A Practical Companion to Children’s Literature Studies: Conducting Research and Building a Career

Children’s literature is a rapidly expanding and ever-evolving field, so this research guide is devoted to the specialist skills and complexities of studying and working with children’s literature, alongside childhood studies, at university level and beyond. A successor to Kimberley Reynolds’s and Matthew Grenby’s 2011 Children’s Literature Studies: A Research Handbook, this work reflects on new directions and emphases in children’s literature studies as seen by all levels - from undergraduates to postgraduates to early and mid-career specialists. It offers practical guidance in locating and responding to research and funding opportunities, career development and impact. With a broad, international focus, APractical Guide to Children’s Literature Studies includes:

- Contributions from scholars around the world, including the US, Chile, China, and the Philippines
- Outlines of the field and the careers possible with specialisms in children’s literature
- Sample research proposals from an MA dissertation to senior-level projects
- Guidance on locating grants, fellowships, collaborations and other opportunities
- A look at the ethical complexities of a field so close to children and young people
- Solutions to the problems researchers face entering the field
- Discussion of key archives, special collections and digital resources of international significance
- Advice on preparing for responsibilities within academia such as presentations and publication
- An exploration of how new, emerging and established scholars can maximise the impact of their work
- Worked examples, international case studies and guides to further reading
- Guidance on the use of AI

Filling a gap in provisions for all those looking to study or specialise in children literature, this is the ultimate guide for anyone seeking to position themselves in ways which will maximise their employability inside and out of academia.

Kimberley Reynolds is Professor of Children’s Literature at Newcastle University, UK.

Matthew O. Grenby is Professor of Eighteenth-Century Studies in the School of English at Newcastle University, UK.

Emily Murphy is Senior Lecturer in Children’s Literature at Newcastle University, UK. She is the author of Growing Up with America: Youth, Myth, and National Identity, 1945 to Present (2020) and has written numerous chapters and articles in various works and journals including Connecting Childhood and Old Age in Popular Media (2018, ed. Vanessa Joosen), Prizing Children’s Literature (2017, ed. Kenneth Kidd and Joseph Thomas), Jeunesse, Children’s Literature Association Quarterly and The Lion and the Unicorn.