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85-484: John Newbery (9 July 1713 – 22 December 1767), considered "The Father of Children's Literature ", was an English publisher of books who first made children's literature a sustainable and profitable part of the literary market. He also supported and published the works of Christopher Smart , Oliver Goldsmith and Samuel Johnson . In recognition of his achievements the Newbery Medal was named after him in 1922. Newbery

170-404: A Peter Rabbit doll, making Peter the first licensed character . Michael O. Tunnell and James S. Jacobs, professors of children's literature at Brigham Young University, write, "Potter was the first to use pictures as well as words to tell the story, incorporating coloured illustration with text, page for page." Rudyard Kipling published The Jungle Book in 1894. A major theme in the book

255-712: A courtesy book by the Dutch priest Erasmus . A Pretty and Splendid Maiden's Mirror , an adaptation of a German book for young women, became the first Swedish children's book upon its 1591 publication. Sweden published fables and a children's magazine by 1766. In Italy , Giovanni Francesco Straparola released The Facetious Nights of Straparola in the 1550s. Called the first European storybook to contain fairy-tales, it eventually had 75 separate stories and written for an adult audience. Giulio Cesare Croce also borrowed from some stories children enjoyed for his books. Russia 's earliest children's books, primers , appeared in

340-525: A Land Baby , by Rev. Charles Kingsley (1862), which became extremely popular and remains a classic of British children's literature. In 1883, Carlo Collodi wrote the first Italian fantasy novel, The Adventures of Pinocchio , which was translated many times. In that same year, Emilio Salgari , the man who would become "the adventure writer par excellence for the young in Italy" first published his legendary character Sandokan . In Britain, The Princess and

425-562: A brightly colored cover that appealed to children—something new in the publishing industry. Known as gift books, these early books became the precursors to the toy books popular in the nineteenth century. Newbery was also adept at marketing this new genre. According to the journal The Lion and the Unicorn , "Newbery's genius was in developing the fairly new product category, children's books, through his frequent advertisements... and his clever ploy of introducing additional titles and products into

510-516: A genre, Robinsonade ), adventure stories written specifically for children began in the nineteenth century. Early examples from British authors include Frederick Marryat 's The Children of the New Forest (1847) and Harriet Martineau 's The Peasant and the Prince (1856). The Victorian era saw the development of the genre, with W. H. G. Kingston , R. M. Ballantyne and G. A. Henty specializing in

595-577: A good boy and Polly a good girl", it had poems, proverbs and an alphabet song. The book was child sized with a brightly coloured cover that appealed to children—something new in the publishing industry. Known as gift books, these early books became the precursor to the toy books popular in the nineteenth century. In developing his particular brand of children's literature, Newbery borrowed techniques from other publishers, such as binding his books in Dutch floral paper and advertising his other products and books within

680-467: A knowledge of the letters; be taught to read, without perceiving it to be anything but a sport, and play themselves into that which others are whipp'd for." He also suggested that picture books be created for children. In the nineteenth century, a few children's titles became famous as classroom reading texts. Among these were the fables of Aesop and Jean de la Fontaine and Charles Perraults's 1697 Tales of Mother Goose . The popularity of these texts led to

765-435: A medicine which claimed to cure gout, rheumatism, scrofula, scurvy, leprosy, and distemper in cattle. This product became successful due in part to Newbery's advertisements for it in his literature. In Goody Two-Shoes , the heroine's father dies because he was "seized with a violent fever in a place where Dr. James Fever Powder was not to be had." Newbery used his fortune to help writers through financial difficulties. Those he

850-655: A movement concerned with reforming both education and literature for children. Its founder, Johann Bernhard Basedow , authored Elementarwerk as a popular textbook for children that included many illustrations by Daniel Chodowiecki . Another follower, Joachim Heinrich Campe , created an adaptation of Robinson Crusoe that went into over 100 printings. He became Germany's "outstanding and most modern" writer for children. According to Hans-Heino Ewers in The International Companion Encyclopedia of Children's Literature , "It can be argued that from this time,

