Key Ideas in Children's Literature Over the Ages

By haygleas
  • Period: 850 BCE to 476

    Ancient Greeks and Ancient Romans

    -Appearance of fables (talking animals)
    -Were used to teach lessons for students
    -Many Greek and Roman myths that inspire stories today (exotic adventures and superheroes)
  • Period: 476 to 1450

    Middle Ages

    -Biblical stories
    -Adventure/hero stories such as the epic of Beowulf (900-1100)
    -Today there are modern versions of these medieval tales
  • 1400

    The Renaissance

  • Orbis Sensualium Pictus

    Textbook created to teach children Latin vocabulary through pictures

  • The Pilgrim's Progress

    Religious story but also focused on a thrilling adventure and monsters.

  • New England Primer

    Rhymes ot teach the alphabet to Puritan children (religious rhymes)

  • Eighteenth-Century Moral Writers

    -Children's' minds were described as "blank slates" by John Locke
    -Believed in the importance of education

  • Survival Stories with Heroes and Heroines

  • A Little Pretty Pocket Book

    One of the first children's books for sale in a book shop. Written by John Newbery, he created a marketplace for specifically children's literature.

  • Emile

    Written by Jean Jaques Rousseau, it stresses that a simple lifestyle leads to moral development. This led to the creation of moral stories.

  • The Rise of Folktales

    Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm published many folktales, which is still the most famous of collections. Folk rhyme collections also became popular.

  • The Victorian Golden Age

    Stories started to focus on entertainment, rather than morality (ex. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland). This fantasy led to the rising of: adventure stories, series books, historical novels, domestic and family stories, school stories, poetry, and other fantasies and folktales.

  • "The Golden Age of Children's Literature"

    Late 19th century. Color printing attracted many illustrators. During this period children's literature "really came into its own".

  • The Early 20th Century

    Realistic novels gained popularity, while still remaining more conservative. After WW1, books became more family-centered. Fantasy genre always challenged the status quo.

  • Late 20th Century and Beyond

    After WW2 books began to focus on the development of the individual, and problems they would face in childhood and young-adulthood. Realistic fiction focused on greater realism and the different types of lives/families. New Realism addressed subjects such as sexuality, violence, war, and drugs, which is not something that usually would have been in children's books. There is also much diversity in the realm of children's poetry.