1 Module 1 | HISTORY OF CHILDREN’S LITERATURE

2 Module 1 | HISTORY OF CHILDREN’S LITERATURE

INTRODUCTION

Since the beginning of time, adults have entertained children with stories and fables. From these
folktales developed an elaborate tapestry of children's literature. Today children's literature encompasses
multiple genres and appeals to readers of every age.

Lesson 1: EARLY BEGINNING OF WESTERN CHILDREN’S

LITERATURE

SPECIFIC LEARNING OUTCOMES

In this lesson, you are expected to:
1. elicit background understanding on the history of western children’s literature;
2. explain context and terms related to language policy and planning;
3. illustrate the history of western children’s literature; and
4. discuss and elaborate the different period of emergence of children’s literature.

PRE-ASSESSMENT
Instruction: Read, analyze and answer each of the questions below by choosing the letter of the MOST
APPROPRIATE answer.

1. Book consisted of bible versus, alphabet, vowels, sounds, lord’s prayer, basically things the adults
wanted children to learn.
a. Hornbook b. Chapbook c. ABC Primer
2. Looks like a paddle.
a. ABC Primer b. Hornbook c. Chapbook
3. First child Literature in book form.
a. Chapbook b. Hornbook c. Didactic book
4. Published by William Caxton
a. Aesop’s fables b. Illustration book c. Mother Goose Melody
5. First information picture book for children
a. Orbis Pictus b. Mother Goose Melody c. Aesop’s fables
6. Retold by Charles Perrault
a. Mother Goose b. Aesop’s fables c. Illustration book
7. Edward Lear
a. A Book of Nonsense b. Primer c. Puritan Book
8. Made for common man, adults. Satire, dirty jokes, some religious things, mainly vulgar.
a. Chapbooks b. Hornbooks c. Primer
9. The earliest history of children's literature began with
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A. The Oral tradition b. Puritan Period c. Anglo-Saxon period

10. Puritan influence of literature emphasized
a. Moral development of children
b. Socio-cultural influences
c. Cognitive aspects of children

LESSON MAP

This map shows the early beginning of western children’s literature

CORE CONTENTS

ENGAGE: WHAT I ALREADY KNOW

INSTRUCTION: Answer the following questions briefly and concisely.

1. How does oral tradition relate to children’s literature?

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2. How did children’s literature begin?
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3. When did children’s literature begin?

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EXPLORE: HOW IT ALL WENT DOWN!

EMERGING FROM ORAL TRADITION

 Children’s literature grew form stories passed down orally from generation to generation.
 The earliest written folk tales are arguably the Panchatantra from India which were written
around 200 AD.
 The earliest version of Aesop’s Fables appeared on papyrus scrolls around 400 AD.

EARLY HISTORY: ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD

 Monks and other learned men wrote: “Lesson Books” for children.
 Adhelm
- father of Malmesbury and bishop of Shernone.

THE MEDIEVAL PERIOD (15th century)

 books on manners and morals began to appear in England

 William Caxton’s Boke of Curtayse (1477)
 The Babies Boke (Manners and Meals in the Olden Time)
-contained rules of behavior for boys who trained to become knights during age chivalry
 During the middle ages, very little literature was written for the sole purpose of entertaining children.

ABC BOOKS or PRIMERS

 They were called primers because they were used at the hour of prime as a book of private devotions
in the Angelican Church.
 Henry VII
-ordered the printing of both catholic and protestant primers that contained the alphabet and Christian
principles.

HORNBOOKS

 Textbooks containing basic texts like the Lord’s Prayer and the alphabet would not appear until the
1400’s.
 First book designed to handle by children.
 Capital letters followed by children vowels and their combinations with consonants were printed across
the top.
 The Lord’s Prayer was printed at the bottom.
 The paper used for this was covered with a transparent horn and was held in a place like metal, brass
and copper.
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THE ADVENT OF ILLUSTRATION

 CHAPBOOKS
- Chapbooks, pocket-sized books often folded rather than stitched together, were the first books to be
illustrated for children.
- They usually contained a simple woodcut pictures to go along with their contents----often popular
ballads, folk tales, or religious passages.
- Charles Perault, Frenchman, published a collection of tales entitled Tales of My Mother Goose.
- Called Chapbooks because they sold by itinerant peddlers called chapmen.

 Meanwhile, during the 1600’s, the concept were seen as separate entities with their own needs and
limitations.
 Publishers throughout Europe began printing books specifically intended for children.
 The purposes of these texts were still frequently didactic, although several collections of fairy tales were
published with varying success.

FIRST PICTURE BOOK

 1658- first illustrated school book appreared.
 Orbis Pictus (the World of Pictures)- it was invented by Johann Amos Comenius, Bishop of Moravia
and an eduactor who believed in teaching children by letting them see things with their own eyes.

PURITAN PERIOD
 Books for children were influenced by Puritan ideas.
 It stressed the fear of God, religious instruction and preparation for death which does not enjoy by
children.
 John Bunyan- Pilgrim’s Progress (1678)
 Daniel Defoe- Robinson Crusoe (1714)
 Jonathan Swift- Gulliver’s Travels ( 1726)
 Mallory – Death of King Arthur
-Reynard the Fox
-Aesop’s fables
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NEW ENGLAND PRIMER

 A book made especially for the children of the American colonies.
 It contained the alphabet, words and syllables for spelling lesson, the Lord’s Prayer,
catechisms, hymns, and verses, rhymes for each letter of the alphabet.

