Cultural Perspectives on Sweets in Children’s Literature and Media

Our language is full of 'sweet' terms to describe situations (‘a bittersweet moment’), things (‘popcorn brain’), behaviour (‘to have a sweet tooth’), or even loved ones (‘sweety’, ‘sweetheart’, ‘honey’) that are originally not linked to food. What seems to be common to almost all cultures, is reflected in the fact that we humans are born with a taste for sweets, and that sweets have shaped our cultures and our language. This has also been reflected in children's literature and media. This is the starting point for this invaluable collection of essays, which deals specifically with sweets and the spectrum of hedonistic and regulated indulgence in different cultures and media for children. The contributions analyse classics of children’s literature, but also more recent texts and other media such as magazines, films, television programmes and computer games. Cultural Perspectives on Sweets in Children’s Literature and Media creates a kaleidoscope of the various functions of sweets and their significance for children’s culture, thus providing an overview of the diversity of the subject.