Kathy Merlock Jackson, a professor of media and communication at Virginia Wesleyan University, teaches courses in media studies and children’s culture. She is the author or editor of thirteen books and former editor of The Journal of American Culture. She has served as past president of both the American Culture Association and the Popular Culture Association. Mark I. West is the former chair of the English department at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He has written or edited nineteen books on children’s literature and culture and is a former president of the Children’s Literature Association.

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• Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsPreface (Kathy Merlock Jackson and Mark I. West)L. Frank Baum (1856–1919): Brains, Heart and Courage (Dina Schiff Massachi)Ernest Thompson Seton (1860–1946): Founder of the Boy Scouts of America (Martin Woodside)A.A. Milne (1882–1956): Influencing American Childhood After World War II  (Sarah Minslow)Walt Disney (1901–1966): When You Wish Upon a Star (James Plath)Benjamin Spock (1903–1998): Dr. Spock and THE BOOK (Lucy Rollin)Theodor Seuss Geisel (1904–1991): Dr. Seuss—The Power and Potential (and Joy!) of Children’s Literature (Carl F. Miller)Augusta Braxton Baker (1911–1988): The Art of Storytelling and a Gateway to Children’s Literacy and Literature (Michelle H. Martin)Jonas Salk (1914–1995) and Albert Sabin (1906–1993): Conquering Polio (Kathy Shepherd Stolley)Ruth Handler (1916–2002): Toys, Barbie and Girls’ Choices (Kathy Merlock Jackson)Stan Lee (1922–): Making Misfits Heroes (Gabriel ­Sealey-Morris)Fred Rogers (1928–2003): Everyone’s Neighbor (Richard Bilsker)Jim Henson (1936–1993): The Lovers, the Dreamers and Him (Andrew Grunzke)Bill Cosby (1937–): Recoding Bill Cosby’s Legacy (Gary R. Edgerton)Judy Blume (1938–): Shaping Subjects (Susan Larkin)Steve Jobs (1955–2011): Technology for a Beginner’s Mind (Lisa Lyon Payne)LeVar Burton (1957–): Promoting Children’s Literature and Literacy (Mark I. West) Joanne Kathleen Rowling (1965–): More Magic for the Young at Heart (Sue Matheson)Daniel Handler (1970–): Lemony Snicket’s Noir Narrative and the Shaping of the Millennial Generation’s Advocacy as Opposition to Generations X’s Apathy (Lisa Arter)Bibliography: Sources on Childhood in America in the 20th and 21st Centuries (Camille McCutcheon)About the ContributorsIndex