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Perry Nodelman

Perry Nodelman received his PhD from Yale in 1969, with a specialty in Victorian Literature. His dissertation was on the poetry of Alfred Tennyson. However, Nodelman’s future was sealed in 1975 when a colleague at the University of Winnipeg, went on sabbatical and Nodelman was asked to teach a course in children’s literature. Nodelman found himself enjoying the experience immensely, so he simply continued teaching and writing about children’s literature. Nodelman retired in 2005, and is now Professor Emeritus.

During his distinguished career, Nodelman has edited the Children's Literature Association Quarterly and served as president of the Children’s Literature Association. Currently he is editor of CCL/LCJ: Canadian Children's Literature/Littérature canadienne pour la jeunesse. In addition to authoring numerous scholarly articles and books on children’s literature, Nodelman also writes books for children.

The third edition of his splendid The Pleasures of Children's Literature, co-authored with Mavis Reimer, is used as a text in universities across North America and elsewhere. It has been translated into Chinese and Korean. His most recent work is The Hidden Child: Defining Children’s Literature.

For more information on Perry Nodelman and some of his books, see his website.

Select Publications:

On children’s literature:

  • The Hidden Adult (2008)
  • The Pleasures of Children's Literature, 3d ed., with Mavis Reimer (2003)
  • The Pleasures of Children's Literature, 2d ed. (1996)
  • The Pleasures of Children's Literature (1992)
  • Words About Pictures: The Narrative Art of Children's Picture Books (1988)

Fiction for children:

  • The Proof that Ghosts Exist: The Ghosthunters Bk 1, with Carol Matas (2008)
  • Not a Nickel to Spare: The Great Depression Diary of Sally Cohen (Dear Canada Series) (2007)
  • A Meeting of Minds, with Carol Matas(1999)
  • Out of Their Minds, with Carol Matas (1998)
  • Behaving Bradley (1998)
  • A Completely Different Place (1997)
  • Alice Falls Apart (1996)
  • More Minds, with Carol Matas (1996)
  • Of Two Minds, with Carol Matas (1994)
  • The Same Place But Different (1993)