Poetry and Childhood

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Poetry and Childhood is the first academic book to give serious critical attention to the poetry of childhood. This international volume brings together poets including Philip Gross, Andrew Motion and Michael Rosen - the latter both former Laureates - and distinguished critics such as Teresa Cremin, Peter Hunt, Lissa Paul, David Rudd, Chip Sullivan, Laura Tosi, and Victor Watson. All have something new to say about poetry and childhood.

Based on a prestigious conference organized by Morag Styles for the British Library and the Cambridge Faculty of Education in 2009, it is edited by a team of poetry scholars from the University of Cambridge. The book opens with the fundamental question, what is children's poetry? It considers key poets of childhood from the past, including John Bunyan, Robert Louis Stevenson, A.A. Milne, Ted Hughes and Charles Causley, and the poetry for children by present Poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy. Chapters consider some of the major traditions and forms of poetry, take a new look at comic verse, develop fresh perspectives on nature as a central theme, and celebrate the importance of poetry as an oral medium. The voices of children, poets, parents and teachers responding to poetry are featured throughout in a jargon-free volume which, although aimed primarily at scholars and teachers of children's literature, is accessible to anyone interested in poetry or children.