CUNY - College of Staten Island: London - British Children's Literature in England

Earn four credits in four weeks this summer exploring the very alleys, streets, parks, and homes that gave life to the magical characters from your childhood novels. You'll visit sites that inspired Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and The Secret Garden. See landmarks such as the Peter Pan statue in Kensington Gardens and Platform 9¾ at King's Cross Station.
This faculty-led summer course is an introduction to the histories, theories and criticism of children’s literature specifically focusing on British children’s literature and the ways it represents childhood. You’ll read seminal British children's books and visit the most important landmarks that have inspired the characters, plots, and settings of these texts. Together, we will consider questions such as How do these texts imagine the nature of children? Why do many children’s books associate natural settings and imaginary realms with childhood? In what ways do these texts encourage children to access 'forbidden' places and spaces? We will also explore cultural sites that archive children's literature and culture, and consider the implications of these public efforts to preserve and commemorate children’s cultural forms.