935-531: A new sophistication to the historical adventure novel. Philip Pullman in the Sally Lockhart novels and Julia Golding in the Cat Royal series have continued the tradition of the historical adventure. An important aspect of British children's literature has been comic books and magazines . Amongst the most popular and longest running comics have been The Beano and The Dandy , both first published in

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1020-525: A scathing critique of it nearly 150 years later, in 1890. His fever powder, which he patented in 1747, was one of the most successful of 18th-century patent medicines , though he is said to have "tarnished his image by patenting his powders, and falsifying their specification". (It was considered unbecomingly mercenary to patent a medicine, and his falsification of the ingredients in the patent documentation would have been designed to prevent others from replicating his formulation.) The use of this preparation,

1105-869: A separate category of literature especially in the Victorian era , with some works becoming internationally known, such as Lewis Carroll 's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass . Another classic of the period is Anna Sewell 's animal novel Black Beauty (1877). At the end of the Victorian era and leading into the Edwardian era, author and illustrator Beatrix Potter published The Tale of Peter Rabbit in 1902. Potter went on to produce 23 children's books and become very wealthy. A pioneer of character merchandising, in 1903 she patented

1190-523: A series of twelve books . The Golden Age of Children's Literature ended with World War I . The period before World War II was much slower in children's publishing. The main exceptions in England were the publications of Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne in 1926, the first Mary Poppins book by P. L. Travers in 1934, The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien in 1937, and the Arthurian The Sword in

1275-554: A shop in London, first at the sign of the Bible and Crown near Devereux Court. He published several adult books, but he became interested in expanding his business to children's books. His first children's book, A Little Pretty Pocket-Book , appeared 18 July 1744. A Little Pretty Pocket-Book is the first in Newbery's successful line of children's books. The book cost six pence but for an extra two

1360-515: A wide range of topics including education, natural history, fantasy, mystery, and biblical narratives and is best remembered today for her Noddy , The Famous Five , The Secret Seven , and The Adventure Series . The first of these children's stories, Five on a Treasure Island , was published in 1942. In the 1950s, the book market in Europe began to recover from the effects of the two world wars. An informal literary discussion group associated with

1445-864: A wide range of works, including acknowledged classics of world literature , picture books and easy-to-read stories written exclusively for children, and fairy tales , lullabies , fables , folk songs , and other primarily orally transmitted materials or more specifically defined as fiction , non-fiction , poetry , or drama intended for and used by children and young people. One writer on children's literature defines it as "all books written for children, excluding works such as comic books , joke books, cartoon books , and non-fiction works that are not intended to be read from front to back, such as dictionaries, encyclopedias, and other reference materials". However, others would argue that children's comics should also be included: "Children's Literature studies has traditionally treated comics fitfully and superficially despite

1530-544: Is The Newtonian System of Philosophy Adapted to the Capacities of Young Gentlemen and Ladies . John Newbery died 22 December 1767, at his house in St. Paul's Churchyard. He is buried in his birthplace of Waltham Saint Lawrence. Newbery's prosperity did not just come from publishing; he was one of the most successful merchants in England at the time. Some of his fortunes came from the patent and sales of Dr Robert James 's Fever Powder,

1615-646: Is abandonment followed by fostering, as in the life of Mowgli , echoing Kipling's own childhood. In the latter years of the 19th century, precursors of the modern picture book were illustrated books of poems and short stories produced by English illustrators Randolph Caldecott , Walter Crane , and Kate Greenaway . These had a larger proportion of pictures to words than earlier books, and many of their pictures were in colour. Some British artists made their living illustrating novels and children's books, among them Arthur Rackham , Cicely Mary Barker , W. Heath Robinson , Henry J. Ford , John Leech , and George Cruikshank . In

1700-421: Is added and rules for processing are formed solely by one's sensory experiences. A corollary of this doctrine was that the mind of the child was born blank and that it was the duty of the parents to imbue the child with correct notions. Locke himself emphasized the importance of providing children with "easy pleasant books" to develop their minds rather than using force to compel them: "Children may be cozen'd into

