As we approach the 50-year anniversary of the Children’s Literature Association’s founding, we gather to reflect on the past, present, and future of our field. 

Looking back, children’s literature has withstood suspicion. Much as children themselves have been dismissed as unsophisticated or insignificant, literature for them – and the study of that literature – has been misrepresented as simple or unrigorous rather than recognized for its complexity and import. Gender has shaped our field, given women’s representation among children’s literature authors and scholars, who contend with the persistent undervaluing of women’s contributions. Nevertheless, scholars of children’s literature and other media, childrens’ culture, and childhood studies have continued to build interdisciplinary engagements with work in literature, library studies, and education, and expand our field to new generations of scholars.