ABSTRACT
In its quotidian use, ‘children’s literature’ is an unproblematic term: it refers, simply, to the literature aimed at children, published by specialized editors and placed in determined shelves in bookshops and libraries. But as soon as we use the term within an academic context, the questions begin to arise: what is ‘children’ in children’s literature? And its inverted version: what is ‘literature’ in children’s literature? I will not delve into the depths opened by these questions, but will adhere to Hans Heino Ewers’ claim that children’s literature is an ‘action system’ (Handlungssystem) (Ewers 53) in which different actions form a stable chain—production, distribution, evaluation, and consumption—and in which adults act constantly as “co-readers” (Ewers 43) of the books, although they are presented as if addressed exclusively to children. Hans Heino Ewers calls our attention to the power of this “mediator circle” (25) formed by teachers, librarians, and other specialists in determining what children read and what we praise as good examples of children’s books.
