Jade Dillon-Craig

Om

I am an Associate Professor of Children's Literature and Young Learners in the Department of Teacher Education at NTNU. My research brings together several intersecting disciplines with a shared interest in visual and textual representations of childhood and girlhood. I have a particular focus on Alice studies, where I trace the visual iconography and character development of Alice across a range of multimodal platforms, including illustration and fine art photography. Alongside this, my work in girlhood studies examines how children's and young adult texts construct and challenge socio-ideological expectations of girls' bodies. More broadly, I apply multi-theoretical frameworks to explore the semiotic and affective spaces within picturebooks, film, and other visual media, with particular interest in how meaning and emotion are communicated through visual storytelling.

I am the author of Theorising Oliver Jeffers’ Picturebooks: From How to Catch a Star to Now (Routledge, 2025) and the co-editor of Literature for Children and Young Adults in English Language Teaching: Perspectives from Norway (Routledge, forthcoming) and Family in Children's and Young Adult Literature (Routledge, 2023). I have published several book chapters and articles related to children's literature, Alice studies, fairy tales, and visual texts for young readers.

I am the co-founder of the Children's Literature Education and Research (CLEAR) group at NTNU and a founding board member of the Association for Research on Children's Literature in English in Norway (ARCLEN). From 2021-2025, I worked on the fully funded eBLINK project which explored the guided use of expert-curated digital English children’s book libraries in Norwegian classrooms where students were learning English. From 2024 to 2026, I was an editor for the Children's Literature in English Language Education journal. In 2026, I served as a member of the judging panel for the KPMG Children’s Books Ireland Awards 2026.

In 2024, I was awarded the Kvalifiseringsstipend for Kvinner (skill development stipend for female associate professors) from the Rector's funding for Gender Equality and Diversity. This stipend will fund a two-year research period (2025, 2026) where I will collect data from and collabroate with the Seven Stories: The National Centre for Children's Books, UK and the International Youth Library, Germany regarding multiliteracy development through postmodern picturebooks.

In 2025, I was awarded seed funding from the University School Cooperation in Trondheim (USSiT) to carry out a two-year research and development project (2026, 2027) in collaboration with a team of in-service teachers at Dalgård school. The project, titled "Beyond Words: Cross-Curricular Learning through Oliver Jeffers' Picturebooks", builds on international research showing that theme-based learning through stories enhances student engagement, motivation, vocabulary, and discourse skills. By using Oliver Jeffers' picture books as a foundation for cross-curricular teaching, it promotes interdisciplinary knowledge, critical thinking, and a holistic understanding of learning as a community. Focusing on themes of inclusion, identity, and belonging, the study examines how this approach can strengthen pupils' engagement with English while also supporting broader literacy development in a Norwegian primary school context. The findings of this project will be published following its completion in 2027/2028.

Research Interests:

Children's Literature; Alice Studies; Visual Methodologies and Aesthetics; Literary Theory; Girlhood Studies; Gender Studies; Picturebooks; Cinematography

Forskning

Publikasjoner

Abject Bodies in Classic and Contemporary Fairy Tales

This chapter explores the abject body in traditional fairy tales and Angela Carter’s The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories (1979), focusing on the grotesque mutilation of the body and the allegorical connections that these corporeal experiences represent.

Theorising Oliver Jeffers’ Picturebooks: From How to Catch a Star to Now

This book examines semiotic, affective, and metafictive storytelling in Oliver Jeffers’ postmodern picturebooks from a multi-theoretical approach.

‘She Haunts Me Phantomwise’: Illustrating Mirrors and Reflections in Lewis Carroll’s Alice Books

This chapter performs an iconographic analysis of a selection of Benjamin Lacombe’s and Kirsty Mitchell’s visual interpretations of Alice to investigate the reflections of identity in Lewis Carroll’s Alice books, with a focus on Through the Looking-Glass.

