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Children are Viewed as Empty Vessels
Children were considered empty vessels that needed to be filled with all of the material needed to grow and develop into mature and educated young adults. During this time, learning was to be an enjoyable experience, and it was encourage to “put away the rod and allow the children to learn through play”. -
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The Invention of the Golden Age
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The Grimm Brothers Begin their Collection
The Grimm Brothers began collecting and publishing German Folk and Fairy Tales in 1806. They continued for the rest of their lives, publishing seven editions of their tales, the last of which containing a total of 211 stories. These stories have come to be some of the most well known in all of children’s literature and many are still used as templates for new stories. -
Mark Twain is Born
Known as the “Father of American Literature”, Twain began his career writing humorous verses. Halfway through his career he wrote Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, where he effectively combined humor, strong narrative and social criticism. Also the author of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Twain was a master of language and his works act as a time capsule, allowing modern day readers to delve into the days of the past. -
Oliver Twist is Published
Written by Charles Dickens, “Oliver Twist” follows the epic adventures of a young boy as he struggles through seemingly impossible obstacles. The biggest issue in this book is one of poverty, which was common in the literature in this era. The book is written with the common Golden Age theme of a child over coming adversity on his own. The book was published in three parts starting in February of 1837. -
The Woman’s Rights Movement Begins
Beginning in the mid-late 1800’s the woman’s rights movement began to take full form. Though most countries did not award their women equal rights or even the right to vote until the mid-late 1900’s, and some countries still have not done this, there was a sense of change and urgency to do so throughout the 19th century. This movement added a new idea into Children’s literature in which women and girls began to take the stage, and join literary adventures as equals. -
The Golden Age Begins
The Golden Age was a time when children were considered freed from adult prejudice and bias. They were not born evil, nor were they born empty, but instead they had a different perspective on the world than the perspective of adults. Their innocence and uniqueness should be protected, and children should be cherished and learned from. This view of childhood led to a theme that created worlds for “children only”, -
The Americal Civil War
At the election Lincoln, a man known to be apposed to slavery Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina removed themselves from the Union of the United states. These states formed the Confederate States of America. This was followed by five years of horrible violence within the States, which caused many themes of literature to revolve around war, slavery, racism and poverty. -
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is Published
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was the book that changed the way children will read books for a while to come. Children went from learning and being treated like adults to having the freedom of being children, thanks to the fantasy land created in this book. -
Beatrix Potter is Born
The author of the infamous book, “The Tale of Peter Rabbit”, she also wrote a number of other children’s books that illustrated the British landscape and rural lifestyle, like:
• The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin
• The Tale of Benjamin Bunny
• The Tale of Two Bad Mice
• The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle
• The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher
In total, Potter wrote 23 children’s books, which were so popular largely because of their beautiful illustrations (which were created by Potter herself). -
Little Women
The novel Little Women has remained a classic in children’s literature almost a century and half later. Louisa May Alcott addressed timeless issues all throughout. Issues like children growing up with a parent away at war, family dealing with grave illnesses, growing up in a home of poverty, girls growing up as tomboys and the journey through love and all the hardships along the way. By addressing unchanging issues one ensure their book to be timeless. -
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is published in the UK and Canada
Written by Mark Twain, this novel is considered one of the greatest samples of American Literature ever written. It was a sequel to Twain’s “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” and holds themes of racism, adventure and innocence which were common to this period due to the civil unrest in the United States and the general themes of Children’s literature of the Golden Age. -
Anne of Green Gables is Published
Lucy Maude Montgomery wrote a childhood classic when she wrote Anne of Green Gables. Anne is a predominant Canadian classic as it follows Anne Shirley around Prince Edward Island. She follows issues that will never change like growing up an orphan, the hardships between friends, the difficulties in love and growing up and the adventures one embarks upon along the way. -
Peter Pan is Published
Peter pan, the boy who wouldn’t grow up. This was a part of a great turning point in children’s literature, the Golden Age. Following this highly successful publication Peter Pan appeared in lots of sequels and adoptions.
