@article{ref1,
title="Goodbye yellow brick road: challenging the mythology of home in children's literature",
journal="Children's literature in education",
year="2012",
author="Wilson, Melissa and Short, Kathy",
volume="43",
number="2",
pages="129-144",
abstract="The myth of home is what distinguishes children's literature from adult novels (Wolf 1990 ). Nodelman and Reimer (The Pleasures of Children's Literature, 2003 ) write that while &quot;the home/away/home pattern is the most common story line in children's literature, adult fiction that deals with young people who leave home usually ends with the child choosing to stay away&quot; (pp. 197-198). In a critical content analysis of recent award-winning middle reader novels from the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia, a new pattern was observed. This pattern, called a postmodern metaplot, begins with the child being abandoned, rather than the child leaving the home. The child's journey is to construct a home within a postmodern milieu complete with competing truths and failed adults. Ultimately, the child's postmodern journey ends with very modern ideal of the child leading the adults to a hopeful ending, a home. The article explores the changing roles of childhood and adulthood in children's literature and questions if the mythology of home can be undone.<p />",
language="en",
issn="0045-6713",
doi="10.1007/s10583-011-9138-z",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10583-011-9138-z"
}