The History of Children’s
Literature
THE EVOLUTION OF A GENRE
Shifting Attitudes Toward Childhood
Stark
realities
involving
childhood
mortality
adorn this
page from
the 1689
text A New
England
Primer.
Shifting Attitudes Toward Childhood
Imagination and
play are
emphasized in
this 1951 book for
children. Note
that the central
figures are
children who are
portrayed as
glowing
innocents – who
are holding in
gender-specific
toys.
Shifting Attitudes Toward Childhood
 In the West, the concept of childhood as a separate
time of growth and development – as a time that
should be set aside and given specific attention – did
not emerge until the 16th century.
 The economic forces that led to the creation of a
large, wealthy middle class combined with religious
forces that placed a new emphasis on personal
salvation and the result was an increased emphasis
on education. In order to be financially sound and
morally “right,” a person needed an education.
Shifting Attitudes Toward Childhood
 Prior to this era, children had been an integral part of the
adult world. Through their employment as farm workers,
apprentices, and servants, they were privy to adult
discussions and were expected to exhibit adult behavior
(Ariès 45).
 By the 19th century, the passage of mandatory education
and child labor laws ensured that children were
increasingly to be found in the classroom, rather than in
the factory or in the fields. As such, different behavioral
codes and expectations for children emerged, solidifying
the divide between the realm of childhood and the realm
of adulthood.
The Rise of Children’s Literature
 The desire on the part of parents to teach their
children the tenets of religion and to prepare their
sons to enter the professions meant that literacy
became very important.
 The earliest forms of children’s literature – the
chapbook and the hornbook – reflect these desires.
Chapbooks
 With the invention of the
printing press in the 15th
century, the Bible and
other tracts became
available to a wider
audience.
 One of the first popular
forms of literature was
the chapbook,
inexpensive books sold
by peddlars (chapmen)
that included political
and religious tracts.
Hornbooks
 Between the 16th and 18th
centuries, another form
that developed was the
hornbook, “a small
paddle with sheets of
horn protecting papers
used to teach reading”
(CC 995).
The Religious Tradition in Children’s Literature
 The rise of Protestantism in Europe led to a shift in the
way that people viewed their relationship with God.
Because Protestants were expected to have a personal
relationship with God and were responsible for their own
salvation, the ability to read and to understand the Bible
was particularly important.
 Many of the early texts for children that were published
in England and in the colonies were written by Puritans
and focused on the state of children’s souls. The
Puritans believed in the doctrine of “original sin” – the
idea that individuals are born in a state of damnation and
must work towards a state of grace. This belief system
placed pressure on parents who had to work quickly to
ensure their children were on the right path.
Puritan Texts
The New England Primer
(1669)
A Token for Children
(1672) by James Janeway
Excerpt from A Token for Children
 “Did you ever hear of a little Child that died? And if
other Children die, why may not you be sick, and die?
And what will you do then, Child, if you should have no
grace in your heart, and be found like other naughty
children?” (16).
 Note that Janeway refers openly to the death of children.
The infant mortality rate in the colonies in the mid-17th
century was at 40%, and most children would have
experienced the death of a sibling or friend. Within this
context, the inclusion of such morbid language in a
children’s book becomes less surprising.
The Rationalist Tradition in Children’s
Literature
 In 1693, John Locke
published Some
Thoughts Concerning
Education.
 Unlike the Puritans,
Locke did not believe in
original sin. Instead, he
believe in a concept
called tabula rosa – the
idea that a child’s mind
at birth was a blank slate.
 Locke felt that children
were capable of rational
thought, and that it was a
parent’s duty to provide
a child with a solid moral
and intellectual
grounding.
 However, like the
Puritans’ belief system,
Locke’s ideas put
pressure on parents to
take responsibility for
their children’s fates.
The Rise of Didacticism
 Out of the Puritan and
Lockean belief systems
came the didactic
tradition in children’s
literature. Didactic texts
emphasize learning and
instruction.
 Most of the literature
written during the 17th, 18th,
and early 19th centuries was
didactic in nature, such as
Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s
Progress (1678).
The Rise of Imaginative Literature
 In continental Europe,
however, another tradition
was taking hold – the
publication of folktales for
the entertainment of young
children.
 In 1697, Charles Perrault
published Contes de ma
mère l’oye, or Tales of
Mother Goose, which was
translated in to English and
became very popular.
John Newbery
 In 1744, John Newbery, a
London publisher, put
forward a book entitled A
Little Pretty Pocketbook, “the first book
explicitly published to
instruct and delight child
readers” (CC 995).
 Notice the emphasis
placed upon “Instruction
with Delight.”
Gender Divisions in Children’s Literature
 By the 19th century, children’s literature began to
reflect the different social realities experienced by
girls and boys.
 Boys’ texts focused on the vocations to which young
men might aspire.