17th and 18th CENTURY

 Dr. Isaac Watt- published Divine and Moral songs for children
 Battledore- had the alphabet and easy-reading matter that made it popular until 1840.
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JOHN NEWBERRY ERA (1713-1767)

- “Father of Children’s Literature”
- In 1744, he published his Little Pretty Pocket Book, the first book that can be truly called it
“Mother Goose Melody”.
- The Newberry Award-named after him in 1992.

THE DIDACTIC PERIOD

 Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778), he published “Emile”.
 Thomas Day, published “History of Sanford and Merton”
 The Peter Parley Books, informational books about countries of the world, wonders of science and
historical figures.

THE RETURN OF FAIRY TALES OLD AND NEW

 1823., Grimm’s Popular Stories, from Old German stories collected by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm.
 Hans Christian Andersen (1846)
-published “Fairy Tales”, “Thumbelina”, “The Emperor’s New Clothes”, and “The Nightingale”
-Great Master of the Literacy of Fairy Tales.

 Edward Lear’s “Book of Nonsense”, marked the need for laughter in development of
children.
 1863 Jules Verne Cinq semaines en ballon, voyage de découvertes en Afrique (Five
Weeks in a Balloon), the first major science fiction novel.
 1865, Lewis Carroll published “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”
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THE REALISTIC LITERATURE

 1868, Louisa M. Alcotts’ “Little Women” and later followed by “Little Men”.
 1877, Anna Sewell “Black Beauty”
 1881, Robert Louis Stevenson, “Treasure Island”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-_VjOb9MEo

EXPLAIN: Elucidating The Early Beginning Of Western Children’s Literature

A. INSTRUCTIONS: As you are done reading and taking down notes at the EXPLORE part of this module,
you are task to give further details on the following:

1. What is A Little Pretty Pocket-Book?

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2. What is Panchatantra and its purpose?
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3.Explain the 5 principles of Panchatantra.
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4. Explain the New Berry Award.
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5. Research on the Grimm’s Popular Stories.
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6. Explicate the Book of Nonsense.
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B. Briefly discuss the content of the following:

1. Pilgrim’s Progress
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2. Robinson Crusoe
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3. Gulliver’s Travels
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4. Reynard the Fox
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EXTEND: Deepening my Cognitive Skills

A. Instruction: Illustrate the history of western children’s literature.

B. Based from what you have learned, create the following:

1. Hornbooks
10 Module 1 | HISTORY OF CHILDREN’S LITERATURE

2. Chapbooks
3. ABC Primer
4. New England Primer
5. Battledore

EVALUATE: Reflect What You Learned!STRUCTIONS:

Instruction: Reflect, discuss and answer the question below. Refer to rubrics below to guide your reflection
paper.
 Why is it important to understand the developmental stages when making literature-based instructional
decisions?

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TOPIC SUMMARY
11 Module 1 | HISTORY OF CHILDREN’S LITERATURE

In this lesson, you have learned that

 Western history of children’s literature includes:
 Emerging from Oral tradition
 Anglo-Saxon Period
 The Medieval Period
 The Advent of Illustration
 Puritan Period
 17th and 18th century

POST-ASSESSMENT
INSTRUCTION: Encircle the letter of your choice.

1.Book consisted of bible versus, alphabet, vowels, sounds, lords prayer.. basically things the adults
wanted children to learn.
b. Hornbook b. Chapbook c. ABC Primer
2. Looks like a paddle.
b. ABC Primer b. Hornbook c. Chapbook
3. First child Literature in book form.
b. Chapbook b. Hornbook c. Didactic book
4. Published by William Caxton
b. Aesop’s fables b. Illustration book c. Mother Goose Melody
5. First information picture book for children
b. Orbis Pictus b. Mother Goose Melody c. Aesop’s fables
6. Retold by Charles Perrault
b. Mother Goose b. Aesop’s fables c. Illustration book
7. Edward Lear
b. A Book of Nonsense b. Primer c. Puritan Book
8. Made for common man, adults. Satire, dirty jokes, some religious things, mainly vulgar.
b. Chapbooks b. Hornbooks c. Primer
9. The earliest history of children's literature began with
B. The Oral tradition b. Puritan Period c. Anglo-Saxon period
10. Puritan influence of literature emphasized
d. Moral development of children
e. Socio-cultural influences
f. Cognitive aspects of children

 REFERENCES

 Bingham, Jane and Grayce Scholt. 1980. Fifteen Centuries of Children’s Literature: An Annotated
Chronology of British and American Works in Historical Context. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
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 “The Changing World of Children’s Books and the Development of Multicultural Literature” from
“Charlotte Huck’s Children’s Literature.” http://highered.mcgraw-
hill.com/sites/dl/free/0073378569/669929/kei78569_ch03.pdf. McGraw Hill. Web. January 15, 2013.