About this title: In this witty collection of essays, Alison Lurie considers authors such as A.A.Milne, E.Nesbit, Frances Hodgson Burnett, Lewis Carroll and J.R.R.Tolkien, and demonstrates that their enduring quality lies partly in the way they satirize adult society and speak with subversive directness to the imagination of the young reader. Together with fairy tales, rhymes and jokes, their stories provide a more powerful and resonant appeal than more carefully crafted morally improving literature. Books for children by Alison Lurie include "Clever Gretchen and Other Forgotten Folktales" and "The Heavenly ...
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Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Little Brown & Co (T)
Date Published: 1990-03
ISBN-13:9780316537223ISBN:0316537225
Description: Very Good. Light wear on cover. Pages clean. Reliable seller. Fast shipping from central Texas (Austin area). All international orders ship by airmail. read more
Description: Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. 0316537225 Former library item may have library binding and show stamps, stickers or other marks. Items not meeting quality expectations may be returned. Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. read more
Description: Good. Book shows minor use. Cover and Binding have minimal wear and the pages have only minimal creases. A tradition of southern quality and service. All books guaranteed at the Atlanta Book Company. read more
Edition: 1st edition
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Little Brown & Co (T)
Date Published: 3/1/1990
ISBN-13:9780316537223ISBN:0316537225
Description: Fine. 0316537225 1st printing, clean & crisp, no markings, not a remander, DJ has very mild shelfwear, price intact....All books are packaged with care to protect the corners. Ships same or next bussness day. read more
Edition: First Ed; later printing.
Binding: Hardback with DJ.
Publisher: Little Brown & Company, Boston, MA
Date Published: 1990
ISBN-13:9780316537223ISBN:0316537225
Description: Near Fine in Very Good+ DJ: Book shows only former owner's gift inscription; else flawless; binding square and secure; text clean. DJ shows mild rubbing; price clipped. No longer 'As New', but remains close to it. NOT a Remainder, Book-Club, or Ex-Library. 8vo. 229pp. 8vo. 229pp. Hardback with DJ. read more
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Little Brown & Co, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
Date Published: 1990
ISBN-13:9780316537223ISBN:0316537225
Description: Good in Good jacket. 6 x 10. In good, clean, unmarked condition. Text tight and appears unread. Boards have bumped corners and jacket is fubed and has edgewear including small tears at corner. Pulitzer Prize winning novelist Alison Lurie explores the theme: that the best-loved children's books tend to challenge rather than uphold respectable adult values. Subjects include Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Winnie-the-Pooh, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, etc. read more
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Little Brown & Co, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
Date Published: 1990
ISBN-13:9780316537223ISBN:0316537225
Description: Fine in Near Fine jacket. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. In this spirited collectiion of essays, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Alison Lurie explores a surprising theme: that the best-loved children's books tend to challenge rather than uphold respectable adult values. Brown boards, red spine with gold-color lettering, 229 pp., jacket illustration by Hilary Knight. A book in excellent condition; jacket has a crease on the rear flap. read more
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Little, Brown & Company, Boston
Date Published: (c.1990)
ISBN-13:9780316537223ISBN:0316537225
Description: Near Fine in Near Fine dj. 0-316-53722-5. [book slightly bowed, one tiny smudge on fore-edge; jacket a bit rubbed, no chips or tears]. Lurie's essays on numerous classic works for children, in support of her belief that "most of the great works of juvenile literature are subversive in one way or another. " She discusses works by Kate Greenaway, Ford Madox Ford, Beatrix Potter, James Barrie, Frances Hodgson Burnett, A.A. Milne, J.R.R. Tolkien, T.H. White, Richard Adams, and others. read more
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company, Boston
Date Published: 1990
ISBN-13:9780316537223ISBN:0316537225
Description: Near Fine in Near Fine jacket. Remainder. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. Book has remainder stamp on bottom edge, minor edge & shelfwear, dj has minor shelfwear. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Little Brown and Company
Date Published: 1990
ISBN-13:9780316537223ISBN:0316537225
Description: 0316537225. Fair, a reviewer's end page pencil notes, margin pencil marks and a small amount of underlining. The covers are very good. Very good dust jacket except a deep spine scratch.; 229 pages. read more
Edition: First edition.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Little Brown and Company
Date Published: 1990
ISBN-13:9780316537223ISBN:0316537225
Description: Good in good dust jacket. Ex-library. Sewn binding. Paper over boards. 229 p. Don't Tell the Grown-Ups, 1. Audience: General/trade. First edition-ex-library with usual markings and attachments. Mylar covered dust jacket is in good shape. Inside pages are all clean and bright. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Date Published: 1990-05-24
ISBN-13:9780747506034ISBN:0747506035
Description: Very Good. Hardcover. Book plate on half-title page, otherwise, the text of this book is in very good condition-clean, unmarked and tightly bound. The colorful attractive dust jacket is lightly crumpled on the top edge. The spine is straight. Not remainder marked and not ex-library. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Bloomsbury, London, 1990.
Date Published: 1990
ISBN-13:9780747506034ISBN:0747506035
Description: /Dust Jacket Included. Hardback, 229pp, edges slightly browned, clean and sound, no inscriptions, Very Good in Very Good dustwrapper. ISBN: 0747506035. read more
"Little biographical and psychological sketches of well-known children's authors. Not as edgy as I'd hoped; closer to a series of lectures by a university professor on children's literature."
"Different than I expected. It wasn't essays about the literature itself so much as the authors of subversive children's literature, but it was entertaining nonetheless. It inspired me to look for the some of the books mentioned."
"I was disappointed by this book, which promised to tell "why kids love the books they do." The author offers a premise but does not follow through. She touches on interesting topics (how fairy tales influenced certain adult classics) and shares lots of juicy information on literary figures (John Ruskin...kind of a pervert...) but spends surprisingly little time discussing children's literature. She's a good writer, her ideas are interesting. But this book put me in mind of a particular fairy tale -- the Emperor's New Clothes."
"For me, this book didn't live up to its title. Sure, it's kind of about "the subversive power of children's literature," but it's actually mostly about the biographies of certain children's authors and how certain children's stories are archetypes for adult literary fiction. And it's not a cohesive book at all. It's a series of essays that were probably originally intended for lit crit mags. When Lurie does address subversiveness, it's usually historical (the book was published in 1990, so I didn't expect nearly every essay to be about Victorian social norms).
I wanted this book to address a subject that really interests me, which is the way some kids books intentionally guide their readers toward a certain way of thinking. I was actually hoping this book would be a better version of my college seminar paper, which was about how Disney movies paved the way for gay rights. Oh well."
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