Chapter 3

1. Chapter 3 The Changing World of Children’s Books and the Development of Multicultural Literature

2. Changes in Children’s Literature • It has taken a very long time for children’s books to move from didactic and moralistic tales to delightful and entertaining stories, from a chauvinistic view of ethnicity and culture to a view that embraces differences.

3. Stories of the Past • One difficulty in evaluating stories of the past is the tendency to use present-day criteria rather than a broader historical view.

4. Stories of the Past (cont.) • Using one of the books from the Landmarks in the Development of Books for Children’s Literature chart in Chapter 3, explore the time period in which the book was published. What were the social issues of the time? What was expected of children?

5. Early Beginnings:The Oral Tradition • Status affected the stories told in a given setting. Heroic tales were recited by minstrels or bards in the great manors and castles. Tales about simple folk or beast tales were spread around homes or medieval fairs.

6. Early Beginnings:Earliest Manuscripts • Children may have been read to from Bibles. They may have used early lesson books. Both types of books were handwritten. • Early lesson books dealt only with instructing children. • It is likely that children were entertained by stories written for adults.

7. Early Beginnings:The Printed Book • The earliest books originated in China (A.D. 175) and were printed from stone rubbings. • Gutenberg devised a superior metal movable type in the 1450s. • William Caxton learned the printing trade and brought it to England. • The number of books owned by individuals increased dramatically after the invention of the printing press.

8. Early Beginnings:Hornbooks, ABCs, and Primers • Hornbooks were comprised of the alphabet, the vowels, and the Lord’s Prayer. • Hornbooks allowed children to hold print close up. • ABC books and primers had more text than hornbooks but were still religious in nature.

9. Early Beginnings:Lasting Contributions • Children enjoyed hearing stories told. • Children’s books were intended only for instruction. • Noted books from this time included Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales and William Caxton’s Le Morte d’Arthur. The text of these books and other Medieval books can be found online at Project Gutenberg, http://www.gutenberg.org/.

10. The 17th and 18th Centuries:“Goodly Godly” Books • The stern spiritual beliefs of Puritanism dominated literature. • The central goal of “Goodly Godly” books was the salvation of children’s souls. • Even alphabet rhymes emphasized humans’ sinful nature.

11. The 17th and 18th Centuries:Lighter Fare • From the late 1500s through the eighteenth century, chapbooks brought excitement and pleasure to children and adults. They were the forerunners of today’s comic strips. • Fairy tales were first printed in France in 1697 by Charles Perrault (who also printed Mother Goose).

12. The 17th and 18th Centuries: Lighter Fare (cont.) • The Arabian Nights, while intended for adults, was treasured by children, as were other adventure stories of the time. • The association of the character Mother Goose with traditional children’s rhymes is unclear.

13. The 17th and 18th Centuries:Newbery Publishes for Children • Newbery deliberately and openly set out to provide amusement for children, even in instructional books. • His books were illustrated with pictures based on the text.

14. The 17th and 18th Centuries:Didactic Literature • Women writers began entering the field of juvenile literature in the last half of the eighteenth century. • Didactic stories worked to conceal moral lessons under the guise of an exciting adventure. • Poetry of the time also emphasized religion and instruction. • William Blake wrote poetry that children enjoyed, even though it was written for adults.

15. The 19th Century:Instruction and Information • Textbooks began reflecting the changing social purposes of the young nation. • Samuel Goodrich eliminated the British background in books for American children.

16. The 19th Century:Family Stories • In the first half of the nineteenth century, didactic writing continued to flourish. • Changes in women’s writing: • 1839: Catherine Sinclair wrote about children who got into mischief. • 1856: Charlotte Yonge emerged as a superb storyteller. • 1868: Louisa May Alcott described real people. • 1872: Susan Coolidge began the Katy stories which had a vivacious heroine.

17. The 19th Century:Tales of Adventure • Johann David Wyss, Sir Walter Scott, and Horatio Alger were among the authors writing adventure stories that appealed to boys. • Adventure books were written mostly for boys. Books such as The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain portrayed real-life boys undergoing adventures.

18. The 19th Century:The Rise of Folktale Collections • Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm wrote out oral tales and published Household Stories in 1812. • In the last half of the 19th century, folktales and fantasies became accepted forms of children’s literature. • Other authors followed the Grimm Brothers’ example, publishing and sharing tales from various countries.

19. The 19th Century:The Rise of Fantasy • The first stirrings of modern fantasy appeared in The Water Babies by Charles Kingsley and in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. • Science fiction began largely with books by Jules Verne from France.

20. The 19th Century:Other Books for Fun • Humor and nonsense books were rarely seen before the middle of the 19th century. • The nonsensical antics of Mrs. Peterkin served as a prototype for other eccentric female characters. • Books with moveable parts first appeared in 1766.

21. The 19th Century:Poetry • Most poetry for children in the early part of the century was didactic. • William Roscoe (1807) wrote pure nonsense, rhyme, and rhythm poetry. • Clement Moore published A Visit from St. Nicholas in 1823. • Edward Lear wrote nonsense limericks for children mid-century. • Robert Louis Stevenson’s A Child’s Garden of Verses, published in 1885, celebrated children’s everyday lives.

22. The 19th Century:Magazines • The first children’s magazine, Charm, began in 1853. It was ahead of its time. • In America, The Juvenile Miscellany (1826) provided enjoyable material. • The American Boy survived longest (until 1941) and published well-known writers. • St. Nicholas Magazine also attracted well-known artists and writers.

