Whittemore Library: Children's and Young Adult's Literature: Historical Children's Lit

Historical Children's Lit

"When the Mayflower arrived in Plymouth in 1620, it carried (among other cargo) books. What the Mayflower did not carry were books written for the youngest passengers. The genre we know as "children’s literature," books written specifically for the edification of children, was just on the verge of invention."

- Peggy M. Baker

19th C. Classic Children's Books You May Have Overlooked
Website devoted to promoting offline activities for children.
The ABC of Horn-Books
A brief history of horn books and battledores, by Juliet O'Conor, from the LaTrobe journal.
Books for Colonial Children
Short essay by a Pilgrim Hall Museum Librarian.
Children's Books in the Victorial Era from the Winnington-Ingram Collection
Site profiling the Winnington-Ingram Collection of British Children's Books.
Children's Literature as a Victorian Genre
Subtopic portal from The Victorian Web.
The Creepy and Harsh Lessons of Early Children’s Books
"Puritan kids’ literature made A Series of Unfortunate Events look like Goodnight Moon." Free online Saturday Evening Post article.
Historical Children's Literature Collection
"Chronicles by example the history of educational practice and reading, and the changing perceptions of gender, race and class and the role of religion in teaching. Both European and American books from the 18th to the 20th c. are represented in this collection."
The Hockliffe Project
19th century British Children's Literature.
Nineteenth-Century American Children & What They Read
Full-text of documents about 19th-century American children and a selection of works from early children's books and magazines.
Victorian Children’s Literature and the Invention of Childhood
Short UK museum blog article profiling several Victorian children's books from their collection.
Victorian Fiction: Children's Stories
Collection of short stories for children published by Victorian-era popular magazines.
Victorian Short Fiction Project
A collection of Victorian short stories for children. From BYU.

Orbis Sensualium Pictus (1658) - The First Children's Picture Book

Education Iconics: Orbis Sensualium Pictus
Overview, lecture and gallery of page images about the 'first children's picture book'. published in 1658. From the University of Minnesota College of Education and Human Development.
The First Popular Picture Book for Children – Orbis Sensualium Pictus
A Maynooth University Special Collections dept. blog post.
In the Image of God John Comenius and the First Children’s Picture Book
A Public Domain Review essay.
The World According to Comenius: Seen and Unseen in the Orbis Sensualium Pictus
Essay about the first picture book for children, including why it was so' revolutionary' for that time. From the Newberry Library's 'Digital Collections for the Classroom'.