Big Ideas in Literature (The School of Life; March 2024) is a book all about one of my favorite subjects: literature. It introduces what makes literature literature, the history of literature and books, and what big topics literature can address, even through amusing situations and language.
Throughout the book, the authors highlight literature from history and the modern world that reflect the concept just discussed, starting with archaic books I’d never heard of and moving into others that I’d definitely name as classics, and then further expanding into new-to-me books that can be directly applied to me (or any reader) as I consider what is “wise.”
I liked how after each book introduction, the authors asked a few questions to help the reader engage and apply the text to our own lives. Even with the works I’d never heard of, it was a great way to engage in this type of classic literature.
The book is presented in an open attractive format, with child-friendly illustrations and doodles throughout, as well as plenty of white space to add to the readability. The pattern of discussion, book example, and questions made it a well organized read that helped the ideas come across clearly.
As a literature nerd myself, I appreciated the perspectives on literature and hope that it would appeal to their youth readers as much as I enjoyed it. It could be a nice outline for a teacher of literature in introducing these concepts in a classroom, too.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance review copy of this book provided by the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
