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Bright Pasts, Brighter Futures: Biographies for Children in the Early Twenty-First Century

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Literary Cultures and Twenty-First-Century Childhoods

Part of the book series: Literary Cultures and Childhoods ((LICUCH))

Abstract

This chapter explores the delicate balance struck between reverence for the past and hope for the future in inspirational picturebook biographies of historical or living figures. In the twenty-first century, children’s book prizes frequently reward texts that glorify eminent historical figures, and ensure that these books make their way into the educational system. Epitextual informative material provided by the publisher, specifically online, completes the reading and teaching experience. Biographies for children are often didactic, old-fashioned, and ideologically conservative. However, many picturebook biographies today also show remarkable adult faith in the agency and the creativity of the contemporary child. They link the personal and the political, and directly address the child as a potential agent of change. These texts anticipate that the child reader might not just emulate, but also go beyond the works of the people depicted. This aspect of the works is explored through the lens of contemporary sociology and cultural studies of childhood, foregrounding spaces of child agency rather than patterns of oppression.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of York, York, England, UK

    Clémentine Beauvais

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  1. Clémentine Beauvais
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Correspondence to Clémentine Beauvais .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, WA, USA

    Nathalie op de Beeck

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Beauvais, C. (2020). Bright Pasts, Brighter Futures: Biographies for Children in the Early Twenty-First Century. In: op de Beeck, N. (eds) Literary Cultures and Twenty-First-Century Childhoods. Literary Cultures and Childhoods. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-32146-8_4

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