Secret Gardens (The Golden Age of Children's Literature)

Great read

Carpenter focuses a lot on the psycho-sexual underpinnings of Children's literature. When he focuses on the male writers, he seems to be on target. But his analysis of the motivations of women writers feels extremely dated in that it upholds sexist stereotypes and attitudes. He claims, for example, that Louisa May Alcott "looks masculine" and that her desire for independence proves she has "mannish" propensities. From his perspective, LMA desires to be a male. From a feminist perspective, LMA desires to be herself and to enjoy the autonomy granted to the male gender. Those are NOT the same thing. To do justice to the women writers of this tradition, l suggest you find a more balanced critic.

I bought this book thinking I was going to get a delightful analysis of books and stories I cherished as a child. Instead I got a post modernist interpretation of the authors and what they were REALLY saying in their stories. In a nutshell, according to Carpenter the authors of English children's literature from the late 19th century to early 20th are either homosexual or pedophiles and their stories are coded messages against Christianity and Victorian society. I'm sure we could also squeeze in the repression of women if we tried.This reinterpretation of bygone times, ever popular in today's universities, is both relentless and tiresome. I doubt I'll be reading any more of Carpenter's books.The book looks nice, however. I suppose it'll make an attractive paperweight.

This is a scholarly book, but very readable and full of insight into the authors and their most famous works. A very good read for anyone, but especially for those reading these classics to small children. Because of the other titles mentioned during the book, I now have a very long list of children's classics to read to my child before he's much older. It's a fabulous book for adults to understand more about children's books and why the classic works really work.

Excellent, and very readable

Throroughly researched, well-written and compelling: it was tremendously useful for what I’m working on. Highly recommended.