Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems
that are enjoyed by children.
It is tricky to define what constitutes children’s literature because not all books that
children read were intended to be for children. Books about children might not necessarily be
written for them. However, the content of children’s literature is limited by children’s experience
and understanding. Its uniqueness lies in the audience that it addresses, and authors of children’s
books are circumscribed by the experiences of childhood which are vast and complex. (Kiefer,
2010)
1. Simple and straightforward. Not simplistic or choppy or flat without flow and intrigue.
2. Depends on action to maintain interest. Can there be action without action? Are thoughts
action? Are other character's inactions actions? Are external events included in the narration,
comments and other writing techniques action?
3. Has characters that are children. Includes childhood events, actions, happenings. Can it
be children's literature if there aren't children? Or if the main character isn't a child?
6. Tends toward fantasy and accepts fanciful ideas without major concern of reality.
Wishful thinking is common.
7. There is a tone of joy and innocence associated with children, agricultural life, closeness
to nature and unquestionably reliable friends.
8. Can have it both ways. Your cake and eat it too. Dangerous world yet nieve innocence
children can roam through it. Dangerous world out there and yet the comforts of home. Grow up
and remain young. Complex yet simple.
9. Is it or does it always have to be didactic and teach a lesson or have redeaming social
qualities that have a positive theme. A universal theme of home is boring, but it is a better
place to be than the dangerous world outside.
10. Includes repetition. Often emphasizes what is important, repetition is a common element of
traditional tales, folk tales, and fairy tales as well as for literary purposes by repeating words,
phrases, situations, and patterns.
11. Contrasts extremes. The good and the bad. The ideal and the practical, ideal family and the
orphan, home and wilderness or deep dark forest with all kinds of evil. Group and family
responsibility and concern for yourself.
Personal Values
• Enjoyment
• Imagination
• Vicarious Experience
• Insight Into Human Behavior
• Universality of Experience
Educational Values
• Literature in the Home (oral language,
vocabulary development)
• Literature in the School
• reading aloud and learning to read
• developing a sense of book language
• developing fluency and understanding
• literature and writing
• literature across the curriculum
Just as other forms of literature, children's literature grew from stories passed down orally
from generation to generation. Irish folk tales can be traced back as early as 400 BCE, while the
earliest written folk tales are arguably the Pachatantra, from India, which were written around
200 AD. The earliest version of Aesop's Fables appeared on papyrus scrolls around 400 AD.
In Imperial China, story telling reached its peak during the Song Dynasty (960-1279
AD). Many stories from this epoch are still used to instruct students in China today. No such
equivalent exists in Greek and Roman literature. However, the stories of Homer and other
storytellers of the era would certainly have appealed to children.
As Europe became a cultural center of the world, instructive texts became increasingly
common. These books were mostly written in Latin, with the purpose of instructing children.
During the Middle Ages, very little literature was written for the sole purpose of entertaining
children. Hornbooks, textbooks containing basic texts like the Lord's Prayer and the alphabet,
would not appear until the 1400s. Alphabet books began popping up around Russia, Italy,
Denmark, and other European countries roughly a century later.
Today, the variety and quality of illustrated children's books has made them an interesting and
desirable focus for rare book collectors. It's easy to build a collection around a single illustrator
like Charles Van Sandwyk or to focus on children's Christmas books.
Whatever the focus of the collection, condition is always key. Some collectors allow a bit more
latitude for condition; after all, children are hard on their books, making copies in exceptional
condition even more scarce. In this regard, collecting children's books takes a fair amount of
patience. Rather than settling for a book in less than pristine condition, keep shopping until you
find the book you want in the best condition possible. The right children's book bibliography is
also an invaluable tool for collectors. You'll find bibliographies dedicated to specific authors,
illustrators, and eras.
TIMELINE OF CHILDREN’S LITERATURE 1485-2013
"The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more you learn, the more
places you'll go." — Dr. Seuss, I Can Read With My Eyes Shut! "I have always imagined
that paradise will be a kind of library." — Jorge Luis Borges
18th century