1785-582: Is an adaptation of the myth of Blodeuwedd from the Mabinogion , set in modern Wales – it won Garner the annual Carnegie Medal from the Library Association , recognising the year's best children's book by a British author. Mary Norton wrote The Borrowers (1952), featuring tiny people who borrow from humans. Dodie Smith 's The Hundred and One Dalmatians was published in 1956. Philippa Pearce 's Tom's Midnight Garden (1958) has Tom opening

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1870-467: Is an epic trilogy of fantasy novels consisting of Northern Lights (1995, published as The Golden Compass in North America), The Subtle Knife (1997), and The Amber Spyglass (2000). It follows the coming of age of two children, Lyra Belacqua and Will Parry, as they wander through a series of parallel universes. The three novels have won a number of awards, most notably the 2001 Whitbread Book of

1955-438: Is difficult to trace. Even after printing became widespread, many classic "children's" tales were originally created for adults and later adapted for a younger audience. Since the fifteenth century much literature has been aimed specifically at children, often with a moral or religious message. Children's literature has been shaped by religious sources, like Puritan traditions, or by more philosophical and scientific standpoints with

2040-716: Is known to have assisted include Johnson, who called him "Jack Whirler" for his constant activity and inability to sit still; and Goldsmith, who portrayed Newbery in The Vicar of Wakefield as Dr Primrose , "the friend of all mankind". Locke had written that "children may be cozened [tricked] into a knowledge of the letters; be taught to read, without perceiving it to be anything but a sport, and play themselves into that which others are whipped for." He also suggested that picture books be created for children. Locke also argued that children should be considered "reasoning beings." Newbery acted upon these suggestions. A Pretty Little Pocket-Book

2125-552: The Jennings series by Anthony Buckeridge . Ruth Manning-Sanders 's first collection, A Book of Giants , retells a number of giant stories from around the world. Susan Cooper 's The Dark Is Rising is a five-volume fantasy saga set in England and Wales. Raymond Briggs ' children's picture book The Snowman (1978) has been adapted as an animation, shown every Christmas on British television. The Reverend. W. Awdry and son Christopher 's The Railway Series features Thomas

2210-437: The "proposals", as well as several of the dictionary's articles (mainly at the beginning of the alphabet), including those for actuarius and Aretaeus . This work was immediately translated into French (as Dictionnaire universel de médecine , 1746–1748) by the team of Denis Diderot , François-Vincent Toussaint , and Marc-Antoine Eidous ; and it retained its popularity for so long that Mark Twain felt justified in writing

2295-446: The 1740s, a cluster of London publishers began to produce new books designed to instruct and delight young readers. Thomas Boreman was one. Another was Mary Cooper , whose two-volume Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book (1744) is the first known nursery rhyme collection. But the most celebrated of these pioneers is John Newbery , whose first book for the entertainment of children was A Little Pretty Pocket-Book ." Widely considered

2380-707: The 1890s, some of the best known fairy tales from England were compiled in Joseph Jacobs ' English Fairy Tales , including Jack and the Beanstalk , Goldilocks and the Three Bears , The Three Little Pigs , Jack the Giant Killer and Tom Thumb . The Kailyard School of Scottish writers, notably J. M. Barrie , creator of Peter Pan (1904), presented an idealised version of society and brought fantasy and folklore back into fashion. In 1908, Kenneth Grahame wrote

2465-621: The 1930s he began publishing his Swallows and Amazons series of children's books about the school-holiday adventures of children, mostly in the English Lake District and the Norfolk Broads . Many of them involve sailing; fishing and camping are other common subjects. Biggles was a popular series of adventure books for young boys, about James Bigglesworth, a fictional pilot and adventurer , by W. E. Johns . Between 1941 and 1961 there were 60 issues with stories about Biggles, and in

2550-507: The 1930s. British comics in the 20th century evolved from illustrated penny dreadfuls of the Victorian era (featuring Sweeney Todd , Dick Turpin and Varney the Vampire ). First published in the 1830s, according to The Guardian , penny dreadfuls were "Britain's first taste of mass-produced popular culture for the young." Robin Hood featured in a series of penny dreadfuls in 1838 which sparked

2635-478: The 1960s occasional contributors included the BBC astronomer Patrick Moore . Between 1940 and 1947, W. E. Johns contributed sixty stories featuring the female pilot Worrals . Evoking epic themes, Richard Adams 's 1972 survival and adventure novel Watership Down follows a small group of rabbits who escape the destruction of their warren and seek to establish a new home. Geoffrey Trease and Rosemary Sutcliff brought

