2024 books for adults on the topic of children’s literature

Just because we have to grow up doesn’t mean we have to leave our favorite childhood books behind. This collection of new and upcoming nonfiction for adults offers a fresh take on childhood classics and their beloved creators.

Believe in the world: Wisdom for adults from children’s books

collected by Amy Gash and Elise Howard, illustrated by Eleanor Davis, with a foreword by RJ Palacio. (Algonquin, August 20, $25, ISBN 978-1-64375-553-3)

Gash and Howard’s collaboration reframes the themes of children’s literature for older readers. Drawing on the works of contemporary authors such as Elizabeth Acevedo and Jason Reynolds, as well as classic authors such as Beverly Cleary, this collection shows how the uplifting power of children’s literature endures into adulthood.

The Genius of Judy: How Judy Blume rewrote childhood for all of us

by Rachelle Bergstein. (Atria/One Signal, July 16, $28.99 ISBN 978-1-66801-090-7)

Few authors have influenced children’s literature as much as Judy Blume. For fans of Are you there, God? It’s me, Margaret To baconThis book examines Blume’s life in a broader context and traces the footsteps of the woman and creator whose work has influenced generations of young people.

How to Draw the World: Harold and the Purple Crayon and the Making of a Children’s Book Classic

by Philip Nel. (Oxford University Press, November 27, $19.99, ISBN 978-0-19-777759-6)

Following his 2017 work, children’s literature scholar Philip Nel continues to examine the formulation of children’s classics Was the cat in the hat black? Now Nel takes a look at how Crockett Johnson’s 1955 book became a classic of children’s literature.

Emily of New Moon by LM Montgomery: A children’s book classic with 100 years

edited by Yan Du and Joe Sutliff Sanders. (University Press of Mississippi, May 15, $110 hardcover, ISBN 978-1-4968-5249-6; $30 paperback, ISBN 978-1-4968-5250-2)

Lucy Maud Montgomery is responsible for creating one of the most popular fairy tales for children, Anne of Green Gables. You and Sanders want to bring a lesser-known work by the Canadian writer into the spotlight. Emily from New Moona trilogy that traces the life of Byrd Starr from young orphan to professional writer – just in time for the book’s 100th anniversary.

Tove Jansson: Life, Art, Words

by Boel Westin, translated by Silvester Mazzarella. (University of Minnesota Press, April 30, $29.95, ISBN 978-1-5179-1729-6)

Westin offers readers a new perspective on Finnish-Swedish writer and artist Tove Jansson, best known for her Moomin series, first published in 1945. Using diary entries, letters and personal archives, as well as conversations with the author herself, this biography presents the artist both inside and outside her work.