For much of its history, children's literature has been overlooked or looked down on by scholars. But in recent years children's literature has assumed greater importance, as literary critics, psychologists, anthropologists, and historians have begun to discover what children and parents have known for centuries: that this is a literature of extraordinary richness, depth, and delight. The Encyclopedia captures and elucidates this richness in four volumes and 3,200 signed entries. It offers comprehensive coverage of children's literature, from medieval chapbooks of moral instruction for children to J. K. Rowling's immensely popular Harry Potter books. Unlike other references, the Encyclopedia not only documents but also interprets every work, major and minor, that has played a role in the history of children's literature in the world. General essays illuminate prominent trends, themes, genres, and the traditions of children's literature in many countries. In addition, the Encyclopedia provides biographies of important writers, as well as extensive coverage of illustrators with numerous examples of their work. Sociocultural developments such as the impact of toys, films, animation, the Internet, literacy, libraries and librarians, censorship, the multicultural expansion of the field, and other issues related to the appreciation and dissemination of children's literature are also addressed. While the Encyclopedia concentrates on the tradition known best by its readership, it also covers the international development of children's literature and offers an unprecedented treatment of works from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, African countries, and other nations. Its over 800 distinguished contributors come from around the world and include such renowned scholars and writers as Gillian Avery, Peter Hunt, Klaus Doderer, Hansa Heino Ewers, Jean Perrot, Denise Escarpit, Brian Alderson, and Betsy Gould Hearne. A-Z organization, accessible writing, plentiful illustrations, cross-references, bibliographies, a comprehensive index and a systematic outline make the Encyclopedia an invaluable and easy-to-use research reference.

Children's literature first became a distinct body of writing and publishing in the eighteenth century. Until the seventeenth century, children were usually considered as smaller versions of adults. As the notion of "childhood" as a distinct part of life emerged, a distinct body of literature emerged as well, designed both to entertain and edify this new class of readers. But for much of its history, books written for children were not seen as worthy of scholarly attention. Recently this has changed with everyone from literary critics, to psychologists, to anthropologists, to historians studying this incredibly rich outpouring. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Children's Literature is the first multi-volume set to document and interpret the books read by children in the English-speaking world. It includes brief biographies of every major author and illustrator, and features essays on all genres of children's literature, individual works, and prominent trends and themes, as well as general essays on the traditions of children's literature in many country in the world. ***A future Oxford Digital Reference Shelf title. For more information, visit http://www.oxfordonline/digitalreference.***

East German science fiction enabled its authors to create a subversive space in another time and place. One of the country's most popular genres, it outlined futures that often went beyond the party's official version. Many utopian stories provided a corrective vision, intended to preserve and improve upon East German communism. This study is an introduction to East German science fiction. The book begins with a chapter on German science fiction before 1949. It then spans the entire existence of the country (1949-1990) and outlines key topics essential to understanding the genre: popular literature, socialist realism, censorship, fandom, and international science fiction. An in-depth discussion addresses notions of high and low literature, elements of the fantastic and utopia as critical narrative strategies, ideology and realism in East German literature, gender, and the relation between literature and science. Through a close textual analysis of three science fiction novels, the author expands East German literary history to include science fiction as a valuable source for developing a multi-faceted understanding of the country's short history. Finally, an epilogue notes new titles and developments since the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Reflections and predictions of technology's effect on reading and writing

Alkaloids, represent a group of interesting and complex chemical compounds, produced by the secondary metabolism of living organisms in different biotopes. They are relatively common chemicals in all kingdoms of living organisms in all environments. Two hundred years of scientific research has still not fully explained the connections between alkaloids and life.Alkaloids-Chemistry, Biological Significance, Applications and Ecological Role provides knowledge on structural typology, biosynthesis and metabolism in relation to recent research work on alkaloids. Considering an organic chemistry approach to alkaloids using biological and ecological explanation. Within the book several questions that persist in this field of research are approached as are some unresearched areas. The book provides beneficial text for an academic and professional audience and serves as a source of knowledge for anyone who is interested in the fascinating subject of alkaloids. Each chapter features an abstract. Appendices are included, as are a listing of alkaloids, plants containing alkaloids and some basic protocols of alkaloid analysis.* Presents the ecological role of alkaloids in nature and ecosystems * Interdisciplinary and reader friendly approach* Up-to-date knowledge

The VitalBook e-book version of Genomes 3 is only available in the US and Canada at the present time. To purchase or rent please visit http://store.vitalsource.com/show/9780815341383 Covering molecular genetics from the basics through to genome expression and molecular phylogenetics, Genomes 3is the latest edition of this pioneering textbook. Updated to incorporate the recent major advances, Genomes 3 is an invaluable companion for any undergraduate throughout their studies in molecular genetics. Genomes 3 builds on the achievements of the previous two editions by putting genomes, rather than genes, at the centre of molecular genetics teaching. Recognizing that molecular biology research was being driven more by genome sequencing and functional analysis than by research into genes, this approach has gathered momentum in recent years.