children’s literature

Introduction & Top Questions
Definition of terms
- “Children”
- “Literature”
The case for a children’s literature
Some general features and forces
- The discovery of the child
- Shifting visions of the child
- Slow development
- The didactic versus the imaginative
The development of children’s literature
- Criteria
- The criteria applied: three examples
  - West versus East
  - North versus south
  - Latin America
Historical sketches of the major literatures
- England
  - Overview
  - Prehistory (early Middle Ages to 1712)
  - From “T.W.” to “Alice” (1712?–1865)
  - Coming of age (1865–1945)
  - Contemporary times
  - Historical fiction
  - The creation of worlds
- United States
  - Overview
  - Prehistory (1646?–1865)
  - Peaks and plateaus (1865–1940)
  - Contemporary times
- Germany and Austria
  - Heritage and fairy tales
  - War and beyond
- Scandinavia
  - Sweden
  - National and modern literature
  - Norway
  - Denmark
  - Finland
- France
  - Overview
  - History
  - The 20th century
- Russia/Soviet Union

References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images, Videos & Interactives

Winnie-the-Pooh

Illustration by Beatrix Potter showing Peter Rabbit being dressed by his mother, with three sibling rabbits in red cloaks standing behind them in a woodland setting.

Huckleberry Finn

Illustration from The Jungle Book

The Fox and the Grapes

A sampler of Edward Lear's limericks

Lewis Carroll: Through the Looking-Glass

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Cover of Charlotte's Web by E.B. White, illustrated by Garth Williams, showing a girl holding a pig with a sheep, goose, and spider on a web above the title.

Collage of Oz: Emerald City backdrop, illustrated Dorothy, woman with dog, Dorothy holding Toto, and a hand holding the book Wicked.

At a Glance

Illustration of mermaids and merman

children’s literature summary

children’s literature: Media

Videos

Collage of Oz: Emerald City backdrop, illustrated Dorothy, woman with dog, Dorothy holding Toto, and a hand holding the book Wicked.

Why We Keep Telling the Story of Oz

Down the yellow brick road...

Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Images

Winnie-the-Pooh

Winnie-the-Pooh

Winnie-the-Pooh and Piglet, illustration of A.A. Milne's classic children's tale...

Retro AdArchives/Alamy

Illustration by Beatrix Potter showing Peter Rabbit being dressed by his mother, with three sibling rabbits in red cloaks standing behind them in a woodland setting.

Beatrix Potter illustration

Illustration of Peter Rabbit with his family by Beatrix Potter, from a 1921 French...

From Histoire de Pierre Lapin by Beatrix Potter (F. Warne & Co., Ltd., London and New York, 1921)

Huckleberry Finn

Huckleberry Finn

Illustration of Huck Finn by E.W. Kemble from the 1885 edition of Mark Twain's Adventures...

Project Gutenberg (Text 76)

Illustration from The Jungle Book

Illustration from The Jungle Book

“Council Rock,” from the portfolio Sixteen Illustrations of Subjects from Rudyard...

Rudyard Kipling Collection—Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (call no. 2007567067)

The Fox and the Grapes

The Fox and the Grapes

An illustration of The Fox and the Grapes by Milo Winter, from The Aesop...

Library of Congress, Washington D.C. (19014083)

Lewis Carroll: Through the Looking-Glass

Lewis Carroll: Through the Looking-Glass

Illustration by Sir John Tenniel of Alice and the Red Queen from Lewis Carroll's...

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

A movie poster depicting the protagonists of C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia:...

© 2005 Disney Enterprises, Inc.—Phil Bray/Walden Media LLCAP Images/PRNewsFoto/Buena Vista Pictures/AP Images

Cover of Charlotte's Web by E.B. White, illustrated by Garth Williams, showing a girl holding a pig with a sheep, goose, and spider on a web above the title.

Charlotte's Web

Charlotte's Web by E.B. White, illustrated by Garth Williams.

© Cover to Cover/Alamy

Maurice Sendak stands with his arm resting on a life-size cutout of Max from Where the Wild Things Are, with a large Wild Thing character illustrated in the background.

Maurice Sendak

Maurice Sendak standing by a life-size scene from his book Where the Wild Things...

James Keyser—The Chronicle Collection/Getty Images

Tove Jansson with her Moomins, 1956

Tove Jansson with her Moomins, 1956

Finnish artist, illustrator, and children's author Tove Jansson with Moomin figures...

Reino Loppinen/REX/Shutterstock.com

Illustration of mermaids and merman

Illustration of mermaids and merman

Mermaids and merman, illustration by Hans Tegner, from the 1900 edition of Fairy...

Courtesy of the Folklore Society Library, University College, London; photograph, R.B. Fleming

French postage stamp featuring an illustration of the Little Prince in a blue and red coat, with text reading Le Petit Prince and Republique Francaise, and a value of 3,00.

The Little Prince

Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince) pictured on a French stamp,...

© catwalker/Shutterstock.com

Open booklet showing a green page with a printed message to children on the left and the cover of The Slave's Friend No. 2 on the right, featuring an illustration of an enslaved person kneeling in prayer beneath a tree.

The Slave's Friend

The Slave's Friend, children's periodical published by R.G. Williams for...

The Newberry Library, Ruggles Fund, 1999 (A Britannica Publishing Partner)

Interactives

A sampler of Edward Lear's limericks

A sampler of Edward Lear's limericks

A slideshow of pages from The Book of Nonsense to Which Is Added More Nonsense...

"The Book of Nonsense to Which is Added More Nonsense" by Edward Lear, c. 1902

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