ABSTRACT
Central to the study of Latin American children's literature has been the argument that the historical constraints of colonialism, neocolonialism, and postcolonialism have generated certain repeating themes and literary strategies in children's literature throughout the Spanish-speaking Americas. Fundamental tensions emerged from the outset between Spanish colonizers and native groups that still exist to this day as a result of opposing worldviews, contending explanations of reality, and different values, beliefs, and epistemologies. Along with the urge to resist contending pressures, both external and internal, comes the desire to transcend the conflict altogether and to escape the double bind, to "delink" from coloniality, which limits choices and affects outcomes. Accomplished writers of children's literature in any culture are acutely aware that to be successful, they must write two stories in one: One story for the children themselves as well as another one for the adults who may be reading to their young listeners.
