Beasts at bedtime revealing the environmental wisdom in children's literature /
Talking lions, philosophical bears, very hungry caterpillars, wise spiders, altruistic trees, companionable moles, urbane elephants: this is the magnificent menagerie that delights our children at bedtime. Within the entertaining pages of many children's books, however, also lie profound teachi...
| Main Author: | Heneghan, Liam, |
|---|---|
| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Chicago :
The University of Chicago Press,
2018.
|
| Physical Description: |
338 pages : illustrations ; 21 cm. |
| Subjects: |
| Summary: |
Talking lions, philosophical bears, very hungry caterpillars, wise spiders, altruistic trees, companionable moles, urbane elephants: this is the magnificent menagerie that delights our children at bedtime. Within the entertaining pages of many children's books, however, also lie profound teachings about the natural world that can help children develop an educated and engaged appreciation of the dynamic environment they inhabit. In Beasts at Bedtime, scientist (and father) Liam Heneghan examines the environmental underpinnings of children's stories. From Beatrix Potter to Harry Potter, Heneghan unearths the universal insights into our inextricable relationship with nature that underlie so many classic children's stories. Some of the largest environmental challenges in coming years--from climate instability, the extinction crisis, freshwater depletion, and deforestation--are likely to become even more severe as this generation of children grows up. Though today's young readers will bear the brunt of these environmental calamities, they will also be able to contribute to environmental solutions if prepared properly. And all it takes is an attentive eye: Heneghan shows how the nature curriculum is already embedded in bedtime stories, from the earliest board books like The Rainbow Fish to contemporary young adult classics like The Hunger Games. Beasts at Bedtime is an awakening to the vital environmental education children's stories can provide--from the misadventures of The Runaway Bunny to more overt tales like The Lorax. Heneghan serves as our guide, drawing richly upon his own adolescent and parental experiences, as well as his travels in landscapes both experienced and imagined. Organized into thematic sections, the work winds its way through literary forests, colorful characters, and global environments. This book enthralls as it engages. Heneghan as a guide is as charming as he is insightful, showing how kids (and adults) can start to experience the natural world in incredible ways from the comfort of their own rooms. Beasts at Bedtime will help parents, teachers, and guardians extend those cozy times curled up together with a good book into a lifetime of caring for our planet. -- {u2021}c From publisher's description. |
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| Item Description: |
Includes bibliographical references (pages [295]-317) and index. Talking lions, philosophical bears, very hungry caterpillars, wise spiders, altruistic trees, companionable moles, urbane elephants: this is the magnificent menagerie that delights our children at bedtime. Within the entertaining pages of many children's books, however, also lie profound teachings about the natural world that can help children develop an educated and engaged appreciation of the dynamic environment they inhabit. In Beasts at Bedtime, scientist (and father) Liam Heneghan examines the environmental underpinnings of children's stories. From Beatrix Potter to Harry Potter, Heneghan unearths the universal insights into our inextricable relationship with nature that underlie so many classic children's stories. Some of the largest environmental challenges in coming years--from climate instability, the extinction crisis, freshwater depletion, and deforestation--are likely to become even more severe as this generation of children grows up. Though today's young readers will bear the brunt of these environmental calamities, they will also be able to contribute to environmental solutions if prepared properly. And all it takes is an attentive eye: Heneghan shows how the nature curriculum is already embedded in bedtime stories, from the earliest board books like The Rainbow Fish to contemporary young adult classics like The Hunger Games. Beasts at Bedtime is an awakening to the vital environmental education children's stories can provide--from the misadventures of The Runaway Bunny to more overt tales like The Lorax. Heneghan serves as our guide, drawing richly upon his own adolescent and parental experiences, as well as his travels in landscapes both experienced and imagined. Organized into thematic sections, the work winds its way through literary forests, colorful characters, and global environments. This book enthralls as it engages. Heneghan as a guide is as charming as he is insightful, showing how kids (and adults) can start to experience the natural world in incredible ways from the comfort of their own rooms. Beasts at Bedtime will help parents, teachers, and guardians extend those cozy times curled up together with a good book into a lifetime of caring for our planet. -- {u2021}c From publisher's description. Section one. On reading. Existential princess : a fairy tale. Beasts at bedtime : reading about nature with children ; Doctor Dolittle and the question of reading -- Section two. Pastoral stories. Topophilia. Pastoral promise : and they all lived happily ever after ; Ecology of Pooh ; Peter Rabbit's brutal paradise ; In the garden of earthly delights ; Beyond the pool of darkness : the pastoral roots of Irish stories -- Section three. Wilderness stories. Lost in the Popo Agie Wilderness. On the Mallard ; Where the wild things always were ; Wild and Grimm fairy tales : wilderness on the margins ; "Gollumgate" : Tolkien and Ireland ; "I am in fact a hobbit" : Tolkien as environmentalist ; Tin woodman's path of carnage through the Land of Oz ; Hunger and thirst in Suzanne Collins's Hunger games -- Section four. Children on wild islands. Old Tom's island. Why and the what of islands ; Archmage Ged, Merlin, and Harry Potter and the training of wizards and witches ; Is L.T. Meade the real author of Enid Blyton's famous five? ; Robinson Crusoe : now here's a cannibalism tale for every child ; On isles benevolent; on isles malevolent -- Section five. Urban stories. Urban wild. Urban to rural gradient of children's stories : The happy prince ; Antipathy to urban life in nursery rhymes ; Urban decay : R. Crumb in the nursery ; Escape artist : Calvin and Hobbes and the suburban idyll ; Babar : elephant and urban adapter -- Section six. Learning to care. And the world hummed back. Caring for the rose : environmental literacy and Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's The little prince ; What then should we do? : the Lorax in the twenty-first century -- Section seven. Good night, sleep tight. In the tot lot. Bookend conversations. |
| Physical Description: |
338 pages : illustrations ; 21 cm. |
| Bibliography: |
Includes bibliographical references (pages [295]-317) and index. |
| ISBN: |
9780226431383 022643138X |