23. The 19th Century:Illustrators • The quality of illustrations improved as techniques did. • Illustrators added humor, action, and detail that had not been in children’s books before. • Randolph Caldecott filled his drawings with action and good fun. Examples of illustrations done during the nineteenth century, including the work of Cruikshank and Crane, can be found online at http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/illustrations.

24. The 20th Century:Recognition of Children’s Literature • Children’s Book Week promoted by the Children’s Book Council http://www.cbcbooks.org/cbw • The Horn Book Magazinehttp://www.hbook.com • American Association of School Librarians http://www.ala.org/ala/aasl

25. The 20th Century:The Rise of the Picture Storybook • Improvements continued in the printing process. • Wanda Gág’s Millions of Cats (1928) has been called America’s first picture storybook. • The nursery school movement made an impact on the development of books for preschool children.

26. The 20th Century:The Rise of the Picture Storybook • Create a timeline around the classroom with books from the 20th century. How did techniques change illustrations over time? How did illustrations change culturally, especially in the 1960s? Look for stereotypes that you should avoid having in your classroom.

27. The 20th Century:The Growth of Nonfiction Books • E. Boyd Smith created some of the earliest nonfiction picture books. • Concept books for young children began as a result of the preschool movement. • Many early biographies written for children portrayed only positive facts about their subjects. • Beginning in the 1960s, biographies began to reflect true social attitudes and serve as a means of providing other cultural views.

28. The 20th Century:Changes in the Genres • Throughout the 20th century, authors and illustrators of children’s literature shaped growth and changes in all areas of children’s literature: • Folktales of the world • Fantasy • Poetry • Historical fiction • Contemporary realistic fiction

29. The Rise of Multicultural Literature • 1889: La Edad de Oro addressed Spanish-speaking children of the Americas. • 1909: NAACP’s magazine The Crisis included a “children’s corner.” • 1920: W.E.B. DuBois published the first issue of The Brownie’s Book. • 1940s: African-American librarians began to draw attention to the lack of literature representing realistic African-American life.

30. The Rise of Multicultural Literature (cont.) • 1920s and 1930s: There was a call for a return to the teaching of native customs and languages in the Bureau of Indian Affairs boarding schools. • 1965: The Council on Interracial Books for Children was founded. • 1965: Nancy Larrick wrote the article “The All-White World of Children’s Books.” • Late 1960s: Authentic and accurate books about people of color began to be published.

31. The Rise of Multicultural Literature (cont.) • Awards established for multicultural literature: • Coretta Scott King Award (African American) • Pura Belpre Award (Latino) • Asian Pacific Award for Literature (Asian) • Sydney Taylor Book Award (Jewish) • John Steptoe Award (African American)

32. Defining Multicultural Literature • The term grew out of the field of multicultural education – a result of Brown vs. Board of Education and the civil rights movement. • As an umbrella term, it includes: • World literature • Cross-cultural literature • Minority literature • Intersecting cultures

33. Defining Multicultural Literature(cont.) • To fully evaluate works of children’s literature, we must consider the cultural perspective of the writer in addition to traditional aspects of criticism such as characterization and theme. • Council on Interracial Books for Children evaluation checklists: • http://www.always-whitewolf.com/articles/article1.htm • http://www.birchlane.davis.ca.us/library/10quick.htm For further reading, see “Examining Multicultural Picture Books for the Early Childhood Classroom: Possibilities and Pitfalls” by Jean Mendoza & Debbie Reese at http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/v3n2/mendoza.html.

34. International Literature for Children • The Mildred L. Batchelder Award is given for outstanding translated children’s books originally published abroad. • International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) • http://www.ibby.org • International Children’s Digital Library • http://www.icdlbooks.org

35. Children’s Books: Big Business • Although many more books are being published each year, title turnover is far greater today than in the early years of children’s literature. • Series books for children have remained popular. • There has been a rise of celebrity authors in recent years. • Although books about parallel cultures are holding their own in the children’s book market, they don’t generate much profit.

36. Shifts in Publishing Emphases • Hardcover fiction, especially fantasy, has blossomed in the early years of the 21st century. • There has been a move from the “problem novel” of the 1960s and 1970s to a more balanced style of realistic fiction. • A growing visual emphasis has caused a rise in graphic novels and interactive picture books. • Toy books are very popular. • Multimodal writing can be found in other formats for older readers.

37. Changes in Writing and Illustration • Writers and illustrators can freely experiment with style and format. • Books can be told from various points of view. • The intermingling of genres is allowed. • Improvements in printing techniques have allowed for the use of more photographs and for experimentation with various materials and techniques, including three-dimensional art. Robert Sabuda demonstrates how to make simple pop-ups on his web site, http://www.robertsabuda.com.

38. Children’s Literature in the School and Community • During the last part of the 20th century, the use of children’s trade books in the classroom increased. • The trend of using literature without regard for its imaginative and aesthetic characteristics is a cause for concern. • Literacy and reading initiatives regularly include children’s literature as part of their programs. Learn more about the NEA’s Read across America initiative at http://www.nea.org/readacross.

39. The Development of a Multiliterate Society • Accessing books on the Internet • Author web sites • Online bookstores • Youth of the future, becoming multiliterate and multimodal • Take a look: Find a children’s author’s web site. What is included for children? For parents? For teachers and librarians?