John Newbery - Misplaced Pages Continue

2720-565: The English army, and his wife Frances, a sister of Sir Robert Clarke . His early education was at Lichfield Grammar School , where he became acquainted with his fellow student Samuel Johnson. He then attended St John's College, Oxford , from which he received the degree of A.B. on 5 July 1726. He was admitted as an extra-licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians on 12 January 1727/8 , and in May of

2805-586: The English faculty at the University of Oxford, were the "Inklings", with the major fantasy novelists C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien as its main members. C. S. Lewis published the first installment of The Chronicles of Narnia series in 1950, while Tolkien is best known, in addition to The Hobbit , as the author of The Lord of the Rings (1954). Another writer of fantasy stories is Alan Garner author of Elidor (1965), and The Owl Service (1967). The latter

2890-510: The French literary society, who saw them as only fit for old people and children. In 1658, John Amos Comenius in Bohemia published the informative illustrated Orbis Pictus , for children under six learning to read. It is considered to be the first picture book produced specifically for children. The first Danish children's book was The Child's Mirror by Niels Bredal in 1568, an adaptation of

2975-493: The Goblin and its sequel The Princess and Curdie , by George MacDonald , appeared in 1872 and 1883, and the adventure stories Treasure Island and Kidnapped , both by Robert Louis Stevenson , were extremely popular in the 1880s. Rudyard Kipling 's The Jungle Book was first published in 1894, and J. M. Barrie told the story of Peter Pan in the novel Peter and Wendy in 1911. Johanna Spyri 's two-part novel Heidi

3060-582: The Great wrote allegories for children, and during her reign, Nikolai Novikov started the first juvenile magazine in Russia. The modern children's book emerged in mid-18th-century England. A growing polite middle-class and the influence of Lockean theories of childhood innocence combined to create the beginnings of childhood as a concept. In an article for the British Library , professor MO Grenby writes, "in

3145-663: The Grimm brothers also contributed to children's literature through their academic pursuits. As professors, they had a scholarly interest in the stories, striving to preserve them and their variations accurately, recording their sources. A similar project was carried out by the Norwegian scholars Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe , who collected Norwegian fairy tales and published them as Norwegian Folktales , often referred to as Asbjørnsen and Moe . By compiling these stories, they preserved Norway's literary heritage and helped create

3230-507: The Norwegian written language. Danish author and poet Hans Christian Andersen traveled through Europe and gathered many well-known fairy tales and created new stories in the fairy tale genre. In Switzerland , Johann David Wyss published The Swiss Family Robinson in 1812, with the aim of teaching children about family values, good husbandry, the uses of the natural world and self-reliance. The book became popular across Europe after it

3315-522: The Reading business. His success allowed his son Francis to attend both Cambridge and Oxford Universities. Jan Susina, writing in The Lion and the Unicorn says "Newbery's genius was in developing the fairly new product category, children's books, through his frequent advertisements ... and his clever ploy of introducing additional titles and products into the body of his children's books." About one-fifth of

3400-563: The Stone by T. H. White in 1938. Children's mass paperback books were first released in England in 1940 under the Puffin Books imprint, and their lower prices helped make book buying possible for children during World War II. Enid Blyton 's books have been among the world's bestsellers since the 1930s, selling more than 600 million copies. Blyton's books are still enormously popular and have been translated into almost 90 languages. She wrote on

3485-601: The Tank Engine . Margery Sharp 's series The Rescuers is based on a heroic mouse organisation. The third Children's Laureate Michael Morpurgo published War Horse in 1982. Dick King-Smith 's novels include The Sheep-Pig (1984). Diana Wynne Jones wrote the young adult fantasy novel Howl's Moving Castle in 1986. Anne Fine 's Madame Doubtfire (1987) is based around a family with divorced parents. Anthony Horowitz 's Alex Rider series begins with Stormbreaker (2000). Philip Pullman 's His Dark Materials

