Morals of Monster Stories

Essays on Children's Picture Book Messages

Häftad, Engelska, 2017

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The simplicity of children's picture books--stories told with illustrations and a few well chosen words or none at all--makes them powerful tools for teaching morals and personal integrity. Children follow the story and see the characters' behaviors on the page and interpret them in the context of their own lives. But unlike many picture books, most children's lives don't feature monsters.This collection of new essays explores the societally sanctioned behaviors imparted to children through the use of monsters and supernatural characters. Topics include monsters as instructors, the normalization of strangers or the "other," fostering gender norms, and therapeutic monsters, among others.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum2017-08-14
Mått152 x 229 x 13 mm
Vikt345 g
FormatHäftad
SpråkEngelska
Antal sidor256
FörlagMcFarland & Co Inc
ISBN9781476664842

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Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsPrefaceIntroductionPart 1: Monstrous InstructorsMy Monster ABCs: What Can A(bominable Snowmen) to Z(ombies) Teach Our Kids? (Carla Kungl)Green Legs and Hands: The Lorax as a Medievalist Morality Tale(Corwin R. Baden)Monsters in the Closet: Narrative Therapy and Fairy Tales(Lisa LeBlanc and Carla B. Morrissey)Part 2: Normalization of the “Other” “Let the wild rumpus start!” Adventures in Acceptance and Understanding—Picture Books and the Other (Kelly F. Franklin)“You can’t get rid of the Babadook”: The Supertextual Supernatural (Lloyd Isaac Vayo)Monsters Like Us (Gerald Raymond Gordon)Part 3: Fostering Heteronormativity, Agency and Racial SuperiorityThe Scars of Dracula: Dracula and the Undead Meaning in Children’s Early Readers (Simon Bacon)Misogyny, Monsters and Malice: Dismantling Troy Cummings’ The Notebook of Doom Series (Holly A. Wheeler)Part 4: Evolving Monsters Ogress, Fairy, Sorceress, Witch: Supernatural Surrogates and the Monstrous Mother in Variants of “Rapunzel” (Melissa Mullins)Swimming with Serpents: Dismantling Boundaries in Sea Monsters Picture Books (Rebecca A. Brown)Part 5: Monstrous Monsters The House That Drac Built: Faith-Based Qualms About Halloween Picture Books (Corwin R. Baden)Wicked “Others”: Christian Conservatism and the Rejection of the Supernatural (Brenda S. Gardenour Walter)Part 6: Moral Agencies The Fantastic in the Everyday: Growing Up with The Mysteries of Harris Burdick (Mariaelena DiBenigno)Crossing the Threshold: Ghosts and Haunted Houses as Moral Messengers (Brenda S. Gardenour Walter)About the ContributorsIndex

“Monsters in picture books may at first not seem like a topic worthy of academic study. But this collection suggests otherwise. Ormandy presents a variety of analytical essays that apply literary theories from structuralism to feminism to postcolonialism as they discuss how monster stories help expose and educate children to the values of society…. a valuable resource…recommended.”—Choice; “very highly recommended”—Midwest Book Review; “essays demonstrate how monstrous characters transcend sociocultural boundaries, thereby enabling young readers to be more accepting of difference in the people around them...valuable”—Children's Literature Association Quarterly; “the 14 essays presented here illustrate how children’s picture books about supernatural monsters model moral behaviors to children. English and other scholars from the US , Japan, and Europe describe how supernatural characters teach children lessons about multiculturalism, environmentalism, and behavioral issues”—ProtoView.