O n l i n e . L e a r n i n g . S u p p o r t
Department of Information and Library Science
Southern Connecticut State University
501 Crescent Street, New Haven, CT 06515
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UNIT 5 READING ASSIGNMENT

• pp. 91-94
• both essays found on pp. 153-160
• the myth "The Golden Touch" found on pp. 95-102
• the fable "The Man, The Boy, and the Donkey" found on pp. 105-106
• the four folk rhymes found on pp. 105-106

UNIT 5 LECTURE

History of Children and Literature

NOTES

Anglo-Saxon (525-1100):

Imagine you labored hard from sun-up to sun-down. The entire tribe slept around a fire. In order to have the strength to survive the hardships of tomorrow, you had to sleep well tonight. Now imagine a new born lay screaming among the tribe. Nothing soothes the cries. Either the baby goes or the whole tribe could come to peril the next day due to a lack of sleep. Life if hard and sometimes there seem to be no good choices. Babies that survived to older childhood could be cherished. Parents could not emotionally afford to become attached to newborns -- for the newborn may prove to be a bother to the tribe and have to be abandoned or killed.

Middle-English (1100-1500):

Swaddling is wrapping cloths around a child so tightly it cannot move and may have difficulty breathing. These were superstitious times. People believed babies, if their hands were left free, might accidently pull off their nose. It was believed if babies were let to crawl they would turn into animals. Infants were given opium and liquor to keep them quiet. Hardening was a process of putting a newborn into cold water or snow. The hardy survived; others didn't.

Renaissance (1500-1650):

Children were considered miniature men and women: This can be seen in paintings of the era that depict young children in adult-styled clothing. There was no concept of development; children were simply troublesome men and women. In publishing, we begin to see primers written specifically for teaching lessons in school.

Restoration (1650-1800):

The discovery of and moving to America was a great benefit for children in terms of life expectancy and treatment. Mothers in America cared for their own children and the extensive open spaces encouraged childrenıs ability to run and play outside. Life was less sever and children now had a 50 percent change of survival to adulthood. In America, literacy was near 100 percent ­ due to religious convictions that in order to be saved, one must be able to read the bible for oneself.

19th Century (1801 - 1900):

By the middle of the 19th century it was recognized that children were different from adults and that children had interests and feelings. Women were now hired as schoolmarms, changing the nature of education. Books began to be written on child rearing and children were now permitted to read a wide range of literature including fantasy

20th Century (1901 - 2000):

It is now recognized that children go through stages of development. The increasing survival rates of children plus lowered use of children in the workforce supported a smaller family size.

A Brief History of Children's Literature

CONCEPTS TO REMEMBER:

The Ancient World [ancient Rome; 50 BCE to 500 CE]

• oral tale; composed not to be read but to be heard
• children borrowed stories they enjoyed from ones adults told
• very few works composed for children
• children listened to poems of Homer, the Iliad, the Trojan War, the Odyssey
• adults might be drawn by love story; children by adventure, monsters
• Aesop's Fables--animal tales with pointed morals

The Middle Ages [500 to 1500 CE]

• Reading
  • fewer children could read; little written for them
  • childhood generally ignored and kept as short as possible
• Medieval Epics
  • children had to be content with adult works which held some interest for them
  • Beowulf, Song of Roland, El Cid
• Medieval Romances
  • King Arthur and his knights of the Round Table [high middle ages: 12th-13th C]
  • Robin Hood
• Fables and other tales
  • The Deeds of the Romans [late 13th C] collection of moral tales and fables; sources of plots for centuries]
  • animals stories have always been favorites of children
  • biblical stories; lives of saints; local legends
  • no distinction between fantasy and reality; storytellers freely mingled magic, enchantment, the ludicrous, and the serious
  • miracles were as real as taxes
  • the literature was rich with childlike imagination, full of wonder, mystery, excitement

The European Renaissance [1500-1650 CE]

• The Printing Press [mid 15th C]
  • movable type printing press
  • possible to print books in quantities--reducing time, labor and cost; therefore more accessible
  • most important technical innovation since the wheel
  • increased literacy, growth of education, dissemination and advancement of knowledge
• Social Changes
  • Crusades of 11th-12th C opened trade routes to the East as far as India
  • strong central monarchies harnessed warring feudal lords--encouraged peaceful commerce and industry
  • European arrival in the Western Hemisphere (³New World²) and wealth and opportunity
  • created a new middle class of merchants which valued education
• Instructional Books
  • children more literate
  • reading materials were instructional books (Books of Courtesy) and works written primarily for adults
  • still had Aesop's Fables
  • Book of Martyrs (1563), anti-Catholic work of horrific scenes of violent death for the sake of religion, most popular reading material for children
  • Earliest childrenıs illustrated book--Latin through pictures (Orbis Sensualium Pictus)--1658, a Latin vocabulary book
  • by end of the 17th century social changes were well underway and there was a path cleared for a genuine literature for children.

