The Curious Case of Children's Detective Fiction: Analysing the Adaptation of the Classic Detective Formula for a Child Audience

Abstract

The popularity of the children's detective genre defies an apparent clash between the nature of the genre, specifically its reliance on readerly ability and capital crime, and children's literature's specific group of readers, and thus invites investigation. It is therefore peculiar that children's detective fiction has not enjoyed much scholarship, particularly in the English language. While the detective genre is usually discussed under the umbrella term of ‘crime literature’ when it enjoys an adult readership, in children's literature scholarship it is usually tucked into the categories of the ‘adventure’ or ‘mystery’ story. This article aims to address the relative lack of scholarship on children's detective fiction by analysing how the classic detective is adapted for child readers. 1