ABSTRACT
It is very difficult to isolate theory from practice in the study of children’s literature: the need to consider the relationship between author and audience in a complex way has led, directly or indirectly, to some innovative writing for children. While much of children’s literature tends to be controlled by, and to reinforce, the dominant ideology, nevertheless its cultural marginalisation has allowed it to be one of the most experimental and creative areas of the arts. Robyn McCallum looks at the ways in which highly self-conscious writers for children have manipulated the form, and demonstrates how such texts can be analysed.
