Edinburgh History of Children’s Periodicals

Madeline’s essay, “Scottish Stereotyping, Highlandism, and Stevenson in Young Folks Paper” appears in The Edinburgh History of Children’s Periodicals (Edinburgh University Press, 2024). Her chapter examines how depictions of Scotland and Scots in this children’s story paper reflect broader late-Victorian attitudes and might have shaped young readers’ perceptions of complex historical and cultural contexts related to Scotland and its inhabitants. The collection as a whole marks the first major history of magazines for young people from the mid-eighteenth century to the present. Bringing together periodicals from Britain, Ireland, North America, Australia, New Zealand and India, this book explores the roles of gender, race and national identity in the construction of children as readers and writers. It provides new insights both into how child readers shaped the magazines they read and how magazines have encouraged children to view themselves as political and world subjects.