Education
- Ph.D., University of Massachusetts at Amherst
- M.A., B.A., Boston College
Research and Writing Interests
- Images of Slavery in American Literature
- Multiculturalism in 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.
“Reframing History: Insider/Outsider Paradigms in Ten Books about Slavery.” Jeunesse: young people, texts, cultures 6.2 (Winter 2014): 134-147.
“‘Texts like a patchwork quilt’: Reading Picturebooks about Slavery.” Children’s Literature in Education 44.1 (March 2013): 29-43.
“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 Stories of Slavery for Children, 1790-1865, a critical anthology of stories culled from rare book collections (a companion text to Slavery in American Children’s Literature).
Recent Courses Taught
Undergraduate:
- Disney and Children’s Literature (ENGL 2109)
- Literature for Young Children (ENGL 3102)
- Building Suspense in Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Mystery (ENGL 4074)
- Classics in British Children’s Literature (ENGL 4102)
- Classics in American Children’s Literature (ENGL 4103)
- Multiculturalism in Children’s Literature (ENGL 4104)
Graduate:
- Building Suspense in Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Mystery (ENGL 5074)
- Classics in British Children’s Literature (ENGL 5102)
- Classics in American Children’s Literature (ENGL 5103)
- Multiculturalism in Children’s Literature (ENGL 5104)
- Introduction to Children’s Literature and Culture (ENGL 6103)
- Visual Semiotics in Children’s Literature (ENGL 6014)
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