Teaching "Little Red Riding Hood" Through a Feminist Lens

This chapter uses feminist analysis of "Little Red Riding Hood" to help future teachers challenge gender norms through critical reading, reflection, and rewriting of classic and modern texts.

eBLINK: Bringing Authentic Picturebooks into the EAL Classroom in Norway

Lowery et al. introduce eBLINK, a curated Libby-based digital picturebook library for Norway’s EAL classrooms. Their findings show increased oral language complexity, motivation, and teacher creativity when eBLINK is used in regular teaching sessions.

Unhomely Domestic Spaces in Neil Gaiman's Coraline

Using the uncanny and the abject as theoretical frameworks, this chapter discusses Coraline's perception of family and selfhood as she navigates what is real and what is (m)other.

Family in Children's and Young Adult Literature

Family in Children's and Young Adult Literature is a comprehensive study that encourages readers to think beyond the outdated but culturally privileged ‘nuclear family’ and is a vital resource for students, academics, educators, and practitioners.

“I must have been changed several times since then” Exploring Camille Rose Garcia’s (Re)-interpretation of Alice through the Disney Lens

This article explores the character of Alice in Camille Rose Garcia’s Wonderland and investigates the impact of Walt Disney’s 1951 animated film on her illustrative styling.

Reimagining Alice Through the Intertextual Realm of Children’s Film and Television

This chapter explores how film and television adaptations of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland reshape Alice’s identity and agency, mapping her evolution from Carroll’s child heroine to a culturally reimagined, action-oriented figure.

The Politics of the Female Body in Louise O'Neill's Asking For It

This article examines the representation of the female body in Louise O’Neill’s Asking For It, arguing that the novel reinforces gender essentialism and rape myths through a binary portrayal of women as either victims or violated bodies.

2025

Dillon-Craig, Jade. (2025) Abject Bodies in Traditional and Contemporary Fairy Tales.
Faglig kapittel
Dillon-Craig, Jade. (2025) Theorising Oliver Jeffers’ Picturebooks: From How to Catch a Star to Now. Routledge
Vitenskapelig monografi

2024

Dillon-Craig, Jade. (2024) Teaching “Little Red Riding Hood” Through a Feminist Lens.
Vitenskapelig kapittel
Lowery, Alyssa Christine Magee; Dillon-Craig, Jade; Rasmussen, Maren Smedsrud. (2024) eBLINK: Bringing Authentic Picturebooks into the EAL Classroom in Norway. Bookbird: A Journal of International Children's Literature
Vitenskapelig artikkel
Dillon-Craig, Jade. (2024) ‘She Haunts Me Phantomwise’: Illustrating Mirrors and Reflections in Lewis Carroll’s Alice Books.
Vitenskapelig kapittel
Lowery, Alyssa Christine Magee; Haines, Colin; Grosch, Heidi Haavan; Dillon-Craig, Jade. (2024) Recommended Reads: Multimodal Texts to Facilitate In-Depth English Learning. Children's Literature in English Language Education (CLELEjournal )
Bokanmeldelse

2023

Spencer, Eleanor; Dillon-Craig, Jade. (2023) Family in Children's and Young Adult Literature. Routledge
Antologi
Dillon-Craig, Jade. (2023) Unhomely Domestic Spaces in Neil Gaiman’s Coraline.
Vitenskapelig kapittel
Spencer, Eleanor; Dillon-Craig, Jade. (2023) Introduction: Exploding the Nuclear Family.
Vitenskapelig kapittel

2022

Dillon, Jade. (2022) “I must have been changed several times since then” Exploring Camille Rose Garcia’s (Re)-interpretation of Alice through the Disney Lens. Barnboken
Vitenskapelig artikkel
Dillon, Jade. (2022) The Sky Beneath the Stone - Review. Inis Magazine
Bokanmeldelse

2021

Dillon, Jade. (2021) Escape - Review. Inis Magazine
Bokanmeldelse
Dillon, Jade. (2021) The Ravenmaster's Boy - Review. Inis Magazine
Bokanmeldelse
Dillon, Jade. (2021) Climate Action - Review. Inis Magazine
Bokanmeldelse
Dillon, Jade. (2021) When I See Red - Review. Inis Magazine
Bokanmeldelse

