Children's Literature Lesson 1 Exam
Questions and Answers
According to Russell, where can we look to find the beginnings of children's
literature? - Answer- - Earliest European literature is from ancient Greeks (850 BCE)
and Romans (150 BCE)
- Sometime in 8th century, Greek poet wrote The Iliad, the story of the Trojan War,
and the Odyssey
- Stories were meant for adults but had child following.
Major periods of children's literature: The Middle Ages. - Answer- - Children all knew
the biblical stories
- Stories like King Arthur, Roland, and Beowulf also existed
- No literature available for children specifically
- Oral storytelling culture
Major periods of children's literature: The Renaissance - Answer- - little literature
available for children specifically
- Horn books available to young children
- Aesop fables appealed to children but were not written for them
- More literate culture than middle ages
- Movable printing press perfected, made it easier to mass produce books
Major periods of children's literature: Puritan movement, 17th century - Answer- -
Children's lit was heavily influenced by Calvinist thinking.
- Great promoters of literacy for children, but entirely for the purpose of saving
children from hell fire and effectively trying to frighten them into salvation.
- Two books available to children at this time...
James Janeway's A Token for Children (graphically described the mutilation and
deaths of child martyrs, who all served as examples of good pious thinking)
Isaac Watts' Divine Songs (consisted mostly of verses, which attempted to offer
religious teaching in terms that children could understand).
- appearing around 1685 and widely used until the eighteen forties, The New
England Primer offered simple verses for the religious instruction of children. Primer
, included prayers and promises for children to memorize, as well as rhymed pictorial
alphabets, which as often as not depicted Bible history and the Puritan catechism.
Major periods of children's literature: 18th Century - Answer- - New school of thought
emerged around the time that the Americas were being colonized.
centered on the philosopher and educational theorist, John Locke who believed all
children were a blank slate to write upon, equal learning capabilities.
- a more widespread increase in literacy and the growing popularity of the chapbook
John Locke, John Newbery, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau extremely influential
during this time
Newbery marketed books specifically for children, ie. A Little Pretty Pocket Book
(1744)
Rousseau wrote Emile (1762), which focused on moral development through a
simple lifestyle
- Fables with talking animals was a no no by moralists, unholy, but still existed ie.
Grimm Brothers
Major periods of children's literature: 19th Century - Answer- - group of writers, the
Sunday School Moralists, were interested in saving the souls of children from
damnation
- With the growing popularity of folktales, an effort began in England to restrict the
literature available to children.
believed in the education of children but also believed that children's primary reading
material should be religious in nature.
- England children's literature emerged fully as a recognized genre. Ie. nursery
rhymes, alice books, tom sawyer
Major periods of children's literature: 20th Century - Answer- - Early 20th, peter pan,
winnie the pooh
Realistic novels became popular, the secret garden
- Late 20th, WW2 changed children's lit and focused on concerns of development of
the child as an individual
- Children's rights in legal systems began
Narnia and harry potter, young adult focus
What was the primary intention of most works of children's literature until the mid-
nineteenth century? - Answer- To save children from damnation and teach them
morals.
Aesop's Fables - Answer- A group of stories thought to have been written by Aesop,
a Greek storyteller. The main characters in these stories are animals, and each story
demonstrates a moral lesson.
Questions and Answers
According to Russell, where can we look to find the beginnings of children's
literature? - Answer- - Earliest European literature is from ancient Greeks (850 BCE)
and Romans (150 BCE)
- Sometime in 8th century, Greek poet wrote The Iliad, the story of the Trojan War,
and the Odyssey
- Stories were meant for adults but had child following.
Major periods of children's literature: The Middle Ages. - Answer- - Children all knew
the biblical stories
- Stories like King Arthur, Roland, and Beowulf also existed
- No literature available for children specifically
- Oral storytelling culture
Major periods of children's literature: The Renaissance - Answer- - little literature
available for children specifically
- Horn books available to young children
- Aesop fables appealed to children but were not written for them
- More literate culture than middle ages
- Movable printing press perfected, made it easier to mass produce books
Major periods of children's literature: Puritan movement, 17th century - Answer- -
Children's lit was heavily influenced by Calvinist thinking.
- Great promoters of literacy for children, but entirely for the purpose of saving
children from hell fire and effectively trying to frighten them into salvation.
- Two books available to children at this time...
James Janeway's A Token for Children (graphically described the mutilation and
deaths of child martyrs, who all served as examples of good pious thinking)
Isaac Watts' Divine Songs (consisted mostly of verses, which attempted to offer
religious teaching in terms that children could understand).
- appearing around 1685 and widely used until the eighteen forties, The New
England Primer offered simple verses for the religious instruction of children. Primer
, included prayers and promises for children to memorize, as well as rhymed pictorial
alphabets, which as often as not depicted Bible history and the Puritan catechism.
Major periods of children's literature: 18th Century - Answer- - New school of thought
emerged around the time that the Americas were being colonized.
centered on the philosopher and educational theorist, John Locke who believed all
children were a blank slate to write upon, equal learning capabilities.
- a more widespread increase in literacy and the growing popularity of the chapbook
John Locke, John Newbery, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau extremely influential
during this time
Newbery marketed books specifically for children, ie. A Little Pretty Pocket Book
(1744)
Rousseau wrote Emile (1762), which focused on moral development through a
simple lifestyle
- Fables with talking animals was a no no by moralists, unholy, but still existed ie.
Grimm Brothers
Major periods of children's literature: 19th Century - Answer- - group of writers, the
Sunday School Moralists, were interested in saving the souls of children from
damnation
- With the growing popularity of folktales, an effort began in England to restrict the
literature available to children.
believed in the education of children but also believed that children's primary reading
material should be religious in nature.
- England children's literature emerged fully as a recognized genre. Ie. nursery
rhymes, alice books, tom sawyer
Major periods of children's literature: 20th Century - Answer- - Early 20th, peter pan,
winnie the pooh
Realistic novels became popular, the secret garden
- Late 20th, WW2 changed children's lit and focused on concerns of development of
the child as an individual
- Children's rights in legal systems began
Narnia and harry potter, young adult focus
What was the primary intention of most works of children's literature until the mid-
nineteenth century? - Answer- To save children from damnation and teach them
morals.
Aesop's Fables - Answer- A group of stories thought to have been written by Aesop,
a Greek storyteller. The main characters in these stories are animals, and each story
demonstrates a moral lesson.
