Portrayals of Children in Popular Culture: Fleeting Images, edited by Vibiana Bowman Cvetkovic and Debbie Olson, is a collection which examines images of “children” and “childhood” in popular culture, including print, online, television shows, and films. The contributors to this volume explore the constructions of “children” and “childhood” rather than actual children or actual childhoods. In the chapters that are concerned with depictions of actual, individual children, the authors investigate how the images of those children conform or “trouble” current notions of what it means to be a child engaged in a contemporary “childhood.” This is a unique volume, because of the academic discourse which is employed—that of “Childhood Studies.” The Childhood Studies scholars represented in this collection utilize an interdisciplinary approach which draws upon various academic fields—their methodologies, theoretical approaches, and scholarly conventions—for the scholarly research in this collection. Together, the contributions to this collection interrogate classic notions of childhood innocence, knowledge, agency, and the fluid position of the signifier “child” within contemporary media forms. These interdisciplinary works function as a testament to the infectiousness of the child image in print, television, and cinematic contexts, and represent a new avenue of discursive scholarship; the questions raised and connections made provide fresh insights and unique perspectives to topics regarding children and childhood and their representation within multiple media platforms. The growing field of Childhood Studies is enriched by the intellectual originality represented by this volume’s authors who ask new questions about the enduring and captivating image of the child.

This collection seeks to broaden the discussion of the child image by close analysis of the child and childhood as depicted in non-Western cinemas. Each essay offers a counter-narrative to Western notions of childhood by looking critically at alternative visions of childhood that does not privilege a Western ideal. Rather, this collection seeks to broaden our ideas about children, childhood, and the child’s place in the global community. This collection features a wide variety of contributors from around the world who offer compelling analyses of non-Western, non-Hollywood films starring children.

Focusing on narratives with supernatural components, Karen J. Renner argues that the recent proliferation of stories about evil children demonstrates not a declining faith in the innocence of childhood but a desire to preserve its purity. From novels to music videos, photography to video games, the evil child haunts a range of texts and comes in a variety of forms, including changelings, ferals, and monstrous newborns. In this book, Renner illustrates how each subtype offers a different explanation for the problem of the “evil” child and adapts to changing historical circumstances and ideologies.

This book offers readers insights into the transformations taking place in the presentation of gender portrayals in television productions aimed at younger audiences.

A definitive reference on intra- and inter-group processes across a range of age and cultural contexts Children from infancy develop attachments to significant others in their immediate social environment, and over time become aware of other groups (e.g. gender, ethnicity, age, classroom, sports) that they do or do not belong to and why. Recent research shows that children’s attitudes, beliefs and behaviours are significantly influenced by these memberships and that the influence increases through childhood. This Handbook delivers the first comprehensive, international reference on this critical topic.

A reader on children's culture

How Picturebooks Work is an innovative and engaging look at the interplay between text and image in picturebooks. The authors explore picturebooks as a specific medium or genre in literature and culture, one that prepares children for other media of communication, and they argue that picturebooks may be the most influential media of all in the socialization and representation of children. Spanning an international range of children's books, this book examine such favorites as Curious George and Frog and Toad Are Friends, along with the works of authors and illustrators including Maurice Sendak and Tove Jansson, among others. With 116 illustrations, How Picturebooks Work offers the student of children's literature a new methodology, new theories, and a new set of critical tools for examining the picturebook form.

"Marian Meyers's latest anthology takes a new look at a wide range of contemporary images of women within the media to examine the meanings behind the representations of women in popular culture. This book explores what the representation of women says about their positions in society, the factors that shape representation, and the roles that gender, race, class, ethnicity and sexual orientation play within the mediated portrayal of women." "Drawing primarily on qualitative textual analysis of film, reality TV, advertising, the news, children's programming, soap operas, TV drama, and more, this book situates the representation of women in popular culture along a continuum ranging from stereotypical portrayals that underscore women's bodies as pornographic spectacle to more positive and hopeful depictions. And it argues that the contemporary portrayals of women within popular culture are shaped by two major trends: the mainstreaming of pornography and its resultant hypersexualization of women and girls, and the commodification of those images for a global market."--BOOK JACKET.

The Story About Ping covers the concepts Family and Problem Solving. This classic children’s book was first published in 1933 and is still as delightful and relevant as ever. Ping’s owner takes him and his siblings to the river for dinner. When it’s time to go, Ping is the last duck in the water and, as such, will receive a spanking. To avoid punishment, he hides—only to be captured the next morning by a young boy for his family’s dinner. Finally Ping is set free, and when he sees his master’s boat, the last thing he fears is a spanking—he’s just thankful to be home!

“In an old house in Paris that was covered with vines lived twelve little girls in two straight lines the smallest one was Madeline.” Nothing frightens Madeline—not tigers, not even mice. With its endearing, courageous heroine, cheerful humor, and wonderful, whimsical drawings of Paris, the Madeline stories are true classics that continue to charm readers, even after 75 years. Join Madeline in another adventure when she and Pepito run off to join the carnival with a band of traveling gypsies! Ludwig Bemelmans (1898-1962) was the author of the beloved Madeline books, including Madeline, a Caldecott Honor Book, and Madeline's Rescue, winner of the Caldecott Medal.