History of Children's Literature

By bailey_magana

  • The Early Years

    The Early Years
    John Newbery opens up his own bookstore, located in London. He wrote and published his own books aimed at teaching children behavioral skills.

  • The Early Years

    The Early Years
    Nathaniel Hawthorne writes the book, A Wonder Book for Boys and Girls in 1851. He is recognized as the author of the first American book written for children and their imagination, instead of just literature about rules.

  • The Early Years

    The Early Years
    After the passing of the Child Labor Laws in 1907, more children were able to attend public school and began learning how to read. This increased the amount of Children's Literature being published and developed a hot market for publishers.

  • Twentieth Century

    Twentieth Century
    In 1919, Macmillan Publishing House opened up a children's literature department with Louise Bechtel Seaman as the head of the department. Many other publishers followed after Macmillan and created their own children's literature departments.

  • Twentieth Century

    Twentieth Century
    Picture books for children became popular during the 1920-1930s. During the 1940s-1960s, libraries became in demand as a place for young readers to gather in a space and dive into literature.

  • Twentieth Century

    Twentieth Century
    Towards the end of the twentieth century, children's books slowly began to add more diversity which mirrored the changes happening in North America. In 1975, Harriet Rohmer created the Children's Book Press which produced bilingual picture books for kids.

  • Twentieth Century

    Twentieth Century
    A study conducted in 1994 showed the lack of diversity being published in children's books. There was a very low percentage of books published about people of color from 1990-1992. Children's books also lacked diversity about people of different sexual orientation or gender identity.

  • Twenty-First Century

    Twenty-First Century
    Today, children and young adult books have a wide variety of topics to pick from. New technological advances have created ebooks, which makes novels available to readers at the touch of a button. Authors are experimenting with mixing genres together and making their illustrations the most appealing to reach a wider audience.