Recent biological research (Trewavas, 2003; Mancuso & Viola, 2013; Gagliano, 2018) has (re)demonstrated the variety and complexity of the adaptive behaviour of plants. In parallel with these findings, and in acknowledgement of the important role played by plants in the biosphere and climate of the planet, the representation of plants in…

The aim of this article is to trace the literary historiography of the Bengali "rupkatha" or the fairy tale. It is a conscious decision to use the two terms--"rupkatha" and fairy tale interchangeably in the paper because it has been argued that the genre of the Bengali "rupkatha" received its shape and form in…

As a child god from Chinese legends, the figure of Nezha has a strong appeal to children, and his story has been adapted to various media. This article examines Nezha's image in three animated films, exploring how this figure has been altered to represent Chinese children and youth and symbolize their subjectivity. From a revolutionary hero to a…

This article examines the reconstruction of human foibles in picturebook adaptations of three popular Aesop's fables: "The Ants and the Grasshopper", "The Lion and the Mouse", and "The Hare and the Tortoise". Adopting adaptation and globalectics perspectives, the author illustrates how social hierarchy is…

This article employs the theory of social minds proposed by Alan Palmer ("Social Minds in the Novel," 2010) to argue for the emergence of a group-based thinking, feeling, and acting focused on reforming the status quo, using David Whitley's Agora trilogy (2009--2013) as an example of Radical Fantasy. This particular subgenre of fantasy…

This article analyses the role of plants in three well publicised Nordic climate fictions for young adults: "Memories of Water" by Emmi Itäranta, originally published in 2012, "The World According to Anna" (2013) by Jostein Gaarder, and "Bouvetøya 2052" (2015) by Lars Maehle. Departing from the wider scholarly field…

This paper considers the Twilight novels alongside the Vampire Academy books, as young adult readers regularly invoke these series as touchstones of the contemporary adolescent Gothic genre. The abiding appeal of these vampire novels is related to the ways they reflect the experiences of young adults with the rapacity and greed displayed in our…

This article argues that two significant recent influential historical novels about the Holocaust, "Hitler's Daughter" (1999) and "The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas" (2006), reprise the genre traits of the "Bildungsroman" or novel of development and can be regarded as remarkably effective in engaging an active reader.…

Coming-of-age stories have conventionally constructed the development of subjectivity as a linear, cohesive, and ultimately empowering process. Narrative closure is thus typically contingent on the adolescent protagonist's ability to acquire an agentic form of self-knowledge and integrate productively into the adult world. In contrast, the failure…

This paper reads the U.K. Government's "fundamental British values" project alongside two children's Gothic novels, "Coram Boy" (2000) by Jamila Gavin and "City of Ghosts" (2009) by Bali Rai. In 2011 the U.K. Government outlined what it described as "fundamental British values" (FBV), making it a requirement…

Story Makers Press (SMP) is a University-based publisher which co-constructs stories with under-represented groups of children in order to diversify representation in children's literature and disrupt the way adult perceptions of normality pattern children's literature (aetonormativity). In this paper we analyse six drama and creative writing…

Though critics have debated the gendered ideologies at work in the ballet book genre, discussion so far has overlooked how race shapes the meanings of such stories and the ways that stereotypes about black females have caused them to be excluded from representation in both the world of classical dance and ballet stories. This essay provides a…

This article explores how adult writers of children's literature are implicitly positioned as translators between "adult" and "child" culture. Adopting the lens of metaphor theory, it traces the conceptual correspondence between adult metaphors of childhood (e.g., the child-savage analogy) and the metaphor of the adult…

In the twenty-first century, the Gothic has experienced a cultural resurgence in literature, film, and television for young adult audiences. Young adult readers, poised between childhood and adulthood, have proven especially receptive to the Gothic's themes of liminality, monstrosity, transgression, romance, and sexuality (James, 2009, p. 116). As…

Amongst the wide variety of poetic forms found across children's poetry, the list is strikingly prevalent. Drawing on Umberto Eco's theory of lists, the article examines how the poetic list plays out in the work of a number of children's poets, distinguishing four sub-categories, each of which operates in a slightly different way. After a brief…