The Bloomsbury Handbook of Childrens and Young Adult Literature in Education
By (Author) Katrina Bartow Jacobs
Edited by Patricia Crawford
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Bloomsbury Academic
22nd January 2026
United Kingdom
Professional and Scholarly
Non Fiction
Childrens and teenage literature studies: general
Hardback
416
Width 169mm, Height 244mm
This handbook provides a comprehensive review of the research and practice of engaging with childrens and young adult literature in education. Drawing across scholarship focused on genre, creation, and utilization of childrens literature, it provides a unique perspective on the role that childrens literature can play in educational spaces from age 2 to 18, and from picture books to YA literature.
The volume is divided into three main sections: first, a review of the history of childrens literature and its application in education; second, a discussion of methodological approaches for studying childrens literature in educating young people - particularly in relation to critical literacy and multimodality; and third, a cross section of research organized by the developmental use of childrens literature in school settings. The chapters cover a range of topics including diversity, intersectionality, transactional theory, representation, trauma-informed pedagogy, anti-racism, immigration, folk and fairy tales and more.
Written by leading scholars based in Australia, South Africa, South Korea, and the UK, the handbook represents the global use of childrens literature in schools, revealing connections across international contexts while also honoring the differences in how literature is conceptualized and utilized across the world.
Katrina Bartow Jacobs is Associate Professor of Practice, Language, Literacy and Culture at the University of Pittsburgh, USA.
Patricia Crawford is Associate Professor of Early Childhood, Language, Literacy and Culture at the University of Pittsburgh, USA.