Children’s and Young Adult Novels

Abstract

This chapter examines the history of children's and young adult fiction in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the South Pacific. During the mid-twentieth century, fiction for the young in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand did not yet occupy a prominent place. In Australia, most children's fiction was produced and imported by British publishers. In Canada, markets and children's reading practices were dominated by American and (to a lesser extent) British imports until 1975. In Australia and New Zealand, children's novels began to gather strength in the late 1950s and 1960s. The chapter shows how the significance of children's fiction in the project of nation-building became to be recognised as a result of the growth of the educational publishing industry following World War II. It also considers the transnational relationships that pervade children's and young adult novels from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the South Pacific.