Education
- Ph.D., University of Massachusetts at Amherst
- M.A., B.A., Boston College
Research and Writing Interests
- American and British Children’s Literature
- Film, Visual Semiotics, and Popular Culture
- Suspense and Genre Fiction
Publications (selected)
Books
Slavery in American Children’s Literature, 1790-2010. (University of Iowa Press, 2013).
Winnie-the-Pooh and the House at Pooh Corner: Recovering Arcadia. (Twayne—Macmillan, 1995).
Articles
“The Metafictive Playgrounds of Disney’s Winnie the Pooh: the movie is a book.” Walt Disney, From Reader to Storyteller: Essays on the Literary Inspirations. Eds. Kathy Merlock Jackson and Mark I. West. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2015. 179-194.
“Surviving the Storm: Trauma and Recovery in Children’s Books about Natural Disasters.” Bookbird: A Journal of International Children’s Literature. 50.1 (January 2012): 1-9.
“Retelling 9/11: How Picture Books Re-Envision National Crises.” Lion and the Unicorn: A Critical Journal of Children’s Literature (Johns Hopkins UP) 32.3 (Sept 2008): 288-303.
Current Projects
I’m working on a mystery set in academia. I’m also continuing to work on a critical anthology of stories that were published in the early nineteenth century for children. The stories have been culled from rare book collections.
Recent Courses Taught
- Disney and Children’s Literature
- Literature for Young Children
- Building Suspense in Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Mystery
- Visual Narratives in Children’s/YA Literature
- Classics in British Children’s Literature
- Classics in American Children’s Literature
- Introduction to Children’s Literature and Culture
- Visual Semiotics in Children’s Literature
Editorial Boards
Children’s Literature in Education: An International Quarterly
R.I.S.E. (Reading Inspires Success in Education): A Children’s Literacy Journal
External Funding
Boston Athenӕum. Caleb Loring, Jr. Fellow, 2014-2015
American Antiquarian Society. Invited Visiting Scholar, 2013-2014
Children’s Literature Association. Faculty Research Grant, 2013