The Lifework and Legacy of Iona and Peter Opie ― Research into Children Play

Iona and Peter Opie were twentieth-century pioneers. Their research and writing focused on the folklore of British children – their games, rhymes, riddles, secret languages and every variety of the traditions and inventions of the children’s collective physical and verbal play. Such closely observed, respectful, good-humoured and historically attuned writing about the traditions of childhood was a revelation to English-language readers around the world. Their numerous books were a rare phenomenon: they attracted a popular readership far beyond the professional and academic communities. For those who work with children, their collaborative research was a powerful influence in confirming the immense capacities of the young for cooperation, conservation, invention and imagination. Their books challenged – then and now – the bleak and limited view of children which focuses on their smallness, ignorance and powerlessness.

The writers in this volume pay their tribute to the Opies by exploring a wonderfully varied topography of children's play, from different countries and different perspectives. Their research is vivid and challenging; that is, as it should be, in the tradition of the Opies.

This book was originally published as a special issue of the International Journal of Play.

Julia C. Bishop is a folklorist specialising in children’s play. She has published on multimodal transmission and performance in play and the history of children’s play. She is currently researching the work of Iona and Peter Opie and the online publication of their archival collection.

June Factor is a writer, folklorist and social historian. She was a founding editor of the International Journal of Play and has published widely, including Captain Cook Chased a Chook: Children’s Folklore in Australia (1988), Kidspeak: A Dictionary of Australian Children’s Words (with Siobhan Hannan, 2000) and the Far Out! series of children's verbal lore.