The shut of a century invitations either retrospection and prognostication. As a interval of transition, it additionally brings a feeling of uncertainty, finality, and apocalypticism. those emotions stem from a number of occasions, comparable to political turmoil, medical developments, and social swap. As could be anticipated, literature displays such alterations and the emotions they engender. yet probably extra strangely, kid's literature is principally delicate to such issues, and fiction for kids usually struggles with darkish and ugly concerns. This booklet examines fin de siËcle tensions in nineteenth- and 20th-century kid's literature from round the world.

Each bankruptcy is written by means of knowledgeable contributor, and the amount levels over a disparate number of issues. those comprise poetry, sequence books, pacifist fiction, gender matters, faith and literature, eco-criticism, minority reports, humor and the Holocaust, fable and technology fiction, and laptop tradition. In exploring those concerns with regards to kid's literature, the members show the transferring nature of our values and the realm within which we are living. international in nature, the chapters examine kid's literature from such areas as Germany, Holland, the uk, Australia, and the United States.