From Kiddie Lit to Kiddie Porn: The Sexualization of Children's Literature

Abstract

Retellings of children’s literature constitute a booming literary phenomenon, and among those retellings are sexualized versions that recast children’s books as adult erotica. Focusing on Chris Kent’s retellings of The Coral Island and Tom Brown’s Schooldays , this essay examines the sexualization of children’s literature and argues that it represents an adult wish to (re)experience or (re)imagine a fantasized childhood that combines the virtues of “childhood innocence” and naiveté with the possibilities of adult empowerment and sexual agency. This suggests a broader understanding of children’s literature as reflecting a desire to improve upon the limitations of childhood in its quotidian forms.

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