In this article we present the cross-disciplinary methodology of a project on Danish children's literature 1790–1850 that has the child as the point of departure. The project focuses on three contexts in which children and adults interact with books: the home, the school and the book market. Theoretical inspirations have been drawn from book history, children's literature studies and childhood studies, including the concept of agency. A major database maps Danish books aimed at children 1750–1850, making it possible to trace the popularity of titles through reprints and new editions and to follow specific actors (authors, illustrators, printers and so on). Ego-documents by children – for example, letters written by Ida Thiele (1830–1862) – are analysed as sources of information on children's own experiences with books, their use of different media and their interaction with peers, relatives and teachers in relation to reading and books. Finally, we demonstrate how significant changes in form, content and the materiality of books for children can be captured, when following specific books such as E. Munthe's books on history and geography around the communication circuit. The article concludes that a combination of different cross-disciplinary methodologies is essential in a history of children's literature with children at its centre.

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Artiklen undersøger, hvad der karakteriserer det narrative forløb i udvalgte billedbøger for små børn og hovedpersonerne i disse narrativer. Den overordnede ramme for undersøgelsen er de senere års nordiske billedbogsforskning og litteraten J.Hillis Millers beskrivelse af, hvad en fortaelling er. På den baggrund analyseres en raekke nordiske fiktive billedbøger for små børn fra perioden 1945Á2009, bl.a. Grete Janus Hertz' Bamse (1945) med illustrationer af Mogens Hertz, Gunilla Woldes ti bøger om Totte (1969Á1973) samt Barbro Lindgrens bøger om Max (1981Á1994) illustreret af Eva Eriksson. Artiklen konkluderer, at man i de tidlige eksempler fra 1940'erne og 1950'erne finder et repetitivt narrativt forløb, som bygger på gentagelser af saetninger eller begivenheder med små variationer. Persontegningen i disse bøger er minimal. I eksempler fra omkring 1980 og i en raekke udgivelser efter år 2000 ses en udvikling mod plot-orienterede forløb, der indeholder narrativer i aristotelisk forstand, i form af fortaellinger med en begyndelse, en midte og en afslutning. Hovedpersonen i disse fortaellinger defineres både gennem handlinger, relationer og staerke følelser, positive såvel som negative. Gennem disse karakteristika laegger bøgerne op til den indlevelse og sammenligning med de faktiske laeseres eget levede liv. På den baggrund skitseres muligheden for at undersøge fiktion for små børn i lyset af teorier om fiktionens potentielle betydning for identitetsdannelsen, som beskrevet bl.a. af litteraturpaedagogen Louise Rosenblatt og filosoffen Martha Nussbaum. I lyset heraf opfordrer artiklen til fremover at skelne mellem pegebøger, bøger for små børn med repetitive narrative forløb og konflikt-og personorienterede narrativer, der med tematik, persontegning og beskrivelsen af en forandring, erkendelse eller konflikt omkring hovedpersonen, gør det naerliggende at laese vaerkerne i lyset af forestillinger om litteratur i et dannnelsesperspektiv. This article investigates what characterizes the narrative progression in a selection of picture books for small children and the main characters in these narratives. The overarching framework for the study is based on recent years' picture book research in the Nordic countries and on the literary critic J. Hillis Miller's definition of a narrative. Against this backdrop a number of Nordic fictional picture books for small children from the period 1945Á2009 is analyzed, among others Grete Janus Hertz' Bamse (1945), illustrated by Mogens Hertz, Gunilla Wolde's ten books on Totte (1969Á1973), as well as Barbro Lindgren's books on Max (1981Á1994), illustrated by Eva Eriksson. The article concludes that in the early examples from the 1940s and 1950s one finds a repetitive narrative progression that builds on repitition of sentences or events with only small variations. Characterizations of the people in these books is minimal. In examples from around 1980 and in a number of publications after 2000, a trend can be detected towards plot-oriented story progressions that contain a more Aristo...

“Transitions. Children’s Literature and Young Adult Fiction on the Move”The article gives an overview of current changes and tendencies within children’s literature and young adult fiction, as well as the research related to this field. Until recently, the book was considered the primary medium for literature for children, but the production of narratives that move across media is expanding. This calls for approaches that take the interaction of sound, image, verbal text and medium into consideration. Today, children and young people are considered individuals with agency, with the right and opportunity to influence their own situation, and this has led to an increasing interest in children’s use and production of texts. The article discusses aspects of this development, links it to a historical framework, and proposes a model that focuses on the interaction between different modes of expressions, media, producers and readers. In continuation of this, the article debates approaches to childhood within children’s literature studies, in particular the ‘kinship model’ proposed by Marah Gubar. This model suggests a focus on the continuum and the similarities between children and adults, instead of an approach to children that stresses their deficits or the differences between children and adults. The article concludes that the increasing interaction between children’s books and other media calls for interaction between children’s literature studies and media studies, and that many aspects point to a need for viewing the child as an active agent in the use and production of texts.

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