A bit of a snake pit: the Middle East conflict in British children's books

Criticized for offering an unbalanced picture of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Elizabeth Laird's A Little Piece of Ground created a furor when it was published in the UK by Macmillan six years ago. The book, however, is still the most recent British novel for young readers about the Middle...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Horn Book Magazine 2009-09, Vol.85 (5), p.515
Main Author: Travis, Madelyn
Format: Magazinearticle
Language:English
Subjects:
Arab Israeli relations
Arab-Israeli conflicts
Arabs
Authors
Authorship
Banks, Lynne Reid (1929-2024)
Children's books
Childrens literature
Community Relations
Cultural Differences
English literature
Israel-Arab conflicts
Jews
Laird, Elizabeth
Literary criticism
Novels
Political Issues
Portrayals
Public Opinion
Social aspects
Social Environment
Terrorism
War
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Summary:Criticized for offering an unbalanced picture of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Elizabeth Laird's A Little Piece of Ground created a furor when it was published in the UK by Macmillan six years ago. The book, however, is still the most recent British novel for young readers about the Middle East conflict, the others being One More River and Broken Bridge both by Lynne Reid Banks. In the absence of more recent books, it is inevitable that these are still the ones discussed whenever the subject comes up, and it has become clear that many people seem unable to separate their own deeply held opinions on the conflict from the texts themselves. Here, Travis offers some insight on how current conflicts can be represented appropriately in children's literature.
ISSN:0018-5078