John Newbery - Misplaced Pages Continue

3570-680: The United States. Mark Twain released Tom Sawyer in 1876. In 1880 another bestseller, Uncle Remus: His Songs and His Sayings , a collection of African American folk tales adapted and compiled by Joel Chandler Harris , appeared. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a plethora of children's novels began featuring realistic, non-magical plotlines. Certain titles received international success such as Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island (1883), L. M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables (1908), and Louisa May Alcott's Little Women (1869). Literature for children had developed as

3655-782: The Year prize, won by The Amber Spyglass . Northern Lights won the Carnegie Medal for children's fiction in 1995. Neil Gaiman wrote the dark fantasy novella Coraline (2002). His 2008 fantasy, The Graveyard Book , traces the story of a boy who is raised by the supernatural occupants of a graveyard. In 2001, Terry Pratchett received the Carnegie Medal (his first major award) for The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents . Cressida Cowell 's How to Train Your Dragon series were published between 2003 and 2015. J. K. Rowling 's Harry Potter fantasy sequence of seven novels chronicles

3740-603: The adventures of the adolescent wizard Harry Potter . The series began with Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in 1997 and ended with the seventh and final book Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in 2007; becoming the best selling book-series in history . The series has been translated into 67 languages, so placing Rowling among the most translated authors in history. While Daniel Defoe wrote Robinson Crusoe in 1719 (spawning so many imitations it defined

3825-665: The alphabet, vowels, consonants, double letters, and syllables before providing a religious rhyme of the alphabet, beginning "In Adam's fall We sinned all...", and continues through the alphabet. It also contained religious maxims, acronyms , spelling help and other educational items, all decorated by woodcuts . In 1634, the Pentamerone from Italy became the first major published collection of European folk tales. Charles Perrault began recording fairy tales in France, publishing his first collection in 1697. They were not well received among

3910-455: The beginning of the mass circulation of Robin stories. Robert James (physician) Robert James (1703 – 23 March 1776) was an English physician who is best known as the author of A Medicinal Dictionary , as the inventor of a popular "fever powder", and as a friend of Samuel Johnson . James was born in 1703, at Kinvaston in Staffordshire , to Edward James, a major in

3995-504: The body of his children's books." Professor Grenby writes, "Newbery has become known as the 'father of children's literature' chiefly because he was able to show that publishing children's books could be a commercial success." The improvement in the quality of books for children and the diversity of topics he published helped make Newbery the leading producer of children's books in his time. He published his own books as well as those by authors such as Samuel Johnson and Oliver Goldsmith ;

4080-552: The booklets as well. Johanna Bradley says, in From Chapbooks to Plum Cake , that chapbooks kept imaginative stories from being lost to readers under the strict Puritan influence of the time. Hornbooks also appeared in England during this time, teaching children basic information such as the alphabet and the Lord's Prayer . These were brought from England to the American colonies in

4165-489: The business after his death, though with less cooperation than John Newbery had anticipated; the son and stepson frequently differentiated themselves from the nephew through their imprints, and had a less than cordial relationship between each other as well. Francis (nephew) struck out on his own without legally inheriting any of John Newbery's publications, only a share of his newspaper interests. Nevertheless, he persevered, and upon his death in 1780, his widow Elizabeth inherited

4250-734: The children's classic The Wind in the Willows and the Scouts founder Robert Baden-Powell 's first book, Scouting for Boys , was published. Inspiration for Frances Hodgson Burnett 's novel The Secret Garden (1910) was the Great Maytham Hall Garden in Kent. While fighting in the trenches for the British Army in World War I, Hugh Lofting created the character of Doctor Dolittle , who appears in

4335-490: The concept of childhood , that a separate genre of children's literature began to emerge, with its own divisions, expectations, and canon . The earliest of these books were educational books, books on conduct, and simple ABCs—often decorated with animals, plants, and anthropomorphic letters. In 1962, French historian Philippe Ariès argues in his book Centuries of Childhood that the modern concept of childhood only emerged in recent times. He explains that children were in

