From Tongue to Text: A New Reading of Children's Poetry

Debbie Pullinger is Research Associate in the Faculty of Education at the University of Cambridge, UK.

In a brief closing section, Pullinger returns to the idea of ‘tactful reading’ to argue that children’s poetry is best understood, not through arm’s-length theories, but through methodologies that are grounded in ‘commitment, immersion, abandonment, trust’ … This is an ambitious conclusion to an ambitious study. Its success reflects the author’s broad knowledge of contemporary British poetry as well as her willingness to draw from multiple academic perspectives. While the study of children’s literature is flourishing, it remains divided among the disciplines of education, literary criticism, history, and psychology. From Tongue to Text is itself an act of ‘integrated reading’ that crosses disciplinary lines to make a strong case for the value and complexity of children’s poetry.

• IntroductionChildren's Poetry: the problem childMind and BodyPart One: TactThe Hidden ChildNot NarrativeIn our right minds?The infancy of languageThe language of infancyThe crossingThe containerTactful languagePart Two: TongueEar and voiceOrality and vocalityAnd another thingMaking listsAgain and againHere and nowAll join in!Live and in performancePart Three: TextHand and eyeFrom performance to pageFrom A to ZThe poetics of the pageThe distances of textThe child and the textConclusionGlossaryBibliographyIndex