Representations of Childhood Death

Recent events such as the massacres in Dunblane and Arkansas, the deaths of children in terrorist attacks, civil wars and famines, children born with AIDS, and the many abductions and murders of children--including some by children--have placed childhood death firmly in the public consciousness. But how do we understand what it means for a child to die? This book examines the way the deaths of children have been dealt with at different times and in different media. Each contributor has focused on a different way of representing the deaths of children--from superstitions about malign child ghosts through mothers' diaries to horror fiction--and more.

Gillian Avery is a historian of children's literature.

Kimberley Reynolds is Reader in Children's Literature and Director of the National Centre for Research in Children's Literature at Roehampton Institute, London.