Children's literature is literature that entertains or instructs children. Many stories, poems, and other types of literature have been written especially with the young in mind. These works have come to be known collectively as children's literature. But a large number of children's favorites were originally aimed at adults. These include such timeless tales as The Pancatantra, Aesop's Fables, Arabian Nights, and The Pilgrim's Progress.
Books are an important part of children's literature, but the genre is much more than just books. It is magazines, newspapers, tapes, CDs, songs, TV shows, and films. It is writers and storytellers, artists and publishers, libraries and librarians—all the things and all the people that bring children and literature together.
Background
Before the 18th century there was little literature for children, but there was literature children liked. All literature began with folklore, which was probably aimed at a general audience of all ages. Through the years many stories and songs from folklore have been adapted especially for children (see storytelling).
The earliest published books were generally meant for adults. The first books actually aimed at children, or for use with children, were either lesson books or conduct books, which taught manners and morals. These were not typically literature (see literature).
In England in the 7th and 8th centuries churchmen such as Bede and Alcuin began to write lesson books for students. In the mid-15th century a new type of instructional device, the hornbook, began to appear in England. A hornbook was not really a book but rather a printed page pasted on a wooden paddle. The page was protected by a transparent sheet of horn, which looked like clear plastic. On the page were the alphabet, a short prayer, and other material for learning to read. The Puritans brought hornbooks to America for teaching their children. The battledore, a sheet of cardboardlike paper folded into several panels, gradually replaced the hornbook after its introduction in the mid-18th century. The content of battledores was similar to that of hornbooks.
The first picture book written especially for children was also designed to teach. In Moravia (now part of the Czech Republic) in 1658 the educator John Amos Comenius published Orbis Sensualium Pictus (The Visible World in Pictures), a textbook with detailed pictures of a wide variety of subjects. Comenius felt these would hold the attention of children longer and would, therefore, make it easier for children to learn.
Children's Literature of Europe
In the countries of Europe, written literature for children began in the 17th century. Very little was published at first, and children often turned, as always, to adult literature for adventure and excitement.
Children's Literature of Europe > Scattered Beginnings
In Italy Giambattista Basile's collection of folktales, Lo Cunto de li Cunti (1634; The Tale of Tales), was not written for children. But many of the stories, such as "Sleeping Beauty" and "Cinderella," came to be children's favorites. Swiss literature for children began with the custom in Zürich of having children deliver tax money to city officials on New Year's Day. The children were accustomed to getting a treat as a reward, but in 1645 they received sheets of paper instead. On each sheet was a picture with some verse underneath. These Neujahrsblätter (New Year's Sheets) became popular and spread from Zürich to other parts of Switzerland.
Children's books of the 17th century were often preachy and dull, but there were exceptions—books that entertained the reader while teaching a lesson. One such book was Jean de La Fontaine's Fables (1668). Another was Charles Perrault's French fairy tales, sometimes known as Tales of Mother Goose. Perrault wrote modern versions of such tales as "Red Riding Hood" and "Bluebeard" to amuse his children. A third exception was John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress (1678). Although written as an allegory about the human soul, it appealed to children as an adventure story. (See also Bunyan, John; fable; La Fontaine, Jean de.)
Another exception to preachy and dull books were the chapbooks. They were little paperbacks sold by peddlers, or chapmen, and commonly written for adults. Early chapbooks were often sensational versions of medieval romances and other stories. Later chapbooks also contained fairy tales, and many of these appealed to children.
Children's Literature of Europe > Children's Literature Comes into Its Own
Two outstanding English books of the early 18th century—Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe and Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels—became children's favorites. But, like many earlier books embraced by children, they were written for adults. Children's books did not truly emerge as a separate branch of English literature until the mid–18th century, when merchants began publishing especially for children. The best known of these merchants was John Newbery, who published his first book, A Little Pretty Pocket-Book, in 1744. Two of Newbery's most famous books are The History of Little Goody Two-Shoes and Mother Goose's Melody. His Mother Goose book was the first collection of Mother Goose rhymes in English. (See also Defoe, Daniel; Mother Goose; Newbery, John; Swift, Jonathan.)
Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Émile (1762) is about a boy whose learning was based on his interests. Many children's books of the time adopted Rousseau's main characters—the boy and his teacher. In the imitations, however, everything the two did was made to teach a lesson. English engraver Thomas Bewick began to illustrate fine picture books for children. Children's magazines and newspapers appeared. These included Germany's Leipziger Wochenblatt für Kinder (1772; Leipzig Children's Weekly) and Spain's La Gaceta de los Niños (1798; Children's Magazine).
In the 19th century writing for children became more respectable in Europe, and the quality of both children's writers and children's books improved. An early book of poems for children was Original Poems for Infant Minds (1804), by Ann and Jane Taylor of England. Jane wrote the famous poem Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. Charles Lamb and his sister Mary began the retelling of classics for children with their Tales from Shakespeare, a version of Shakespeare's plays. Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm published their own versions of the German folktales that were told to them as they traveled throughout the countryside (see Grimm brothers). In Switzerland, Johann Wyss's Swiss Family Robinson appeared.
Russia's Ivan A. Krylov published his fables in 1825. Sir Walter Scott's Tales of a Grandfather marked the beginning of Scottish children's literature (1827–30). Petr P. Ershov's story of a magic horse, The Little Humpbacked Horse (1834), was printed in Russia. In Denmark appeared the first fairy tales by one of the world's great storytellers, Hans Christian Andersen (see Andersen, Hans Christian).
Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol (1843) gave children the memorable characters Scrooge and Tiny Tim. From 1837 to 1844 Peter Asbjörnsen and Jörgen Moe published their collection of Norwegian folktales, many of which were later retold by a noted Norwegian storyteller, Gudrun Thorne-Thomsen, in East o' the Sun and West o' the Moon. Heinrich Hoffman, a doctor of Frankfurt am Main, Germany, drew humorous pictures for children in his waiting room. The result was Struwwelpeter (1845; Shock-headed Peter), later translated as Slovenly Peter. Edward Lear's Book of Nonsense (1846) was pure fun—a taste of things to come in children's literature (see Lear, Edward).
Children's Literature of Europe > More Types and Masterpieces
Beginning in about the 1850s children's literature aimed more and more to please rather than teach. Story characters were pictured more like real people, and more types of children's books began to appear.
Aleksandr Afanasev collected Russian folktales. Thomas Hughes's Tom Brown's School Days (1857) became one of the best-known school stories in English. Five Weeks in a Balloon (1863) was the first of the Jules Verne science fiction books. The Czech author Karel Erben collected folktales, later translated as Panslavonic Folk-Lore.
In Germany Wilhelm Busch published a picture story, Max and Moritz (1865), that was an ancestor of the comic strip. The outstanding literary event of the time was Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865), with illustrations by John Tenniel. It is one of the great fantasies of world literature for children (see Carroll, Lewis).
Among the most important illustrators of the period were Walter Crane, Randolph Caldecott, and Kate Greenaway. These English artists helped develop the colored picture book for the very young.
One children's masterpiece after another began to appear. The English critic John Ruskin published King of the Golden River in 1851. The novelist William Makepeace Thackeray's tale, The Rose and the Ring, was issued in 1855. George MacDonald of Scotland wrote the fantasy At the Back of the North Wind (1871). Johanna Spyri's Heidi (1880) was written in Switzerland. Pinocchio (1883), the story of a wooden boy, was written in Italy by Carlo Lorenzini, who used the name Carlo Collodi. Robert Louis Stevenson of Scotland wrote Treasure Island (1883) and a notable collection of poems entitled A Child's Garden of Verses (1885). Cuore (1886; The Heart of a Boy) was written by Edmondo de Amicis of Italy. England's Rudyard Kipling wrote The Jungle Book (1894) and Just So Stories (1902). (See also Kipling, Rudyard; Ruskin, John; Spyri, Johanna; Stevenson, Robert Louis; Thackeray, William Makepeace.)
Children's Literature of Europe > Children's Literature Takes a Giant Step
Good books are important, but equally important is making them available to children. In the early 20th century children's libraries and training centers for children's librarians opened in many European countries. Children's book councils, book weeks, book reviews, and book awards were organized.
