1. Constructing Childhood:
A Brief History of
Early Children’s
Literature in Western
Civilization
2. What is “children’s literature?”
What is “childhood?”
Meaning of “childhood” is
ideological—socially constructed,
constantly evolving
Books “for children” reflect
dominant cultural ideals
Reinforce ideas about behavior,
morality, gender roles, class
structure, etc.—shape reader
Reflect ideological lens of writer,
culture—not created in vacuum
Image: Rosemary Adcock, “Orphan Series”
3. Analyze children’s literature in order to . . .
Uncover culture’s ideal views
of “childhood”
Examine society’s concept of
self
Interrogate individual author’s
relationship to broader
cultural contexts
Viewed across time, provides
insight into our own concepts
of childhood and “normalcy”
Image: Arthur B. Houghton, Mother and Children Reading, 1860
4. The “Golden Age” of
Children’s Literature
Ideology of the nuclear family takes
shape in early 19th century
Home & family as haven in heartless
world
Source of stability in increasingly
materialistic, fractious world
Powerful “cult of childhood”—child as
icon of “lost” innocence, emblematic of
past golden age of humanity
Tensions: hierarchies, gender, class,
race, literary marketplace
5. What did “childhood” mean?
Historical Highlights
400 years ago: children born in state of sin ;
childhood reading about religious guidance,
indoctrination
250-300 years ago: “invention of childhood” as
modern concept; children’s minds “a blank slate”—fill
with proper information—logical, didactic texts
200 years ago: children naturally innocent; moral
compass to society—imaginative texts
40 years ago: children need to read about harsh
realities of life
6. Protestantism & Roots of “Modern
Childhood” (17th & early 18th centuries)
Ideal of universal literacy;
importance of print culture
Children products of original sin;
prepare for adult religious
experience
Instructional books, conduct books
Primers: teach reading, but also turn
innately sinful children into spiritual
beings
Themes of death, damnation,
conversion
Image: From New England Primer, circa 1690
7. A little light bedtime reading . . .
Popular reading for
Protestant children: Book
of Martyrs (1563); The Day
of Doom (1662)
Anti-Catholic account of
“Bloody Mary” reign
Poem of damnation of
world
Horrific scenes of violence,
mutilation, murder
Images: Thomas Foxe, Book of Martyrs, 1563; Michael
Wigglesworth, The Day of Doom, 1662
8. The Enlightenment (late 17th, 18th centuries):
Enter Modern Childhood
John Locke (1632-1704)
Some Thoughts Concerning
Education (1693)
Young mind as tabula rasa (blank
slate)
Children not burdened by original sin
Logical beings awaiting proper
education—rational writings
Whole new construction of childhood
—distinct phase of life
Image: John Locke
9. 18th Century Groundbreakers
John Newbery
Bookseller/publisher
Little Pretty Pocket Book
(1744) — first significant
story book specifically for
children
Songs, poems, moral
tales, illustrations
Instruct AND entertain
Image: John Newbery, Little Pretty Pocket Book, 1744
10. 18th Century Groundbreakers
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Emile (1755)—Children
should be raised in natural
settings, free to imagine
Children naturally innocent,
moral – “The child is the father
of the man” (Wordsworth)
Books should free children’s
imaginations
Romantics influence writers of
Golden Age
Image: Jean-Jacques Rousseau