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4420-457: The concept of childhood began to emerge in Europe. Adults saw children as separate beings, innocent and in need of protection and training by the adults around them. The English philosopher John Locke developed his theory of the tabula rasa in his 1690 An Essay Concerning Human Understanding . In Locke's philosophy, tabula rasa was the theory that the (human) mind is at birth a "blank slate" without rules for processing data, and that data

4505-527: The content (the weird adventures of a young girl in a fantasy land), but also the origin of the tales as both are dedicated and given to a daughter of the author's friends. The shift to a modern genre of children's literature occurred in the mid-19th century; didacticism of a previous age began to make way for more humorous, child-oriented books, more attuned to the child's imagination. The availability of children's literature greatly increased as well, as paper and printing became widely available and affordable,

4590-437: The creation of a number of nineteenth-century fantasy and fairy tales for children which featured magic objects and talking animals. Another influence on this shift in attitudes came from Puritanism , which stressed the importance of individual salvation. Puritans were concerned with the spiritual welfare of their children, and there was a large growth in the publication of "good godly books" aimed squarely at children. Some of

4675-729: The firm through his will. Elizabeth carried on a successful, independent twenty-two year career, retiring in 1802 by selling the business to her successor, John Harris. In 1922, the John Newbery Medal was created by the American Library Association in his honour; it is awarded each year to the "most distinguished contribution to American literature for children". According to the New Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature (NCBEL 2.120), Newbery "wrote, wholly or partly" and "edited or materially influenced"

4760-455: The first "English masterpiece written for children" and as a founding book in the development of fantasy literature, its publication opened the "First Golden Age" of children's literature in Britain and Europe that continued until the early 1900s. The fairy-tale absurdity of Wonderland has solid historical ground as a satire of the serious problems of the Victorian era. Lewis Carroll is ironic about

4845-418: The first edition of Mother Goose in England, but others now say the book may have been planned, but was never actually produced. Newbery also published a series of books written by "Tom Telescope" that were wildly popular, going through seven editions between 1761 and 1787 alone. These were based on the emerging science of the day and consisted of a series of lectures given by a boy, Tom Telescope. The most famous

4930-405: The first modern children's book, A Little Pretty Pocket-Book was the first children's publication aimed at giving enjoyment to children, containing a mixture of rhymes, picture stories and games for pleasure. Newbery believed that play was a better enticement to children's good behavior than physical discipline, and the child was to record his or her behaviour daily. The book was child–sized with

5015-462: The five hundred books Newbery produced were children's stories, including ABC books, children's novels and children's magazines. He published his own books as well as those by authors like Samuel Johnson and Oliver Goldsmith . Scholars have speculated that Goldsmith or Giles and Griffith Jones wrote The History of Little Goody Two-Shoes , Newbery's most popular book. It had 29 editions between 1765 and 1800. Some sources credit Newbery with publishing

5100-406: The following works: Children%27s Literature Children's literature can be traced to traditional stories like fairy tales , which have only been identified as children's literature since the eighteenth century, and songs, part of a wider oral tradition , which adults shared with children before publishing existed. The development of early children's literature, before printing was invented,

5185-463: The garden door at night and entering into a different age. William Golding 's 1954 novel Lord of the Flies focuses on a group of British boys stranded on an uninhabited island and their disastrous attempt to govern themselves. Roald Dahl wrote children's fantasy novels which were often inspired from experiences from his childhood, with often unexpected endings, and unsentimental, dark humour. Dahl

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5270-536: The history of European children's literature was largely written in Germany." The Brothers Grimm preserved and published the traditional tales told in Germany . They were so popular in their home country that modern, realistic children's literature began to be looked down on there. This dislike of non-traditional stories continued there until the beginning of the next century. In addition to their collection of stories,

5355-417: The importance of comics as a global phenomenon associated with children". The International Companion Encyclopedia of Children's Literature notes that "the boundaries of genre... are not fixed but blurred". Sometimes, no agreement can be reached about whether a given work is best categorized as literature for adults or children. Some works defy easy categorization. J. K. Rowling 's Harry Potter series

5440-453: The influences of Charles Darwin and John Locke. The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries are known as the "Golden Age of Children's Literature" because many classic children's books were published then. There is no single or widely used definition of children's literature. It can be broadly defined as the body of written works and accompanying illustrations produced in order to entertain or instruct young people. The genre encompasses

