes, and library school classes with an authoritative history and analysis of the best British and American children's literature through 1994, with a new 2003 postscript including such recent phenomenons as J.K.Rowling and Philip Pullman. Written for Children traces the development of children's literature from its origins through the beginnings of the multimedia revolution. In effortless and entertaining style, Townsend, a world-renowned authority in the field, examines the changing attitudes toward children and their literature and analyzes the various strands that make up this important field. While examining many well-known American classics, Townsend also looks at British works that American audiences may have overlooked. With illustrations and bibliography.

An annotated listing of nearly 2,000 books of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama; arranged topically under categories ranging from Abuse to Trivia; and recommended for junior high and middle school students.

An annotated listing of books of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama recommended for junior high and middle school students.

Surveying the state of American ballet in a 1913 issue of McClure's Magazine, author Willa Cather reported that few girls expressed any interest in taking ballet class and that those who did were hard-pressed to find anything other than dingy studios and imperious teachers. One hundred years later, ballet is everywhere. There are ballet companies large and small across the United States; ballet is commonly featured in film, television, literature, and on social media; professional ballet dancers are spokespeople for all kinds of products; nail polish companies market colors like "Ballet Slippers" and "Prima Ballerina;" and, most importantly, millions of American children have taken ballet class. Beginning with the arrival of Russian dancers like Anna Pavlova, who first toured the United States on the eve of World War I, Ballet Class: An American History explores the growth of ballet from an ancillary part of nineteenth-century musical theater, opera, and vaudeville to the quintessential extracurricular activity it is today, pursued by countless children nationwide and an integral part of twentieth-century American childhood across borders of gender, class, race, and sexuality. A social history, Ballet Class takes a new approach to the very popular subject of ballet and helps ground an art form often perceived to be elite in the experiences of regular, everyday people who spent time in barre-lined studios across the United States. Drawing on a wide variety of materials, including children's books, memoirs by professional dancers and choreographers, pedagogy manuals, and dance periodicals, in addition to archival collections and oral histories, this pathbreaking study provides a deeply-researched national perspective on the history and significance of recreational ballet class in the United States and its influence on many facets of children's lives, including gender norms, consumerism, body image, children's literature, extracurricular activities, and popular culture.

First published in 1992, this Sourcebook is a basic working tool for all those concerned with children’s reading. It will help librarians and teachers to select a comprehensive stock of children’s’ fiction for their institutions.The authors in the sourcebook have been selected on the grounds of importance, popularity and current availability. Author entries are arranged in alphabetical order and indexes provided by title, series, age-range and genre. Each entry consists of some background information, and evaluative comment on style of the book, a list of the authors books with publisher, date and price, and literary agent where applicable. There is a suggestion of similar authors, sequels, related series and reader age range.