2020

Dillon, Jade. (2020) Fashioning Alice: The Career of Lewis Carroll’s Icon, 1860 – 1901 - Review. International Research in Children's Literature (IRCL)
Bokanmeldelse
Dillon, Jade. (2020) The Secret Life of Mermaids - Review. Inis Magazine
Bokanmeldelse
Dillon, Jade. (2020) Quarantine Comfort Reads: Coraline. Children's Literature Association Quarterly
Vitenskapelig artikkel

2019

Dillon, Jade. (2019) Reimagining Alice Through the Intertextual Realm of Children’s Film and Television.
Faglig kapittel
Dillon, Jade. (2019) Girls on Fire: Transformative Heroines in Young Adult Dystopian Literature - Review. International Research in Children's Literature (IRCL)
Bokanmeldelse

2018

Dillon, Jade. (2018) Curiouser and Curiouser: Deconstructing the Fantastic within Victorian Children’s Fiction. The British Fantasy Society
Vitenskapelig artikkel
Dillon, Jade. (2018) Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
Vitenskapelig kapittel

2017

Dillon, Jade. (2017) The Politics of the Female Body in Louise O'Neill's Asking For It. Sibéal
Vitenskapelig artikkel
Dillon, Jade. (2017) Blessed Are The Meek: Atwood’s Desire for Female Autonomy in The Handmaid’s Tale. Fantastika Journal
Vitenskapelig artikkel
Dillon, Jade. (2017) Cinematic Discourse: Deconstructing Modes of Gender and Time in James Bobin’s Alice Through The Looking Glass. Fantastika Journal
Vitenskapelig artikkel

Tidsskriftspublikasjoner

Dillon, Jade. (2022) “I must have been changed several times since then” Exploring Camille Rose Garcia’s (Re)-interpretation of Alice through the Disney Lens. Barnboken
Vitenskapelig artikkel
Lowery, Alyssa Christine Magee; Dillon-Craig, Jade; Rasmussen, Maren Smedsrud. (2024) eBLINK: Bringing Authentic Picturebooks into the EAL Classroom in Norway. Bookbird: A Journal of International Children's Literature
Vitenskapelig artikkel
Dillon, Jade. (2021) Escape - Review. Inis Magazine
Bokanmeldelse
Dillon, Jade. (2020) Fashioning Alice: The Career of Lewis Carroll’s Icon, 1860 – 1901 - Review. International Research in Children's Literature (IRCL)
Bokanmeldelse
Dillon, Jade. (2019) Girls on Fire: Transformative Heroines in Young Adult Dystopian Literature - Review. International Research in Children's Literature (IRCL)
Bokanmeldelse
Dillon, Jade. (2017) The Politics of the Female Body in Louise O'Neill's Asking For It. Sibéal
Vitenskapelig artikkel
Dillon, Jade. (2022) The Sky Beneath the Stone - Review. Inis Magazine
Bokanmeldelse
Dillon, Jade. (2020) The Secret Life of Mermaids - Review. Inis Magazine
Bokanmeldelse
Dillon, Jade. (2021) The Ravenmaster's Boy - Review. Inis Magazine
Bokanmeldelse
Dillon, Jade. (2021) Climate Action - Review. Inis Magazine
Bokanmeldelse
Dillon, Jade. (2021) When I See Red - Review. Inis Magazine
Bokanmeldelse
Dillon, Jade. (2017) Blessed Are The Meek: Atwood’s Desire for Female Autonomy in The Handmaid’s Tale. Fantastika Journal
Vitenskapelig artikkel
Dillon, Jade. (2017) Cinematic Discourse: Deconstructing Modes of Gender and Time in James Bobin’s Alice Through The Looking Glass. Fantastika Journal
Vitenskapelig artikkel
Dillon, Jade. (2018) Curiouser and Curiouser: Deconstructing the Fantastic within Victorian Children’s Fiction. The British Fantasy Society
Vitenskapelig artikkel
Lowery, Alyssa Christine Magee; Haines, Colin; Grosch, Heidi Haavan; Dillon-Craig, Jade. (2024) Recommended Reads: Multimodal Texts to Facilitate In-Depth English Learning. Children's Literature in English Language Education (CLELEjournal )
Bokanmeldelse
Dillon, Jade. (2020) Quarantine Comfort Reads: Coraline. Children's Literature Association Quarterly
Vitenskapelig artikkel

