LESSON 1: RANGE OF CHILDREN’S LITERATURE

Traditional literature is a genre of stories passed down through the generations,

generally through oral tradition. Learn how to define traditional literature and its types,
and explore traditional characters, fairytales, fables, legends, myths, and the books that
contain popular traditional literature.
What Is Traditional Literature?
You have probably heard of tales like 'Cinderella' and the 'Three Little Pigs', but do you
know how many times they have been retold? Stories like these are part of the genre
known as traditional literature, which are stories that have been passed down through
generations. Much of traditional literature was initially told orally and written down later
on. Because of this, the stories are often altered slightly in each retelling. For example,
Cinderella's name in other versions has been 'Zezolla' and 'Cendrillon.' Nevertheless,
the heart of the story will still remain.
The purpose of traditional literature is having the story be relatable to everyone. For this
reason, universal themes are important to the genre. Some common themes include
good versus evil, the weak versus the strong, the beautiful versus the ugly, and the rich
versus the poor. Even if the characters are magical or nonhuman, the message of the
story is always one that the majority of people can understand and value.
Traditional Characters
While traditional literature can vary in type, most stories of this genre share common
characteristics, especially character archetypes. To help readers easily recognize the
story's problem, its characters are broken into clear good versus evil. The hero of the
story is usually given a mission that seems impossible to achieve, and the villain is set
to keep the hero from accomplishing it.
The main characters can be humans, gods, or animals. They are usually very one-
dimensional, meaning that each character will have one definable trait used to describe
him/her. These traits could be physical or related to the characters' personalities. For
example, if there is a witch character, the witch will most likely be defined by her evil
personality, with 'no personal growth' or change of heart.
Types of Traditional Literature
Traditional literature can fall into a number of categories: proverbs, fairytales, folklore,
fables, animal tales, myths and legends, etc. The following are explanations of four of
the more common types.
1. Fairytales
2. Often romantic and always fictional, these stories usually occur 'long, long ago' in
'a far away land.' They are stories of enchanted creatures like witches, giants,
and dragons, and fanciful settings like castles or forests. Common characteristics
include reoccurring numbers, royalty and, of course, the happily-ever-after
ending. For example, take 'Cinderella', the story that began in the late 17th
century. Cinderella, a beautiful girl enslaved by her evil stepmother, longs for a
 better life. When her fairy godmother appears to grant her a wish, Cinderella
meets the Prince, who saves her and marries her. The lesson is that kindness
and love will triumph over selfishness and evil.
3. Fables
4. Also fictional, these stories are typically short in length and heavily allegorical or
symbolic. They use morals to both entertain and educate the readers. Common
characteristics include talking animals, few characters, and a lot of action, with
the lesson of the story appearing at the end. For example, take the fable of 'The
Tortoise and the Hare'. The Hare mocks the Tortoise for his slowness, so the
Tortoise challenges him to a race. Though the Hare is stronger and faster, he lets
pride and over-confidence get in his way. The Tortoise, who is slow yet steady,
wins the race, concluding to the readers that perseverance is more worthy than
speed or strength.

5. poetry, literature that evokes a concentrated imaginative awareness of

experience or a specific emotional response through language chosen and
arranged for its meaning, sound, and rhythm.

6. Poetry is a vast subject, as old as history and older, present wherever religion is
present, possibly—under some definitions—the primal and primary form of
languages themselves. The present article means only to describe in as general
a way as possible certain properties of poetry and of poetic thought regarded as
in some sense independent modes of the mind. Naturally, not every tradition nor
every local or individual variation can be—or need be—included, but the article
illustrates by examples of poetry ranging between nursery rhyme and epic. This
article considers the difficulty or impossibility of defining poetry; man’s
nevertheless familiar acquaintance with it; the differences between poetry and
prose; the idea of form in poetry; poetry as a mode of thought; and what little may
be said in prose of the spirit of poetry.

7. fiction, literature created from the imagination, not presented as fact, though it
may be based on a true story or situation. Types of literature in the
fiction genre include the novel, short story, and novella. The word is from the
Latin fictiō, “the act of making, fashioning, or molding.”

8. biography, form of literature, commonly considered nonfictional, the subject of

which is the life of an individual. One of the oldest forms of literary expression, it
seeks to re-create in words the life of a human being—as understood from the
historical or personal perspective of the author—by drawing upon all available
evidence, including that retained in memory as well as written, oral, and pictorial
material.

Special Types of Books

 1. Picture book is a story intended for the youngest of readers, in which the
illustrations and the text work together to tell the story.
- Picture books are usually read to children, not by children. They are meant for
children who are not yet able to read, and help them develop a sense of
storytelling, plot, and language recognition.

2. Board books are often the first pages we turn, as they are durable enough for
babies and toddlers.
- A board book is a durable version of a regular book with pages that are so
thick they are like “boards”.
- Board books are generally almost an inch thick but have less than ten
pages.

3. Pop-up book is often applied to any three-dimensional or movable book,

although properly the umbrella term movable book covers pop-ups,
transformations, tunnel books, volvelles, flaps, pull-tabs, pop-outs, pull-downs,
and more, each of which performs in a different manner. Also included, because
they employ the same techniques, are three-dimensional greeting cards.