Outstanding children's books appeared in rapid succession. Seumas MacManus' Donegal Fairy Stories (1900) retold Irish tales. Out of England came Beatrix Potter's Tale of Peter Rabbit (1901) and Walter de la Mare's Songs of Childhood (1902). Peter Pan, a play by James Barrie of Scotland, was first staged in 1904 (see Barrie, James). From Sweden came Selma Lagerlöf's The Wonderful Adventures of Nils (1906–07). Kenneth Grahame, a Scot, wrote The Wind in the Willows (1908) (see Grahame, Kenneth). The Blue Bird, by Maurice Maeterlinck of Belgium, was staged in 1908 and published in 1909 (see Maeterlinck, Maurice).
From Sweden came Elsa Beskow's Pelle's New Suit; from Croatia, Ivana Brlic-Mazuranic's The Brave Adventures of Lapitch; from Spain, Platero and I, by Juan Ramón Jiménez; from Ireland, Padraic Colum's King of Ireland's Son. In England A.A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh was illustrated by Ernest H. Shepard. Other English books of this period included Hugh Lofting's Story of Dr. Dolittle and Oscar Wilde's The Happy Prince, and Other Tales.
Germany's Erich Kästner wrote Emil and the Detectives. The Babar the elephant series, beginning with The Story of Babar, was written by Jean de Brunhoff of France and his son, Laurent. From England came Mary Poppins (1934), by Australian-born Pamela L. Travers, and from the Soviet Union came Sergei Prokofiev's musical fairy tale Peter and the Wolf (1936) (see Prokofiev, Sergei). Antoine de Saint-Exupéry of France wrote The Little Prince. In Sweden appeared Astrid Lindgren's Pippi Longstocking. Tove Jansson of Finland wrote her first book about the Moomins, Comet in Moominland.
Children's Literature of Europe > New Themes Emerge
From about the 1950s more children's books showed real-world struggles. For example, Marcelino by José M. Sanchez-Silva of Spain is about an orphan boy who kept and killed small animals. The Ark, by Margot Benary-Isbert, showed the aftereffects of war on the people of Germany. Babbis Friis-Baastad, who created her first radio play for Norwegian children in 1957, wrote Kristy's Courage, followed by Don't Take Teddy. The first is about a disfigured girl, the second about a mentally handicapped child.
At the same time, however, fantasy and folktales continued to flourish. The Borrowers (1952) was the first of a charming fantasy series by Mary Norton of England. Other fantasy series from England included the seven novels by C.S. Lewis collectively known as The Chronicles of Narnia (1950–56) and J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy (1954–55). Gwyn Jones retold Welsh Legends and Folk-Tales (1955). Karl Bruckner of Austria retold the story of Tutankhamen in The Golden Pharaoh. The Scottish folktales of Heather and Broom (1960) were retold from the Gaelic by Leclaire G. Alger, who used the name Sorche Nic Leodhas. She also wrote Always Room for One More. (See also Lewis, C.S.; Tolkien, J.R.R.)
More children's literature of eastern Europe became available in English in the 1960s and 1970s. Stefan Dichev of Bulgaria wrote Rali (1960), a realistic story about Bulgaria when it was ruled by the Turks. The Golden Seed by Poland's Maria Konopnicka was translated in 1962.
Nada Curcija-Prodanovic retold southern Slavic folktales in Heroes of Serbia (1963). The Three Poor Tailors (1965), a picture-book version of a Hungarian folktale, was created by Hungarian-born Victor Ambrus. Alki Zei's Wildcat Under Glass, a realistic story of the Greece of the 1930s, was translated in 1968.
Among notable books of the 1970s was Mirra Ginsburg's How the Sun Was Brought Back to the Sky: A Slovenian Folktale (1975). Denmark's Ib Spang Olsen wrote Smoke, about an unorthodox fight against air pollution. Estonian-born Selve Maas retold The Moon Painters, and Other Estonian Folk Tales (1971). S. R. van Iterson of The Netherlands wrote Pulga, the realistic story of a street child of Bogotá, Colombia. Ioana Sturdza translated Fairy Tales and Legends from Romania (1972).