This open access book explores the ways in which children's literature provides a source of hope in the classroom and beyond. Drawing on Ruth Levitas's utopian method as a means of directing hope, the authors demonstrate how children's literature can help young people navigate political, social, economic and environmental crises. The chapters cover topics and themes including social movements, friendship, picturebooks, education, equality and authorship. The contributors comment on a range of children's authors including Tom Percival, Walid Taher and Matt de la Peña and draw on ideas from educators, philosophers and sociologists including Nel Noddings, Donna Haraway, Raymond Williams and Zygmunt Bauman. The book brings together international scholars working in the fields of education and children's literature and includes vignettes from authors, publishers, educators, mediators, and children. It offers an interdisciplinary review of hope and its potential to position our thinking and work towards a future within the challenges of the Anthropocene.

The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by The University of Wroclaw.

Julie McAdam is Senior Lecturer in Language and Literacies at the University of Glasgow, UK, and President of the Scottish Education Research Association (SERA).
Evelyn Arizpe is Professor of Children's Literature at the University of Glasgow, UK.
Justyna Deszcz-Tryhubczak is Associate Professor of Literature at the Institute of English Studies, University of Wroclaw, Poland.
Jennifer Farrar is Senior Lecturer in the School of Education at the University of Glasgow, UK.
Rachel Lees is Lecturer in Language and Literacy at the University of Glasgow, UK.
Yasmine Motawy teaches rhetoric and composition at the American University in Cairo, Egypt.
Mar Sánchez Fernández is Postgraduate Researcher at the University of Surrey, UK.
Rowena Seabrook is a PhD Candidate and Research Assistant at the University of Glasgow and Associate Lecturer at The Open University, UK.