An award-winning teacher lays out the basic rules of literary criticism in this accessible guide.

Beginning with the elements of the universal coming-of-age narrative,

“Kid Lit” shows young readers and general readers alike how to recognize story structure, class, gender, symbolism, trauma and Orientalism in children’s narratives.

Of value to all teachers, students, librarians, readers, literature lovers, and moviegoers.

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Tom Durwood is the best English instructor I have seen in my thirty-two years of teaching.

-- Professor Patrick Murray, Valley Forge Military College

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The “Kid Lit” text includes a sampling of new scholarship in children’s literature. Readers will discover:

… the story points which To Kill a Mockingbird, Persepolis and How to Train Your Dragon have in common

… a breakdown of Afrofuturism and other schools of the ‘Empire Writes Back’ movement

… why Voldemort and Doctor Octopus occupy very different villain categories

… such recurring literary characters as the failed adult, the savage conquest, the dream manic pixie girl, and the controversial ‘magic negro’

… why scholars of the family consider Finding Nemo a step forward and The Incredibles a step backward

... the vital connection between Star Wars and Vietnam

… the social Darwinian structure supporting the animal monarchy of The Lion King

… why Kung Fu Panda and The Hobbit are the same story, just as Avatar and Dances with Wolves are the same movie

The book’s second section brings eight original scholarly features to the general reader. Rising scholars give in-depth interviews and features on topics from models of motherhood in Pixar to echoes of war in Harry Potter.

The author challenges his readers with a score of bold concepts: “You do not have to buy what I’m selling,” he writes. “It’s worse: you have to understand it, break it down, reply to it, and then produce your own theory to replace mine.”

Also included in “Kid Lit” are 28 pages of lesson plans included, to help teachers leverage this idea-rich material into productive classroom sessions

Of value to all teachers, students, librarians, readers, literature lovers, and moviegoers.