John Foster’s publication springs from his years of teaching a course on "Children’s and Adolescents’ Popular Literature" at the University of South Australia, and is prompted by his belief that teachers and librarians need a "handle" on this topic, as it is increasingly dominating the bookshop shelves, and probably most library shelves. Moreover, television and movie tie-ins, multimedia versions and merchandising are all powerful offshoots of the literature itself, and the role of these non-literary manifestations should be understood. It has also been apparent that there is very little material directly relevant to this topic. Some books on children’s literature have a chapter on popular fiction, but no more than that, while others are on a single topic such as horror fiction.