HUMOROUS COMPONENT OF THE IMAGE OF THE «BOOKISH BOY» (BASED ON THE «THE STORY OF A BAD BOY» BY T.B. ALDRICH)

 The article is devoted to the investigation of changes taking place in American children’s literature at the end of the 1860-s. «The story of a Bad Boy» by Thomas Bailey Aldrich is analyzed from the perspective of innovatory narrative strategies used by the author in a young adventurer’s image constructing. Humor is argued to be the most important component of image, introduced by the concepts «book», «freedom» and «way». Different variants of humor realization in the text have been traced, which helps to reveal the components of the notion «Tom» and show its meaning in the wide historical and literary context.