The 17th Century

• childhood began to take on new importance
• adults began to recognize the special needs of childhood, including the need for childhood reading
• two specific influences brought a heightened sense of special needs of the child
  • Religious: rise of Puritanism, that placed special emphasis on the individual's need to tend to his or her own salvation
  • Intellectual: work of John Locke, the English philosopher

• The Puritans
  • knowledge of the Bible was necessary for every human being
  • consequently, the ability to read and to understand the Bible was a principal requirement for Puritan children
  • in 1636 established a college--Harvard--to emphasize their commitment to the primacy of education
  • Bible stories were the staple of Puritan children
  • horn books contained rudimentary language lessons (alphabet, numerals, etc.)
  • The New Primer--first appearing 1685-90 and continuing in print until 1886. A Puritan publication introducing young children to the alphabet through rhymes (A: In Adam's fall/We Sinned all)
• John Locke
  • 1693 wrote a famous essay Thoughts Concerning Education, in which he formulated his notion that the minds of young children were similar to blank slates (tabula rasa) just waiting to be written upon and this instructed.
  • believed every child possessed the capacity for leaning and that it was the responsibility of adults to see to the proper education of children
• Bunyan, Defoe, Swift
  • children continued to adopt certain adult works of literature--Pilgrim's Progress, Robinson Crusoe, Gulliver's Travels

The 18th and Early 19th Centuries

• John Newbery
  • Little Pretty Pocket Book (1744) first significant publication for children
  • sought their edification and also their enjoyment
  • a collection of songs, moral tales, crude woodblock illustrations
• Rousseau and the Moral Tale
  • expressed his ideas about education in Emile (1762), emphasized the importance of moral development--through simple living
  • books taught children how to be good and proper human beings
  • childrenıs writing was considered inferior to adult writing and therefore mostly composed by women
• Rise of the Folktales
  vthrough the early 19th century there was little to distinguish children's literature
  • 1729--Tales of Mother Goose by Charles Parrault, retellings including Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Sleeping Beauty
  • throughout the eighteenth century, more and more retellings appeared
  • beginning of 19th century--Grimm brothers
  • folktales were not considered expressly for children
  • some adults felt them unsuitable for children as they contained adult themes, alarming frankness and violence, lack of moral messages
  • children, nevertheless, continued to read and love the old tales

The Victorians: The Golden Age

• during the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901) children's literature first blossomed
• influenced by the Romantic Movement which idealized childhood and lead to a greater interest in children
• first-rate authors and illustrators began to turn their talents to children and their books

• Fantasies
  • 1865, Lewis Carroll (Charles Dodgson--math prof at Oxford) published Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and began a new era in childrenıs literature
  • first significant publication for children that abandoned all pretense of instruction and was offered purely for enjoyment
  • Kingsley's The Water Babies (1863); MacDonald's The Princess and the Goblin (1872); Baumıs The Wizard of Oz (1900); Grahameıs The Wind in the Willows (1908).
• Adventure Stories (for boys)
  • especially popular Stevenson's Treasure Island (1883); Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1976) and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884)
  • British children seemed to prefer stories set in faraway and unfamiliar places; Americans more attracted to adventure stories set in America and rags-to-riches stories
  • Dime Novels--sensational, lacking style and depth, cheap--were immensely popular
• School Stories (for boys)
  • antics of boys at boarding schools: Tom Brown's School Days (1857)
  • school stories (virtually always coming-of-age tales) occasionally appear in the 20th century, such as The Chocolate War
• Domestic Stories (for girls)
  • tales of home and family life focusing on the activities of a virtuous heroine, usually coming from dire straits and achieving good fortune and ultimate happiness in the person of a handsome young man
  • Alcott's Little Women (1868) and Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables (1908)
• Children's Book Illustration
  • books of 18th century and earlier either lacked illustrations altogether or contained crude woodblock illustration--serious artists did not draw for children's books
  • At the end of the 19th century, changes in publishing and printing attracted great illustrators
  • by end of the 19th century, stunningly illustrated children's books were available at reasonable prices
  • by 1st quarter of 20th century, libraries were designating children's rooms--or at least children's shelves--children's literature had at last come of age.

Twentieth Century: Widening Worlds

• greater diversity in children's books
• picture books to poetry to fantasy to realistic fiction to informational books
• greater appreciation for quality
• numerous book award established
  • Newbery Medal, most distinguished American book written for children in a given year
  • Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished American contribution to children's book illustration

UNIT 5 QUIZ ON LECTURE

See WebCT

UNIT 5 WRITING ASSIGNMENT

RECALL, Type One writings have no correct answer (or, it is okay to be wrong).

UNIT 5 PEER EDITING

After entering your writing, revise the entry before yours to use more precise nouns and verbs.