Talking rabbits that take you down a hole, wicked witches that melt away, rivers of chocolate, magic everywhere — this is the stuff of children’s literature. Works meant for young audiences are usually considered light-hearted entertainment that teach children simple life lessons. Rarely are they considered worthy of serious scholarly attention. However, literature meant for children is as much a product of complex cultural forces and ideologies as the most revered canonical “classic” novels. Books meant for children are often very much engaged with contemporary social, political, and ethical issues, whether it be Lewis Carroll’s critique of aristocratic privilege in Alice in Wonderland or Roald Dahl’s subversion of capitalistic acquisition in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. In addition, some works meant for children have incredibly long-lasting lives in popular culture — including adult popular culture — as they are re-read, reworked, adapted into films, referenced in songs, or turned into consumer merchandise over decades and even centuries. With each new version, children’s works absorb contemporary ideologies or perpetuate the cultural agendas of their specific historical moment. This course will explore the some very popular children’s works as cultural phenomena that take on different nuances as they are remade to suit new markets. Focusing on `classics’ of children’s literature such as Alice in Wonderland, The Wizard of Oz, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Harry Potter (I), this course will use rigorous critical interpretation tools to analyze these children’s books and/or movies as powerful cultural phenomena offering important insights into the adult world, even as they reveal how the child is constructed in various historical contexts. Welcome to the class!