Celebrating Vibrant and Diverse Work Around Global Children's Literature

Abstract

Celebrating Vibrant and Diverse Work Around Global Children's Literature Petros Panaou (bio) and Janelle Mathis (bio) With five peer-reviewed articles, two Children and Their Books contributions, an author interview, four Letters, an International Youth Library Report, eight Postcards, six Books on Books reviews, and Focus IBBY, this is one of the most content-rich issues we have edited so far. Only now, looking at it in its completed form, do we marvel in its riches and admire the vibrant and diverse scholarly, educational, and creative work around global children's literature it captures. The peer-reviewed articles in this open-theme issue are indicative of the diverse richness mentioned above. They explore such diverse topics such as play and adventure in Holocaust children's literature, Ecocriticism and the representation of forests by a beloved Swedish author, authenticity and Colonialism in graphic memoirs, rainbow families in global picturebooks, and a Lebanese illustrator's depiction of Arab youth and societies. In "The Holocaust as Adventure in Uri Orlev's Children's Books," Daniel Feldman argues that, by portraying war as an audacious game and survival as a thrilling adventure, Orlev's juvenile texts about the Holocaust forge a powerful connection between the child victim of the Holocaust and the contemporary reader of children's literature, who unite in imagining the rich, vivid, and sometimes terrifying world of the book as real. In "The Giving Trees," Rachel Sakrisson analyzes three picturebooks by Elsa Beskow, which present an alternative form of environmental activism. Sakrisson argues that Beskow's picturebooks, written prior to the rise of modern conservationism, promote a more accessible forest space than is typically encountered in children's literature. Mark D. McCarthy, in "Othering Authors in the Name of Authenticity," argues that the genre of graphic memoir troublingly lends itself to an affirmation of the West while audiences make this affirmation invisible by naming the authors Other. He asserts that when authors are "inside" another culture and their text aligns with Western values, the West and its worldview are affirmed from outside. And in "Global Rainbow Families," Jamie Campbell Naidoo and Kaitlyn Lynch provide insight into how children's books from specific countries depict physical contact between same-sex couples in picturebook illustrations and how this may influence understanding of LGBTQ families. [End Page 1] Finally, in "Picturing Arab Youth and Societies," Tina Sleiman highlights visual characteristics and elements observed in Ali Chamseddine's work, as well as how the illustrator's upbringing and social context influenced his depiction of Arabic youth and societies. The remaining texts in this issue complete the beautiful mosaic of global children's literature and its important place in the world in the current moment. We hope you enjoy reading all of them and share the marvel, admiration, and inspiration they have instilled in us. [End Page 2] Petros Panaou Petros Panaou is a clinical associate professor at the University of Georgia, Department of Language and Literacy Education, where he teaches children's literature and literacy courses. He chairs the annual Georgia Conference on Children's Literature and has also chaired the academic committee for the 36th IBBY Congress. Petros currently serves on the Newbery Awards committee and has served on USBBY's Outstanding International Books committee. He has authored a book and several articles and book chapters on international children's literature. He has translated two academic volumes and led multiple international grants. His unpublished novel for children and teens To Kinito (The Cellphone) was awarded a CYBBY honor in 2017. Janelle Mathis Janelle Mathis is a professor of literacy and children's literature at the University of North Texas, where she teaches both graduate and undergraduate courses centered on international children's literature and its applications in research and instruction. She presents regularly at international children's literature conferences, including IBBY Congresses and IRSCL, and has served on award committees, including the Outstanding International Books Award of USBBY. Janelle publishes on children's literature studies, and recently co-edited with Holly Johnson and Kathy Short a book titled Critical Content Analysis of Children's and Young Adult Literature (2017). Copyright © 2020 Bookbird, Inc.