Dennis Butts – författare

Children's literature did not suddenly appear as if by magic. It came into existence in printed form in the 18th century, though religious and instructional books had appeared earlier, and grew to fruition in Britain and America in the 19th century because of quite specific developments in society. The ideas of such men as John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau helped to change European perspectives on the nature of childhood, and to suggest that it had needs and values of its own. This book charts the development of books for children by examining factors such as the gradual spread of education from the later half of the 18th century onwards, first through the Sunday School Movement, and then through the faltering steps towards providing state education. Finally innovations in printing and publishing meant that it became possible to produce attractive books more cheaply for children. The combination of these several forces was irresistible and throughout the 19th century more and more books were published for children.

After the success of How Did Long John Silver Lose His Leg?, Dennis Butts and Peter Hunt take their forensic lenses to more mysteries that have troubled readers of children's books over the centuries. Their questions range from the historical to the philosophical, some of which are puzzling, some of which are controversial:- Why does it seem there are no Nursery Rhymes before 1744?- Why did God start to die in children's books long before Nietzsche noticed it?- Why are the schoolgirls at Enid Blyton's St Clare's so horrible?- Why are there so many dead parents littering children's books?- Why does C.S. Lewis annoy so many people?The book also explains why an elephant captures Adolph Hitler, who was Biggles's great love, and whose side G.A. Henty was on in the American civil war, and delivers a plethora of erudite, entertaining answers to questions that you may not have thought of asking. And notably, of course, it reveals why William George Bunter, the Fat Owl of the Remove, was never permanently removed from Greyfriars School.

The astonishing success of J.K. Rowling and other contemporary children's authors has demonstrated how passionately children can commit to the books they love. But this kind of devotion is not new. This timely volume takes up the challenge of assessing the complex interplay of forces that have created the popularity of children's books both today and in the past. The essays collected here ask about the meanings and values that have been ascribed to the term 'popular'. They consider whether popularity can be imposed, or if it must always emerge from children's preferences. And they investigate how the Harry Potter phenomenon fits into a repeated cycle of success and decline within the publishing industry. Whether examining eighteenth-century chapbooks, fairy tales, science schoolbooks, Victorian adventures, waif novels or school stories, these essays show how historical and publishing contexts are vital in determining which books will succeed and which will fail, which bestsellers will endure and which will fade quickly into obscurity. As they considering the fiction of Angela Brazil, Enid Blyton, Roald Dahl and J.K. Rowling, the contributors carefully analyse how authorial talent and cultural contexts combine, in often unpredictable ways, to generate - and sometimes even sustain - literary success.