Bøker

Dillon-Craig, Jade. (2025) Theorising Oliver Jeffers’ Picturebooks: From How to Catch a Star to Now. Routledge
Vitenskapelig monografi
Spencer, Eleanor; Dillon-Craig, Jade. (2023) Family in Children's and Young Adult Literature. Routledge
Antologi

Del av bok/rapport

Dillon-Craig, Jade. (2025) Abject Bodies in Traditional and Contemporary Fairy Tales.
Faglig kapittel
Dillon, Jade. (2019) Reimagining Alice Through the Intertextual Realm of Children’s Film and Television.
Faglig kapittel
Dillon-Craig, Jade. (2024) Teaching “Little Red Riding Hood” Through a Feminist Lens.
Vitenskapelig kapittel
Dillon-Craig, Jade. (2024) ‘She Haunts Me Phantomwise’: Illustrating Mirrors and Reflections in Lewis Carroll’s Alice Books.
Vitenskapelig kapittel
Dillon-Craig, Jade. (2023) Unhomely Domestic Spaces in Neil Gaiman’s Coraline.
Vitenskapelig kapittel
Dillon, Jade. (2018) Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
Vitenskapelig kapittel
Spencer, Eleanor; Dillon-Craig, Jade. (2023) Introduction: Exploding the Nuclear Family.
Vitenskapelig kapittel

Undervisning

Emner

Veiledning

Current Research Project Supervision:

2026: Disney and Pixar on Diverse Generation Trauma Narratives: An educational tool to foster children's critical media literacy (PhD thesis)

Completed Research Project Supervision:

2025: “Teacher, phonics is boring”: A Study into Improving Children’s Motivation and Engagement during Whole Class Explicit Phonics Instruction by using Playful Approaches (M.Ed thesis, University of Limerick)

2025: Education in the Proposals of the Candidates for Mayor of Porto Alegre, Brazil. (M.Ed thesis, University of Limerick)

2025: A Critical Content Analysis of Female Characters and Familial Discourse in Jacqueline Wilson's The Illustrated Mum (MA thesis)

2025: The Value of Picturebooks When Teaching Children to Cope with Death (FoU thesis)

2025: Considering the Readability, Materiality and Aesthetics of Postmodern Picturebooks (FoU thesis)

2024: Teaching reading to young EFL learners in Norway (MA thesis)

2024: Exploring classroom potentials of The Moon Within (2019) in relation to gender and the bleeding body (MA thesis)

2024: Representation of Transgender Children in Literature in the EFL classroom (MA thesis)

2024: Menstruation in Children's Literature (FoU thesis)

2023: In Full Color: Investigating teachers’ attitudes towards the literary representation of gender queerness in the EFL classroom (MA thesis)

2023: Exploring the potential benefits of using graphic novels in the EFL classroom (MA thesis)

2023: Norwegian EFL teachers' attitudes toward authentic texts and textbooks in the classroom (FoU thesis)

2022: Attitudes and Perspectives on using LGBTQ+ Texts and Topics in Primary and Lower Secondary Education (MA thesis)

2022: Representations of Racial Diversity in Contemporary Picturebooks Through an Ecocritical Lens (MA thesis)

2022: Representations of Girlhood in Picturebooks for Young Readers (FoU thesis)

2022: Digital Literature: Benefits and Concerns (FoU thesis)

Formidling