Children’s literature has changed and developed continuously over recent centuries. While it was influenced by other genres and acquired many of their stylistic characteristics, some distinctive features have formed within it. The assigned reading section has covered the history of children’s literature from its development to the recent decades (Saltman, 1985). Although there were many ideas that seemed valuable to me in the assigned section, this essay will focus on three insights about the history and development of children’s literature that I have found most interesting.
The first idea that seemed highly insightful to me was the discussion about why there had been no stories in the genre of children’s literature before the seventeenth century. In other words, the genre itself had not existed before the end of the seventeenth century. Although I had realized that children’s literature as a genre developed around that time, I have never reflected on the factors that caused this. As the author suggests, this was due to the fact that children were considered similar to adults in the ways they are now seen as different (Saltman, 1985). For example, they had to work from an early age because they were simply viewed as smaller versions of adults. I find this insight valuable because it has given me a new understanding of the nature of children’s stories. For the genre to be able to emerge and grow, people had to understand that children’s perceptions and capabilities differ significantly from the way adults view the world and function in it.
Another idea I have found exciting is connected to Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. The idea that was most interesting for me to discover emphasized the place that this story took in the history of children’s literature. According to the author, it was one of the first stories for children that did not have any high moral, unlike many previous works that mostly focused on religious values and principles (Saltman, 1985). That is why Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland in many ways paved the way for other authors whose stories incorporated creative and imaginative elements that are now considered integral to children’s literature.
The third insightful idea that I have discovered after reading the assigned section is the distinction that the author draws between the first Golden Age of children’s literature and works that had preceded this era. For example, the nineteenth century was the time when authors started treating playful nonsense seriously, narrating stories that were colorful, imaginative, and engaging for children (Saltman, 1985). Some of the writers that marked this significant change are E. Nesbit, A. A. Milne, and E. B. White (Saltman, 1985). This fact seemed interesting to me because it also helps to understand how the authors of that time contributed to the creation of what now is known as the essential elements of children’s literature.
It can be concluded that the reading section for this assignment included an extensive analysis of the emergence and development of children’s stories throughout the past three centuries. One of the ideas I have found valuable is that children’s literature had not developed earlier because children were considered equal to adults. Nobody thought that children were a different category of population that needs its own literary genre. Another idea that seemed interesting to me is the one that emphasized the contribution of Lewis Carroll’s book Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Finally, the third idea that impressed me was the difference between the early literary works created for children and more modern ones. The main distinction lies in the fact that latter were more imaginative and less focused on religious moral teachings.
Reference
Saltman, J. (1985). The Riverside anthology of children’s literature. Houghton Mifflin College Division.