Short presentation about the history of (British) children's books and some typical aspects. Presentation given for fellow students at CLT, Leuven, 2009.

1. British Children’s books A historical overview and some typical aspects.

2. Fables and fairy tales Aesop's Fables (500 BC - 1484) Tales of Mother Goose - Charles Perrault (1685/1729) Grimm's Fairy Tales - Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm (1812/1823) Fairy Tales - Hans Christian Andersen – (1835/1846) several of the classic tales are gruesome and were not originally collected for children

3. Books for adults or children? Robinson Crusoe - Daniel Defoe - 1719 Gulliver's Travels - Jonathan Swift - 1726 Ivanhoe - Walter Scott - 1819 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas, père - 1844 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens – 1850 Baron von Münchhausen – 1875 Black Beauty - Anna Sewell - 1877 Treasure Island - Robert Louis Stevenson - 1883

4. First (real) children’s picture books Slovenly Peter (1845) – Heinrich Hoffmann (translated by Marc Twain) A Little Pretty Pocket-Book (1744) - John Newbery

5. The Victorian Era Reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901) long period of prosperity for the British people profits gained from the overseas British Empire Industrialisation(Mass production of printed books) Development of an educated middle class Golden age for children’s books (classics) (note: child labour)

6. Some Classics Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll – 1865 Through the Looking-Glass - Lewis Carroll - 1871 The Jungle Book - Rudyard Kipling - 1894 The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - L. Frank Baum - 1900 The Tale of Peter Rabbit - Beatrix Potter - 1902 King Arthur and His Knights - Howard Pyle - 1902-3 Peter Pan - J. M. Barrie - 1904 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame - 1908

7. Interbellum (1918-1939) Winnie-the-Pooh (1926) and The House at Pooh Corner (1928) by A. A. Milne. Little House on the Prairie (1935) by Laura Ingalls Wilder The Hobbit or There and Back Again (1937) by J. R. R. Tolkien: an early example of the modern lighthearted quest fantasy

8. After 1940 End of the English dominance on the children’s book market Producing picture books becomes cheaper Huge influence of the Disney Studio’s (and Hollywood) The Chronicles Of Narnia (1949-1954) by C. S. Lewis The Lord of the Rings (1954 - 1955) by J.R.R. Tolkien. The Cat in the Hat (1957) by Dr. Seuss: First high quality limited-vocabulary book, written for early readers Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964) by Roald Dahl Harry Potter (1997) by J.K. Rowling

9. Typical British?

10. Typical British?

12. Typical British?

14. Typical British?

15. Typical British?

16. Typical British? Nope

17. Typical British… some aspects Elements of the English countryside The influence of a cartoon tradition A lot of humour (variety) Unpredictable (and nonsense stories) Not afraid of scary, frightening or creepy elements or atmosphere A lot of fantasy elements Less arty farty (in picture books)

18. Thank you