The National Book Critics Circle announced the nominees for its 2008 awards on Saturday. We were pleased that Seth Lerer’s recent Children’s Literature: A Reader’s History from Aesop to Harry Potter is a finalist for this year’s award in criticism. Offering insightful analyses of everything from Aesop’s fables to Harry Potter, Lerer’s book captures the rich and diverse history of children’s literature in its full panorama, examining both the factors that have shaped children’s literature, and how children’s literature has, in turn, shaped us.
When we contacted Lerer about his nomination, he noted that since he dedicated the book to his mother, he would dedicate this honor to her as well: “She read to me, and took me to the library. There’s a little vignette in the book about her taking me to the library; it’s in the chapter on American libraries and American literature—the section on Johnny Tremaine.”
To see the complete list of the NBCC nominees go to the NBCC Board of Directors blog. The winners will be announced on Thursday, March 12, 2009, at a ceremony held at the New School in New York.
You can read an excerpt from Children’s Literature.