Literary Criticism

Children’s Books and Radical Experiments in Art, b&w illustrations in text from photographs and line-drawings (mostly illustrations from the books discussed), notes, bibliography and index, xiv & 352 pp, black boards in d/w, 1-cm tear to d/w at bottom corner (neatly repaired), top of spine a little bumped, top edge of pp 315-336 dented where something sharp has fallen on to the book, some light pencil marks in margins, bottom edges of boards a little rubbed, but otherwise a very good copy, Macmillan 1987

21.5 x 13 cm, 670g, ISBN 0 33337 340 5

Claimed by the publisher to be the first and only full-length study of the relation between children's literature and writing for adults.  You should note that the word “art” in the sub-title is used in its widest possible sense, almost equivalent to “artistry”, and the book does not deal, except in passing, with experiments in book illustration.  See the description (below) from the dustwrapper flap.

Reprinted in 1999 – the publisher’s website, unusually, gives a chapter-by-chapter collation, from which you may see that the pagination of the two editions is identical.  The only addition is a seven-page ‘Preface to the 1999 Reissue’, which the publisher has helpfully made available as a pdf on its website.  The book remains available from the publisher either in hardback or paperback at the same eye-watering price of £89.99, or £71.50 as an e-book.