5525-413: The late sixteenth century. An early example is ABC-Book , an alphabet book published by Ivan Fyodorov in 1571. The first picture book published in Russia, Karion Istomin 's The Illustrated Primer , appeared in 1694. Peter the Great 's interest in modernizing his country through Westernization helped Western children's literature dominate the field through the eighteenth century. Catherine

5610-755: The latter may have written The History of Little Goody Two-Shoes , Newbery's most popular book. Another philosopher who influenced the development of children's literature was Jean-Jacques Rousseau , who argued that children should be allowed to develop naturally and joyously. His idea of appealing to a children's natural interests took hold among writers for children. Popular examples included Thomas Day 's The History of Sandford and Merton , four volumes that embody Rousseau's theories. Furthermore, Maria and Richard Lovell Edgeworth 's Practical Education : The History of Harry and Lucy (1780) urged children to teach themselves. Rousseau's ideas also had great influence in Germany, especially on German Philanthropism ,

5695-513: The mid-seventeenth century. The first such book was a catechism for children, written in verse by the Puritan John Cotton . Known as Spiritual Milk for Boston Babes , it was published in 1646, appearing both in England and Boston . Another early book, The New England Primer , was in print by 1691 and used in schools for 100 years. The primer begins with "The young Infant's or Child's morning Prayer" and evening prayer. It then shows

5780-535: The most popular works were by James Janeway , but the most enduring book from this movement, still read today, especially in modernised versions, is The Pilgrim's Progress (1678) by John Bunyan . Chapbooks , pocket-sized pamphlets that were often folded instead of being stitched, were published in Britain; illustrated by woodblock printing , these inexpensive booklets reprinted popular ballads , historical re-tellings, and folk tales. Though not specifically published for children at this time, young people enjoyed

5865-410: The opening of Children's Literature: A Reader's History from Aesop to Harry Potter , says, "This book presents a history of what children have heard and read.... The history I write of is a history of reception ." Early children's literature consisted of spoken stories, songs, and poems, used to educate, instruct, and entertain children. It was only in the eighteenth century, with the development of

5950-514: The past not considered as greatly different from adults and were not given significantly different treatment. As evidence for this position, he notes that, apart from instructional and didactic texts for children written by clerics like the Venerable Bede and Ælfric of Eynsham , there was a lack of any genuine literature aimed specifically at children before the 18th century. Other scholars have qualified this viewpoint by noting that there

6035-410: The population grew and literacy rates improved. Tom Brown's School Days by Thomas Hughes appeared in 1857, and is considered to be the founding book in the school story tradition. However, it was Lewis Carroll 's fantasy, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland , published in 1865 in England, that signaled the change in writing style for children to an imaginative and empathetic one. Regarded as

6120-435: The prim and all-out regulated life of the "golden" Victorian century. One other noteworthy publication was Mark Twain 's book Tom Sawyer (1876), which was one of the first "boy books", intended for children but enjoyed by both children and adults alike. These were classified as such for the themes they contained, consisting of fighting and work. Another important book of that decade was The Water-Babies, A Fairy Tale for

6205-467: The production of adventure fiction for boys. This inspired writers who normally catered to adult audiences to write for children, a notable example being Robert Louis Stevenson 's classic pirate story Treasure Island (1883). In the years after the First World War, writers such as Arthur Ransome developed the adventure genre by setting the adventure in Britain rather than distant countries. In

6290-447: The purchaser received a red and black ball or pincushion. Newbery, like John Locke , believed that play was a better enticement to children's good behaviour than physical discipline, and the child was to record their behaviour by either sticking a pin in the red side for good behaviour or the black side if they were bad. A Little Pretty Pocket-Book , though it would seem didactic today, was well received. Promising to "infallibly make Tommy

6375-474: The same year was created doctor of medicine at Cambridge by royal mandate. He practised at Sheffield , Lichfield, and Birmingham before moving to London , where he was admitted as a licentiate of the Royal College on 25 June 1765. He died on 23 March 1776, aged seventy-three. James's most notable publication was his three-volume Medicinal Dictionary (1743–1745), for which his friend Samuel Johnson wrote

