1.3 Structure of the Thesis
The relevant contexts are as follows:
Chapter One introduces research background of children’s literature translation, research significance and the whole structure of the thesis.
Chapter Two is about literature review, including how we should understand the term “children’s literature”, different definitions and characteristics of children’s literature, the current situation of children’s literature translation both in west and China and the previous researches on Ren Rongrong’s translation ideas on children’s literature.
Chapter Three gives a systematic and detailed introduction of reception theory. It talks about theoretical roots, key concepts and its application to children’s literature translation. 
Chapter Four is the main part of the whole thesis which focuses on analyzing the English and the Chinese versions of Stuart Little and attempts to give some practical principals for translation of children’s literature. In this part, two versions of Stuart Little are compared and analyzed based on Reception Theory.
Chapter Five is about the conclusion of this thesis. It summarizes the findings and implications in the research, points out the limitations for the research and expresses the prospect for future study.
 Chapter Two Literature Review
2.1    Children’s Literature
2.1.1 Definition of Children’s Literature
When wanting to make a detailed study of children’s literature translation, we need to define the term “children’s literature” first. However, until now, scholars have not reached a consensus on the definition of “children’s literature”. The term “children’s literature” had not appeared until the early 20th century in China. Over the centuries, scholars make many different definitions of children’s literature from different points of view.
Ritta Ottinen (2000，p.61) holds the view that children’s literature is kind of literature that is produced and intended for children. Nancy Anderson is another associated professor, holds the similar view that children’s literature is all books written for children.
In The New Encyclopedia Britannica, the term “children’s literature” is defined as “the body of written works and accompanying illustrations produced in order to entertain or instruct young people”.
China scholars also make their own definitions of children’s literature, most of which are educators. From their point of view children’s literature is literary works particularly created for children and is related to education.
Jiang Feng (1983，p. 3) makes a definition of children’s literature as literary works are created or adapted specifically for children according to the need of education, which are suitable for them to read, understand and accept .
In accordance with the requirement of children’s education, Chen Bochui defines children’s literature as a literary works appropriate for children. This kind of literature is particularly created and edited for children (Chen Bochui,1982, p. 23).
The importance of educational function can be seen according to the above different definitions of children’s literature. It can easily make scholars to study children’s literature only from the aspect of educational function.
Other new concepts of children’s literature have been appearing in recent years. According to the “Fuzzy Sets” proposed by an American scientist, J. Zaden, Ma Li holds the view that children’s literature is a “Fuzzy Sets” (Ma Li, 2005, p. 99).
Although the definitions of children’s literature are different from each other, they have a common base that is children. Therefore, the conclusion can be: Children’s literature should foremost be loved and accepted by children. Children’s literature can be good for children in many aspects, such as cognition, mentality, education or aesthetics. Children’s literature writers and translators should pay special attention to what they are writing and translating for. Children’s literature is a literary genre whose target readers are children. 从接受理论看儿童文学Stuart Little的翻译技巧(3):http://www.youerw.com/yingyu/lunwen_20662.html