Gavin, Adrienne E., ed. Mystery in Children's Literature: From the Rational to the Supernatural. Palgrave (PR 888 C513 M9 2001). 14 chapters by different authors, with topics from Nancy (Drew) to Harry (Potter), but also including one of my favorite authors, Ellen Raskin.

Karolides, Nicholas J., ed. Censored Books II: Critical Viewpoints, 1985-2000. Scarecrow Press (PS 65 C46 C45 2002). Essays by 64 different authors on 64 books - "to provide rationales for teachers and other citizens in defense of frequently censored/challenged books for the period between 1985 and 2000." (introduction, p. xiv)

Lindahl, Carl, ed. Perspectives on the Jack Tales and Other North American Marchen. Folklore Institute/Indiana University (GR 105.37 J32 P47 2001. Includes four essays by different authors and story versions from six narrators or transcribers.

Lukens, Rebecca J. A Critical Handbook of Children's Literature. Allyn and Bacon (PN1009 A1 L84 2003). 7th edition of a standard textbook.

Mackey, Margaret, ed. Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit: A Children's Classic at 100. Children's Literature Association and Scarecrow Press (PR 6031 O72 T333 2002). 13 essays by different authors are included in this first volume in the Children's Literature Association's Centennial Studies.

Nikolajeva, Maria. The Rhetoric of Character in Children's Literature. Scarecrow Press (PN 1009.5 C43 N55 2002). In-depth literary theory from a visiting professor at San Diego State University which supports the only master's program in children's literature in the CSU.

And some related titles...

Pipkin, Gloria and ReLeah Cossett Lent. At the Schoolhouse Gate: Lessons in Intellectual Freedom. Heinemann (LC 72.2 P57 2002). Two very readable case studies and a useful section titled What Can a Teacher Do? Great complement to Censored Books II, above.

Delpit, Lisa and Joanne Kilgour Dowdy, ed. The Skin That We Speak: Thoughts on Language and Culture in the Classroom. The New Press (LC 201.5 S55 2002) 12 chapters by different authors in three parts: Language and Identity, Language in the Classroom, and Teacher Knowledge. In the shadow of the Ebonics controversy, the purpose of this collection "is to explore the links between language and identity, between language and political hierarchy, and between language and cultural conflict." Any or all of the chapters would be stimulating reading for LSEE students.

Spack, Ruth. America's Second Tongue: American Indian Education and the Ownership of English, 1860-1900. University of Nebraska Press (PE 1130.5 A5 S63 2002). Another very interesting contribution to the language policy arena, this book "focuses on the ways European American and Native people used English to represent themselves and each other as they sought to fulfill their own political, educational, and cultural agendas." (introduction, p.11)

Egan, Kieran. Getting It Wrong from the Beginning: Our Progressivist Inheritance from Herbert Spencer, John Dewey, and Jean Piaget. Yale University Press (LA 212 E53 2002). I couldn't resist throwing in this provocative, well written title! "My topic is current education and how the persistence of powerful progressivist ideas continues to undermine our attempts to make schooling more effective." (introduction, p.8)