6460-442: The stories he wrote or commissioned. This improvement in the quality of books for children, as well as the diversity of topics he published, helped make Newbery the leading producer of children's books in his time. In 1745 Newbery moved his firm to a more upmarket address at 65 St. Paul's Churchyard and named it the Bible and Sun, continuing to publish a mix of adult and children's titles. This new shop did so well he eventually sold

6545-492: The world as a meritocracy where a child rises or falls on his or her character. Most of his stories concern a virtuous orphan who works hard (or is "industrious"), and therefore eventually becomes prosperous. They tell the life of the orphan from childhood to adulthood, to illustrate rewards and punishments associated with "good" and "bad" behaviour. His son Francis , his stepson Thomas Carnan, his nephew Francis and Francis's wife Elizabeth and his grandson Francis Power continued

6630-433: Was a hodge-podge of information and games, including riddles and advice on a proper diet, but its primary message was "learn your lessons ... and one day you will ride in a coach and six." "In Newbery's universe work is always rewarded and altruism pays dividends as reliably as Isaac Newton's laws of motion." Newbery's tales seem didactic today, but were popular and enjoyed by children of the 18th and 19th centuries. They draw

6715-448: Was a literature designed to convey the values, attitudes, and information necessary for children within their cultures, such as the Play of Daniel from the twelfth century. Pre-modern children's literature, therefore, tended to be of a didactic and moralistic nature, with the purpose of conveying conduct -related, educational and religious lessons. During the seventeenth century,

6800-597: Was born in 1713 to Robert Newbery, a farmer, in Waltham St Lawrence , Berkshire, England, and an unknown mother. When he was younger he gave himself an education. He was apprenticed to a local printer, William Ayers, at the age of sixteen. The business was later sold to William Carnan. In 1737 Carnan died, leaving the business to his brother, Charles Carnan, and Newbery. Two years later, Newbery married William Carnan's widow, Jordan Mary. He adopted Mary's three children, John, Thomas and Anna-Maria. In 1740 their daughter Mary

6885-471: Was born. John, born in 1741, died at age 11. Son Francis arrived in 1743. By 1740 Newbery had started his publishing business in Reading . His first two publications were an edition of Richard Allestree 's The Whole Duty of Man and Miscellaneous Works Serious and Humerous [sic] In Verse and Prose . In 1743, Newbery left Reading, putting his stepson John Carnan in charge of his business there, and established

6970-1001: Was inspired to write Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964), featuring the eccentric chocolatier Willy Wonka , having grown up near two chocolate makers in England who often tried to steal trade secrets by sending spies into the other's factory. His other works include James and the Giant Peach (1961), Fantastic Mr. Fox (1970), The BFG (1982), The Witches (1983), and Matilda (1988). Starting in 1958, Michael Bond published more than twenty humorous stories about Paddington Bear . Boarding schools in literature are centred on older pre-adolescent and adolescent school life, and are most commonly set in English boarding schools . Popular school stories from this period include Ronald Searle 's comic St Trinian's (1949–1953) and his illustrations for Geoffrey Willans 's Molesworth series, Jill Murphy 's The Worst Witch , and

7055-567: Was published in Switzerland in 1880 and 1881. In the US, children's publishing entered a period of growth after the American Civil War in 1865. Boys' book writer Oliver Optic published over 100 books. In 1868, the "epoch-making" Little Women , the fictionalized autobiography of Louisa May Alcott , was published. This " coming of age " story established the genre of realistic family books in

7140-497: Was translated into French by Isabelle de Montolieu . E. T. A. Hoffmann 's tale " The Nutcracker and the Mouse King " was published in 1816 in a German collection of stories for children, Kinder-Märchen . It is the first modern short story to introduce bizarre, odd and grotesque elements in children's literature and thereby anticipates Lewis Carroll's tale, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland . There are not only parallels concerning

7225-410: Was written and marketed for children, but it is also popular among adults. The series' extreme popularity led The New York Times to create a separate bestseller list for children's books. Despite the widespread association of children's literature with picture books, spoken narratives existed before printing , and the root of many children's tales go back to ancient storytellers. Seth Lerer , in

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