An original and lucid study of the figure of the child as it is presented in the rapidly expanding field of criticism of children's literature, this book argues that this body of criticism reveals the realm of childhood as constructed by the adult reader. Karin Lesnik-Oberstein demonstrates that both the criticism and the texts it studies are underpinned by the narratives of the liberal arts' educational ideals and their attendant socio-political and personal ideologies. The author places literary discussion into the wider current debates about childhood in psychology and psychotherapy. This lively polemic represents a significant rethinking of the idea of childhood and approaches to children's literature.