AustLit

Halliday examines the function of place in Out of the Dust by American writer Karen Hesse and A Place Like This by Steven Herrick, arguing that the unknown places found in children's poetry are 'linked to worlds of fantasy and make-believe and are similarly delineated by clearly recognizable elements' (30). She points out that notions of place are more clearly defined in poetry for children because 'place is a repository for many of the ideologies that permeate poetry that is written and chosen for children' (30). Halliday argues that the texts discussed exemplify the use of the postmodern literary techniques, self-reflexivity and intertextuality, and in doing so reinforce the on-going and intrinsic association of place and structures of childhood in ways that not only define 'place' but empower and validate the idea that 'through the interaction of with something natural it is possible to come to an understanding of oneself' (36-37).