Tales for Little Rebels: An Anthology of Radical Children's Literature

Of course I must get this book.

Tales for Little Rebels is the first anthology of radical children’s literature published in the United States. . . . .

Tales for Little Rebels . . . explores the inherently political nature of kid lit through an expansive collection of examples.

In his foreword, folklorist and scholar Jack Zipes claims that the late arrival of such a book is no accident. . . . “We tend to repress the crucial issues that children need to know to adjust to a rapidly changing world. We tend to repress what is at the heart of the conflicts that determine our lives. We have tried to ‘nourish’ children by feeding them literature that we think is appropriate for them. Or, put another way, we have manipulated them through oral forms of communication and prescriptions in print to think or not to think about the world around them.”

Does anyone out there know of a good ideological analysis of children's literature and/or television? I'm interested in the overall messages given to kids by these key avenues of socialization. Dora the Explorer anyone?

My 2 year old actually walked over to me this morning and started singing me the opening bars of the All Things Considered theme tune. Da da da da da da dat da.