James M. Curtis 
Childhood and Innocence in American Culture [EPUB ebook] 
Heartaches and Nightmares

This collection argues that the romanticized conflation of ’;childhood’ and ’;innocence’ in American culture has been on a steady decline at least since the 1960s–largely due to postmodern critiques of overarching narratives involving both ’;the child’ and the ’;innocence’ of childhood. Additionally, this collection highlights and analyzes examples of children’s literature and culture throughout the 20th century (and into the 21st) which pointedly defy traditional, idealized notions of ’;childhood’. Such an analysis serves to reiterate the idea that the romanticized notion of ’;childhood’ which has pervaded American culture for over two centuries is little more than a cultural construction that bears little to no resemblance to the actual, lived experience of American children.