Picturing the Wolf in Children's Literature

Looking at myths, legends, fables, folk and fairy tales, fractured tales, fictional stories, and nonfiction from 1500 to the present, Mitts-Smith identifies and analyzes the cultural, social, and scientific knowledge embedded in and imparted through the image of the wolf in over 250 books. Along the way, three questions guide her: How are wolves depicted in and across particular works? What values and attitudes inform the depiction of the wolf and wolf-human relations? How has the concept of the wolf changed over time?

Debra Mitts-Smith teaches children's and young adult literature for the University of Illinois. She has Master's degrees in French and Library and Information Science and a PhD from the University of Illinois