Mark I. West – författare

With the growing emphasis on theory in literary studies, psychoanalytic criticism is making notable contributions to literary interpretation.Sixteen chapters in this work explore the psychological subtexts of such important children's books as Carlo Collodi's Pinocchio, Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach, Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows, Louise Fitzhugh's Harriet the Spy, Mark Twain's The Prince and the Pauper, and E.B. White's Charlotte's Web.Drawing on the ideas of such psychoanalytic theorists as Sigmund Freud, Alice Miller, D.W. Winnicott and Jacques Lacan, it analyzes the psychological development of characters, examines reader responses, and studies the lives of authors and illustrators such as Beatrix Potter and Jessie Willcox Smith.

The success of Disneyland as the world's first permanent, commercially viable theme park sparked the creation of a number of other parks throughout the world, from Florida to Japan, France, and Hong Kong. But the impact of Disneyland is not confined to the theme park arena. These essays explore a far-reaching ideology. Among the topics are Disney's role in the creation of children's architecture; Frontierland as an allegorical map of the American West; the "cultural invasion of France" in Disneyland Paris; the politics of nostalgia; and "hyperurbanity" in the town of Celebration, Florida.Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.

Although Walt Disney is best known as a filmmaker, perhaps his greatest skill and influence was as a reader. While many would have regarded Felix Salten's Bambi and Carlo Collodi's Pinocchio as too somber for family-oriented animated films, he saw possibilities in them. He appealed to his audience by selecting familiar stories, but transformed them to suit audience sensibilities. Many of the tales he chose to adapt to film went on to become the most read books in America, eventually becoming literary classics.Although much published research has addressed his adaptation process - often criticizing his films for being too saccharine or not true to their literary sources - little has been written on him as a reader: what he read, what he liked, his reading experiences, and the books that influenced him. This collection of essays addresses Disney as a reader and shows how his responses to literature fueled his success. Essays discuss the books he read, the ones he adapted to film, and the ways in which he demonstrated his narrative ability. Exploring his literary connections in reference to his animated and live-action films, nature documentaries, theme park creations, and overall creative vision, the contributors provide insight into Walt Disney's relationships with authors, his animation staff, and his audience.

Godzilla stomped his way into American movie theaters in 1956, and ever since then Japanese trends and cultural products have had a major impact on children's popular culture in America. This can be seen in the Hello Kitty paraphernalia phenomenon, the popularity of anime television programs like Pokemon and Dragon Ball Z, computer games, and Hayao Miyazaki's award-winning films, such as Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke.The Japanification of Children's Popular Culture brings together contributors from different backgrounds, each exploring a particular aspect of this phenomenon from different angles, from scholarly examinations to recounting personal experiences. The book explains the interconnections among the various aspects of Japanese influence and discusses American responses to anime and other forms of Japanese popular culture.

The experience of growing up in the U.S. is shaped by many forces. Relationships with parents and teachers are deeply personal and definitive. Social and economic contexts are broader and harder to quantify.Key individuals in public life have also had a marked impact on American childhood. These 18 new essays examine the influence of pivotal figures in the culture of 20th and 21st century childhood and child-rearing, from Benjamin Spock and Walt Disney to Ruth Handler, Barbie's inventor, and Ernest Thompson Seton, founder of the Boy Scouts of America.

Memorable children's narratives immerse readers in imaginary worlds that bring them into the story. Some of these places have been constructed in the real world--like Pinocchio's Tuscany or Anne of Green Gables' Prince Edward Island--where visitors relive their favorite childhood tales. Theme parks like Walt Disney World and Harry Potter World use technology to engineer enchanting environments that reconnect visitors with beloved fictional settings and characters in new ways. This collection of new essays explores the imagined places we loved as kids, with a focus on the meaning of setting and its power to shape the way we view the world.

This work demonstrates that not everything that Disney touched turned to gold. In its first 100 years, the company had major successes that transformed filmmaking and culture, but it also had its share of unfinished projects, unmet expectations, and box-office misses. Some works failed but nevertheless led to other more stunning and lucrative ones; others shed light on periods when the Disney Company was struggling to establish or re-establish its brand. In addition, many Disney properties, popular in their time but lost to modern audiences, emerge as forgotten gems. By exploring the studio's missteps, this book provides a more complex portrayal of the history of the company than one would gain from a simple recounting of its many hits. With essays by writers from across the globe, it also asserts that what endures or is forgotten varies from person to person, place to place, or generation to generation. What one dismisses, someone else recalls with deep fondness as a magical Disney memory.

