The International Institute Charles Perrault, France (IICP): Institut International Charles Perrault--France. (Appendix: FILLM--history and objectives).

The Institute specializes in training, research and the organization of events in the field of children's literature and culture. It was founded in May 1994 by Paris-Nord University (Paris XIII), more particularly by Jean Perrot, Professor of Comparative Literature at this university and a specialist in children's books, and the town council of Eaubonne, which is situated a few kilometres north of Paris. Paris-Nord University has had considerable experience in the field of children's literature through training courses for librarians in particular, and the creation of the Institute corresponded to a further attempt at developing links between the educational system, professionals concerned with children's literature (from authors to publishers or librarians) and childhood culture in general, including multimedia materials or the cinema for instance. Indeed education in France is characterized by its rather theoretical stance while children's studies call for a more pragmatic viewpoint. Working at once with schools (experiments are carried out in classes in the Paris area), regional educational authorities and university researchers has been a necessary step towards reconciling practical and theoretical attitudes to children's books. So one of the purposes of the Institute has been to bring down the barriers between the …