The White Horse of Alih
Documents Homepage :: Encyclopedia of Children and Childhood in History and Society :: Ch-Co
Children 's Literature
Like the concept of childhood, children 's literature is very much a cultural construct that continues to evolve over time. Children 's literature comprises those texts that have been written specifically for children and those texts that children have selected to read on their own, and the boundaries between children 's literature and adult literature are surprisingly fluid. John Rowe Townsend once argued that the only practical definition of a children 's book is one that appears on the children 's list by a publisher. Contemporary publishers are not making that distinction any easier; for example, MAURICE SENDAK 's Outside Over There (1981) was published as a picture book for both children and adults, and J. K. Rowling 's HARRY POTTER series is available in adult and children 's versions with the only difference being the book 's cover art. While folk and FAIRY TALES were not originally intended for children, they have become a staple of children 's literature since the early nineteenth century. On the other hand, many books written for and widely read by children during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries are considered historical children 's literature today and are read almost exclusively by adult scholars of children 's literature. Children 's literature has been written, illustrated, published, marketed, and purchased consistently by adults to be given to children for their edification and entertainment. Generally speaking, it is the intended audience rather than the producers of the texts who define the field. Children 's texts written by child or adolescent authors, such as Daisy Ashford 's The Young Visiters (1919) or ANNE FRANK 's Het Achterhuis (1947; The Diary of a Young Girl, 1952), are exceptions to the rule. Many famous children 's authors, such as Louisa May Alcott and LEWIS CARROLL, produced family magazines as children,
Children 's Literature
Like the concept of childhood, children 's literature is very much a cultural construct that continues to evolve over time. Children 's literature comprises those texts that have been written specifically for children and those texts that children have selected to read on their own, and the boundaries between children 's literature and adult literature are surprisingly fluid. John Rowe Townsend once argued that the only practical definition of a children 's book is one that appears on the children 's list by a publisher. Contemporary publishers are not making that distinction any easier; for example, MAURICE SENDAK 's Outside Over There (1981) was published as a picture book for both children and adults, and J. K. Rowling 's HARRY POTTER series is available in adult and children 's versions with the only difference being the book 's cover art. While folk and FAIRY TALES were not originally intended for children, they have become a staple of children 's literature since the early nineteenth century. On the other hand, many books written for and widely read by children during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries are considered historical children 's literature today and are read almost exclusively by adult scholars of children 's literature. Children 's literature has been written, illustrated, published, marketed, and purchased consistently by adults to be given to children for their edification and entertainment. Generally speaking, it is the intended audience rather than the producers of the texts who define the field. Children 's texts written by child or adolescent authors, such as Daisy Ashford 's The Young Visiters (1919) or ANNE FRANK 's Het Achterhuis (1947; The Diary of a Young Girl, 1952), are exceptions to the rule. Many famous children 's authors, such as Louisa May Alcott and LEWIS CARROLL, produced family magazines as children,
Bibliography: very, Gillian. 1965. Nineteenth Century Children: Heroes and Heroines in English Children 's Stories 1780–1900. London: Hodder and Stoughton. Avery, Gillian. 1994. Behold the Child: American Children and Their Books. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. Bader, Barbara. 1976. American Picturebooks from Noah 's Ark to the Beast Within. New York: Macmillan. Carpenter, Humphrey, and Mari Prichard, eds. 1984. The Oxford Companion to Children 's Literature. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. Darton, F. J. Harvey. 1932. Children 's Books in England: Five Centuries of Social Life. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Green, Roger Lancelyn. 1964. Tellers of Tales: British Authors of Children 's Books from 1800 to 1964. New York: Franklin Watts. Hunt, Peter, ed. 1995. Children 's Literature: An Illustrated History. New York: Oxford University Press. Hunt, Peter, ed. 1996. Intentional Companion Encyclopedia of Children 's Literature. New York: Routledge. Hürlimann, Bettina. 1959. Three Centuries of Children 's Books in Europe. Trans. and ed. Brian Alderson. Cleveland, OH: World Publishing Company. Jackson, Mary V. 1989. Engines of Instruction, Mischief, and Magic: Children 's Literature in England from Its Beginning to 1839. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. Muir, Percy. 1954. English Children 's Books. London: B.T. Batsford. Silvey, Anita, ed. 1995. Children 's Books and Their Creators. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. Thwaite, Mary F. 1963. From Primer to Pleasure in Reading. Boston: The Horn Book. Townsend, John Rowe. 1974. Written for Children: An Outline of English-Language Children 's Literature. New York: J. B. Lippincott. Watson, Victor, ed. 2001. The Cambridge Guide to Children 's Books in English. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.