President Theodore Roosevelt called himself a “book lover” and for good reason. From his boyhood days in the 1860s to the very end of his life in 1919, Roosevelt had a deep-seated passion for reading books. Wherever he went, he brought books with him. Whether he was rounding up cattle on a ranch in North Dakota, giving campaign speeches from the back of a train, governing the nation from the White House, or exploring an uncharted tributary of the Amazon River, he always made time to read books. Theodore Roosevelt and His Library at Sagamore Hill includes an overview of Roosevelt’s life as a reader, a discussion of the role that reading particular books played in shaping his life and career, and a short history of his personal library. The book also provides researchers and others interested in Roosevelt’s life with a complete list of Roosevelt’s books that are currently located at Sagamore Hill, his home in Oyster Bay, New York. The books in his personal library reflect his love of classic works of literature, his interest in history, and his fascination with the natural sciences. Theodore Roosevelt and His Library at Sagamore Hill concludes with an essay that Roosevelt wrote near the end of his life in which he reflected on his reading habits and commented on some of his favorite books.

President Theodore Roosevelt had a passion for reading books, and he did not keep this passion to himself. He often wrote about his experiences as a reader and collector of books. He wrote scholarly essays about literature and literary history. He often wrote book reviews for such publications as The Atlantic Monthly, The Bookman, The Outlook, and The New York Times Review of Books. Roosevelt’s writings about books are worth reading for their own sake, for in these pieces he provided critical insights into influential books. His writings about books, however, are also important because they show how Roosevelt responded to the books that he read. Roosevelt’s reading influenced his thinking on the many topics that interested him, so these writings provide researchers with a better understanding of the role that books played in the formation of his ideas, attitudes, and political positions.Theodore Roosevelt on Books and Reading brings together for the first time Roosevelt’s writings about his experiences as a reader, his scholarly essays about literature and literary history, and his exuberant reviews of some of the books that he especially liked. A sister volume to Mark I. West’s Theodore Roosevelt and His Library at Sagamore Hill, this new volume features Roosevelt’s own responses to many of the books in his personal library. All of the selections in this volume reflect Roosevelt’s passion for reading. These selections will resonate with anyone who shares Roosevelt’s love of books.

Jimmy Carter’s expansive body of writing ranges across the genres of memoir, commentary, children’s literature, poetry, and a novel about the Revolutionary War. Editors Mark I. West and Frye Gaillard have assembled a group of award-winning journalists, poets, historians, and literary scholars to reflect on this substantial – and to some, unexpected – dimension of Carter’s legacy. Collectively, these essays, including several by the editors themselves, document a through-line of ethical integrity, perspective, and insight that runs through Carter’s writing – from his controversial trilogy on peace in the Middle East to his personal reflections on his Georgia boyhood. Carter never used a ghost writer. As a result, his distinct voice and point of view comes through in every book that he published.

Scholars in the field of children’s literature studies began taking an interest in the concept of “liminal spaces” around the turn of the 21st century. For the first time, Liminal Spaces in Children’s and Young Adult Literature: Stories from the In Between brings together in one volume a collection of original essays on this topic by leading children’s literature scholars. The contributors in this collection take a wide variety of approaches to their explorations of liminal spaces in children’s and young adult literature. Some discuss how children’s books portray the liminal nature of physical spaces, such as the children’s room in a library. Others deal with more abstract portrayals, such as the imaginary space where Max goes to escape the reality of his bedroom in Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are. All of the contributors, however, provide keen insights into how liminal spaces figure in children’s and young adult literature.

Applying various disciplinary perspectives with overlapping themes, contributors to this volume analyze the intersections of Disney studies and animal studies, demonstrating how common themes and issues transcend the context of Disney culture.Through detailed analyses, contributors examine the roles played by animals in Disney culture, identifying recurring themes – like animal rights advocacy, the animal as Other, and the bond between humans and their dogs – that speak to the complex saga of human–animal relationships across time and cultural contexts.Ranging from Disney’s early-career projects like Silly Symphonies and World War II propaganda to animated features including Alice in Wonderland (1951) and Luca (2021), live-action films such as Home on the Range (2004), and even representations of animals found at the theme parks, this volume offers a comprehensive study of the menagerie from insects and mice all the way up to lions and elephants.