Donna R. White

Donna R. White is by no means the first critic to espy the strong influence of Welsh mythology in much of contemporary fantasy literature, a fact she herself acknowledges in the introduction to this book. Her work builds upon that of Kath Filmer-Davies, the author of numerous articles, as well as the book-length study, Fantasy Fiction and Welsh Myth: Tales of Belonging. White is also much indebted to C.W. Sullivan's 1989 title Welsh Celtic Myth in Modern Fantasy. But although she was not the show more first or only scholar to explore this topic, she was the first to limit her study to the field of children's literature, a fact which led me to begin my reading with her work.

With chapters devoted to Sydney Lanier's retelling of the Mabinogion, Kenneth Morris' Book of the Three Dragons, Alan Garner's The Owl Service, and Lloyd Alexander Chronicles of Prydain, as well as two chapters on various other retellings of the Mabinogi, there is much here to ponder and digest. Susan Cooper's marvelous Dark Is Rising Sequence is discussed, as is Jenny Nimmo's Snow Spider Trilogy (and this long before she had become popular with the publication of her Charlie Bone series). Other authors briefly considered: Joan Aiken, Nancy Bond, Grace Chetwin, Clare Cooper, Louise Lawrence, and Madeleine L'Engle.

I used White's book in preparation for the course I taught on the use of folklore in children's fantasy fiction, and assigned parts of the chapter on Lloyd Alexander as a secondary reading for my students. I found the book as a whole to be both informative and inspirational: it strengthened and reinforced my own interest in the connections between fantasy and folklore, and has served as a model for the dissertation I would like to write on the use of Irish mythology and folklore in children's literature. show less

J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan In and Out of Time: A Children's Classic at 100 is a wonderful resource for anyone who wishes to look at Peter Pan in a critical fashion. I first discovered this book through the library when I was doing a project on Peter Pan, and after I absolutely could not delay returning the book any longer, I found myself constantly referring to my bibliography and missing the book. So I ordered it! While this is a wonderful look at Peter Pan, the essays in Peter Pan In and Out show more of Time refer far beyond just Peter Pan-- the time period and ideas referenced are valuable to understanding certain literary and historical concepts. I've referred to this book several times since purchase and in most of those instances I was looking for general information in the essays regarding adolescence, gender roles, and other ideas and issues that are touched upon. I highly recommend this book! show less

so interesting. i've been a fan of diana wynne jones' writing for years, first finding her as a kid, and then reading and re-reading her as an adult; so to find a book of critical anylsis of her work was a dream. a lot of the info, as to references and such, was stuff i'd picked up on through the years, but other thoughts were insighful and new to me.

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