Children’s Literature

I

Introduction

Children’s Literature, writings designed to appeal to children—either to be read to them or by them—including fiction, poetry, biography, and history. Children's literature also includes riddles, precepts, fables, legends, myths, and folk poems and folktales based on spoken tradition. Works of ancient literature, such as the stories by Greek poet Homer, are often adaptable to children's reading because of their simple narrative forms.

II

Early History

Until the Renaissance (14th century to 17th century) the main sources of children's literature in the Western world were the Bible and the Greek and Latin classics. The expansion of literacy following the invention of printing in the 15th century increased the range of children's literature, and subsequently national history became a fresh subject for young readers. After the 18th century, archaeologists, philologists, and anthropologists added material from Asian and tribal cultures and European folklore. This article discusses developments in English and American literature for children.

A

The Middle Ages

In England the earliest forms of oral literature, passed from generation to generation, were simple folktales, usually of Celtic and Anglo-Saxon origin. These tales included folk ballads, among them the Robin Hood collection, and narratives sung by wandering bards about King Arthur and his knights (see Arthurian Legend).

The first books specifically intended for children were collections of the 7th and 8th centuries that were written in Latin. The best-known works of this type, by outstanding ecclesiastical scholars such as Aldhelm, Alcuin, and Saint Bede the Venerable, were employed as lesson books in the monastery schools.

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B

The Renaissance

With the development of vernacular literature, particularly after the invention of printing, more children's books appeared. The publications of the first English printer, William Caxton, included the Book of Curtesye (1477), a collection of rhymes that sets forth rules of conduct for a “goodly chylde.” Eight years later Caxton printed Le Morte d'Arthur (1469-1470; The Death of Arthur) by English translator and compiler Sir Thomas Malory, which became the basis for later treatments of the Arthurian legends. Caxton also issued the beast fable Reynard the Fox (1481), translated from a Flemish version, and the Fables (1484) of Greek writer Aesop, translated from the French.

A new type of children's book, called the hornbook, appeared during the 16th century. It consisted of a printed page covered by a transparent sheet of horn and mounted on a square of wood with a handle at one end for the child to hold. Used for elementary instruction, the hornbook contained alphabets, the Lord's Prayer, Roman numerals, and the like. The chapbook, an unstitched pamphlet usually consisting of about 70 folded pages, appeared in the 17th century. Chapbooks, which were peddled from door to door throughout England, contained versions of popular literature ranging from nursery rhymes to medieval romances.

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