book lists

essay on conduct/fantasy 19th century books

the lion and the unicorn journal

guide to criticism

book reviews by kids

children’s book awards

In the western world, the second half of the 20th Century was a period of turbulent change. Old certainties broke down as the bulwarks of religion and family life weakened. Children’s literature, like every other genre, began to reflect these changes. The fiction for older children, especially what was written for the young adult, began to move away from the secure world of tradition. A teenage culture was becoming visible, a rejection of adult values side by side with the adoption of the instant gratification mantra. Even in the early 1960s, there was a change in the relationship between generations and reaction against received values.