 Girls’ texts focused on domesticity and their future
roles as wives and mothers.
Gender Divisions
Alger's Ragged Dick
(1968)
Warner’s The Wide, Wide
World (1850)
The Rise of Romanticism in Children’s
Literature
 In 1762, Jean Jacques
Rousseau published
Émile ou de l’education
(Emile, or Of Education).
 Rousseau disagreed with
the idea of tabula rasa.
He felt children were
noble savages born with
an innate understanding
of right and wrong and a
plan for orderly growth.
The Rise of Romanticism
 Rousseau argued that if a child grew up to become an
unproductive citizen, it was the fault of the
parents/society as much as it was the fault of the
child.
 Followers of Rousseau came to view children as
divine beings whose simplicity and purity placed
them in stark contrast with the Industrial World.
Wordsworth’s Ode
 In 1807, William
Wordsworth, a leading
Romantic poet and
philosopher, wrote “Ode:
Intimations of
Immortality from
Recollections of Early
Childhood,” “an
influential Romantic
statement on the beauty
and sanctity of the
child’s imagination and
kinship with nature.”
The Rise of Romanticism
 In American literature,
Ralph Waldo Emerson
agreed with
Wordsworth’s ideas,
writing in Nature (1836)
“the sun illuminates only
the eye of the man, but
shines into the eye and
the heart of the child”
(24).
 As historian Hugh
Cunningham notes, “the
more adults and adult
society seemed bleak,
urbanized, and alienated,
the more childhood came
to be seen as properly a
garden, enclosing within
the safety of its walls a
way of life which was in
touch with nature” (43).
The Golden Age of Children’s Literature
 Most scholars identify the
period 1865-1910 as “The
Golden Age of Children’s
Literature,” an “era of
popular, imaginative
children’s books, many of
which are still frequently
read” (CC 996), including
Alice in Wonderland and The
Wizard of Oz.
 Note that many of these texts
are set in another world – a
“secret garden” or a fantasy
world – where childhood can
be removed from everyday
adult concerns!
The Golden Age
 Children’s literature
authors who wrote
AFTER 1865 debated the
relative merits of
instruction and
entertainment; they also
debated the manner in
which children should be
portrayed – as innocents
or as “wise beyond their
years.” These conflicts
are what makes Golden
Age texts so interesting!
The “Modern Era”
 If we are going to learn
what a term such as postmodernism means, then
we have to first
understand the
modernism that critics
and thinkers are
supposedly leaving
behind.
 In the first half of the
twentieth century, many
political, religious,
scientific, and
psychological “truths”
that had been established
during the previous few
centuries were called into
question. In many fields,
new knowledge pushed
aside long-held views.
“The Modern Era”
 Due to mandatory
education laws, most
people in North America
and Europe were fully
literate, experienced the
economic benefits that
were part of the great
industrial expansion of
the 20th century, and
were much more capable
of voicing their beliefs.
 They also became
consumers of what we
term “popular culture” –
especially the rise of
radio and film meant
that millions of people
could, for the first time,
experience a cultural
artifact and react to it
jointly.
Modernism
 Thus, while the rise of
the “common man”
seemed to hold promise,
the modern era also
brought with it many
fears – social institutions
such as monarchies, the
church, and the wealthy
were concerned that “the
masses” would remove
them from power.
 Many authors and artists
were equally concerned
that popular culture
would overshadow the
privileged position that
“high art” had always
held.
 One response to these
fears was the creation of
a literary and artistic
movement called
“Modernism.”
Literary Modernism
 Some literary modernists
argued that art should
not cater to the general
public, but should only
answer to the demands
of the artist’s
imagination.
 Others argued that
literary form should be
preserved in the face of
cultural chaos.
 Still other modernists felt
that the individual – who
was being swallowed up
in the concept of mass
culture – should be
valorized in literature
through the direct
expression of the inner
lives of characters.
Literary Modernism
 The attention to form, to
the inner life, to the
expression of a
somewhat narrow
aesthetic sense would
characterize literature
right up to the end of the
Second World War in
1945.
 However, in the
aftermath of the boming
of Hiroshima and
Nagasaki in Japan –
when the entire world
came to realize that
human beings now held
the capability to anniliate
their planet, a different
world view began to
emerge slowly, especially
among intellectuals.
The Postmodern “Turn”
 In a world where
technology increasingly
blurs the boundaries
between people and
machines, the concerns
of artists and critics has
shifted. This shift is
often labeled “the
Postmodern Turn.”
 For our purposes as
readers of children’s
literature,
Postmodernism has had
some very specific
impacts.
Postmodern Children’s Literature…
 Calls into question literary form
 Drawing attention to form itself
 Creating indeterminate endings
 Reveling in the ironic
 Calls into question subjectivity
 Asking whether language itself creates people into being
 Speculating on the fluid boundaries between people and things
 Wondering if we can ever really know ourselves or others