About the Project
This project has been in the works for well over a year, and I am delighted to share our inaugural Children’s Studies Bookshelf this month! As the project continues, new Bookshelf collections will be available on this page, assembled by a series of guest curators whose areas of expertise reflect the interdisciplinary nature of the WashU Children’s Studies program. We will engage with the history of book production for children and teens, from its early days to the present, providing snapshots of different moments in that history across a variety of disciplines.
The concept of the “bookshelf” is an important one to Children’s Studies, reminding us of the powerful influence of ongoing reading experiences during the formative years. While each book makes its contribution, no single book can do everything. Children’s literature scholar Rudine Sims Bishop, in her landmark essay “Windows, Mirrors, and Sliding Glass Doors,” observes that “Books are sometimes windows, offering views of worlds that may be real or imagined, familiar or strange…. Literature transforms human experience and reflects it back to us, and in that reflection we can see our own lives and experiences as part of the larger human experience.” She concludes by stressing the need for a multiplicity of books, “ones that can act as both mirrors and windows for all our children.” Author and illustrator Grace Lin, building on Bishop’s metaphor, agrees, asking parents and educators: “What is on your child’s bookshelf?” The best bookshelves are diverse in all respects, offering different readers what they need at different times – affirmation or discovery, comfort or challenge - while broadening their worlds. Our Bookshelves, in turn, will showcase a range of scholarly views and perspectives, drawing from various fields and including both fiction and nonfiction.
Inherent in the idea of the bookshelf is the promise of possibility: there is always another volume to reach for. In our case, there is a literal bookshelf, housed in the English Department office; here, visitors are encouraged to reach for these texts and examine them, discovering the stories told by their physical presence as well as by their contents. Is the text a gilded hardcover or a tattered paperback? Are the pages the color of weak tea or are they a glossy white? What do the inscriptions on the inside cover tell us about the book’s genealogy of readers? Has a child colored on its pages, pasted in a picture, or scrawled a response to a favorite passage or character? Pick one up - and find out!
Amy Pawl
Director, Children’s Studies
September, 2025
I would like to thank Abram Van Engen, chair of the English Department, and Hannah Ryan, the Children’s Studies Academic and Administrative coordinator, for making this project possible.
