Theme: Norms of (Dis)ability in Nordic Children’s and Young Adult Literature. Too Sick for School? Stomachache, Resistance, and Metaphors in Nordic Children’s and Young Adult Books about School Refusers This article examines how contemporary Nordic children’s and young adult literature represents extended school absenteeism as a question of (dis)ability. Drawing on theories of characterization and picturebook modality, it analyses 16 Danish, Finland-Swedish, Norwegian and Swedish books published for young readers 2015–2025. The analysis focuses on how inability, diagnoses, and therapy are mobilized in characterization, plot, and paratexts. The discourse of school refusers as disabled is manifested throughout the material in characters who are unable to go to school even though they want to, informative sections on diagnoses, and therapeutic treatment reflected in the narrative structure. The literature, however, also contains various ambiguities that invite readings attentive to the limits of this discourse, suggesting that some experiences of distress resist categorization and communication.
Theme: Norms of (Dis)ability in Nordic Children’s and Young Adult Literature. This article examines the ethics of the gaze in disability representation in Mariangela Di Fiore and Hilde Hodnefjeld’s Elefantmannen (Elephant Man) from 2013, a Norwegian picturebook that recounts the life of Joseph Carey Merrick (1862–1890). Drawing on critical disability studies, Laura Mulvey’s gaze theory, and Ato Quayson’s concept of aesthetic nervousness, the analysis explores how the book stages five distinct gazes: the spectacle gaze of the freak show, the societal gaze of everyday encounters, the clinical gaze of medical professionals, the empathetic gaze of visitors, and Merrick’s own gaze. The article argues that Elefantmannen deploys multiple gazes to implicate readers in the ethics of looking at disability, exposing how visibility is shaped by ableist norms while foregrounding the limits of empathy. By turning the gaze back on the reader and generating aesthetic nervousness, Elefantmannen challenges conventional disability narratives and invites reflection on how children’s literature can move towards ethical representation based on recognition.
Theme: The Children’s Library Saga and the Swedish Teachers’ Magazine’s Publishing House. Logo: The Swedish Institute for Children's Books Between Media and Visual Cultures: Einar Nerman and Svensk läraretidnings förlag The Swedish artist Einar Nerman had an international career as both an artist and illustrator during the 1910s and 1920s. In addition, he produced an extensive body of work within children’s literature. This article examines connections between these fields by studying his illustrations in Christmas magazines published by Svensk läraretidnings förlag during the 1920s and 1930s. His work in children’s literature is characterized by modernist stylization, striking visual compositions, and strong color contrasts. The article explores his movement between performance arts, entertainment magazines, and children’s literature. Taking Nerman’s illustrations in the Christmas magazines Jultomten (Father Christmas) and Tummeliten (Tom Thumb) as its point of departure, the study also illustrates shifts in the publisher’s strategies and visual profile. By examining the artist’s transgressions of media boundaries, the article contributes to an understanding of how illustration in children’s literature and magazines developed during the first decades of the twentieth century. Nerman’s contributions illuminate how children’s magazines functioned as sites of aesthetic negotiation, where modernist impulses coexisted with national romanticism and established visual traditions. Rather than marking a clear break, his work highlights processes of gradual transformation shaped by both technological change and commercial expansion. In this sense, the article sheds light on how children’s literature of the period was constituted through ongoing exchanges between artistic experimentation and developing conditions of illustrated print culture.
Theme: The Children’s Library Saga and the Swedish Teachers’ Magazine’s Publishing House. Logo: The Swedish Institute for Children's Books The Small Pioneers of Children’s Literature: The Instalment Publishing of Barnbiblioteket Saga Barnbiblioteket Saga (The Children’s Library Saga) was one of the most long-lived and acclaimed book series for children in 20th-century Sweden. One key factor to the series’ success was publishing the books in instalments, ensuring affordable prices and a wider reach through mail distribution. The instalments were shaped like small magazines, consisting of one serialized story and eight pages of miscellanea that was not supposed to be included in the finished book. The aim of this article is to examine how the miscellaneous material was used to communicate with the reader and further the publishing company’s brand. With inspiration from theories in serial publishing, I explore the content and form of the instalments during the first five years of the series (1899–1903). My analysis shows that editorial messages and advertisements are used to establish the company as a reputable publisher of quality literature. By addressing these and many of the other texts in the miscellaneous section directly to children, the editors show that they take children seriously and endeavour to include them in a community of Saga readers. Furthermore, the diversity of fiction and non-fiction serves an important function in the early stage of the series, realizing the ambition to provide readers with a broad range of reading matter. Although the miscellaneous texts are not of the same literary quality as the serialized stories, they are designed to capture the reader’s attention in the here and now. By doing so, the miscellanea contributes to fostering a long-term engagement in the series.