Background
Meaning of Children’s Literature – Written works that express in simple form the
universality of truth and clearness of purpose– characteristic of great literature that
would endure and find a place in children’s regard. – The body of written works and
accompanying illustrations produced to entertain or instruct young people.
(Encyclopedia Britannica)

• Genre - classics of world literature - picture books and easy-to-read stories written
exclusively for children.
- fairy tales
- lullabies
- fables
- folk songs
-other primarily orally transmitted materials

The child and his world of books “The world of books is a kind of world where children
will find joy in living.”
a) books add immeasurably to richness in living When life is absorbing, they can
enhance our sense of its significance When life is difficult, they can give us
momentary release from troubles or a new insight into our problems. -source of
information, comfort, or pleasure.

b.) Books help children directly or indirectly to meet their Basic Drives or Needs (acc.
May Hill Arbuthnot in

Children’s books
Children’s Books: History and trends
Medieval Books
 Written in Latin and found in monasteries
 Too expensive
 Very few were addressed to children
Most famous courtesy book produced in manuscript in 1430
1. 1st English Printer (1477)
2. French horn Books
 1st book the child is allowed to handle, first published in 1540.
 Are little wooden paddles on which were pasted lesson sheets and covered
with transparent horn.
 Widely used in England and America
3. THE NEW ENGLAND PRIMER appeared bet. 1683 and 1691; made especially
for children
 Standard lesson book in America
 A small book, 3x4 ½ inches, 100 pages
 Bound in “boards”-corners of oak wood about 1/8 inch thick.
 Contain the alphabet, words and syllables for spelling lessons, questionnaire
from the bible, the Lord’s prayer, the Catechism, several hymns and spiritual
advice from Cotton Mather.
4. There were rhymes for each letter of the alphabet
Ex. A- In Adam’s Fall, We sinned all. Z- Zaccheus he Did climb the tree his lord
to see.
5. Orbis Pictus
School book devised by the Moravian bishop Comenius
Translated to English in 1658
Has a wood-block picture at the top of each page
CHILD’S FIRST PICTURE BOOK
6. BATTLEDORE,BROADSIDE, AND CHAPBOOK
• BATTLEDORE (1746) - consist of a cardboard w/ 3 leaves and folded like a
pocket book.
- had wood outs, the alphabet, and easy reading matter, but no religious
instruction
7. • BROADSIDE -single sheets of paper w/ printing on one side only. -contains…
- Well-known English ballads
-Crude translations of French farces
-Tales in prose and verse
-Legends of antiquity
-Old tales of Middle Ages
-Fairy tales When printing became cheaper…
8. Broadsides where sold by chapmen thus, they were later called CHAPBOOKS.
9. BOOKS WITH PURITAN INFLUENCE GROUP OF DEEPLY RELIGIOUS
PEOPLE.
Written by a clergyman
 Dwells on death
  Written for “children to be happy”
 Allegorical tale of the conversion of his soul.
 Told in the best tradition of the fairy tales which Bunyan had enjoyed in
chapbook when he was a boy.
 Intended for adults but children took over it.
• OTHER BOOKS ENGLISH CHILDREN READ THAT WAS NOT INTENDED FOR
THEM
1. CHEERFULNESS IN BOOKS TALES OF MY MOTHER GOOSE • Appeared in
France in 1697 • One of the most famous collections of nursery tales in all
literature • Bore the name CHARLES PERRAULT • Contains 8 tales
2. THE 8 TALES FOUND IN THE COMPILATION:
3. LITTLE PRETTY POCKET BOOK
• Published by John Newbery in 1749
• Contains alphabet rhymes about children’s games, and the pictures showed
children playing games
• A book of pleasure
4. FATHER OF CHILDREN’S LITERATURE
• Ran many edition of Perrault’s tale of mother goose
• Published Mother Goose’s Melody-favorite rhymes.
5. HISTORY OF LITTLE GOODY TWO SHOES NEWBERY MEDAL
- award given for the “most distinguished book for children by and American
author in U.S.
- Works for John Newbery and collaborated in the writing of the stories.
6. DIDACTIC BOOKS JEAN JACQUES ROUSSEAU
-Advocated that the classical methods be discarded and that children be taught
about real things and the world in which they lived.
-advocated in the joyous unfolding of a child’s power through a free, happy life,
living vigorously out of doors and learning form actual experience and activities
7. About the history and physical geography and proper conduct
- Produced by Jacob Abbot
8. Fairy tales , romance and fantasy

• A literary revolt took place before the middle of 19th century

CHARLES LAMB SAMUEL COLERIDGE WILLIAM WORDSWORTH
Deplored the “banishment of the fairies”.
Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm Ushered the return of fairytales together with romance
and fantasy.

 Stories children claimed for their own:

In 1849 - The English undertook a systematic collection of folktales which appeared
as “Nursery Rhymes and Nursery tales of England”.

TWO FAMOUS COLLECTORS ANDREW LANG

 Believed to be the best collections.
1. JOSEPH JACOB
 “ Teachers and parents owe a great deal of gratitude to Joseph Jacobs in
his 6 volumes of English, Celtic, Indian and European Fairy tales, he gave
the world versions of its best-known and most representative stories in a
form suited to children, while remaining true in all its essentials to the
original oral versions of the folk.”

2. HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN -- THE GREATEST MASTER OF

LITERARY FAIRY TALE
• LAST HALF OF THE 19TH CENTURY - emerged a new type of fairy tale, the
LITERARY FOLK TALE --- it is a story based upon folklore into which the author
has contributed much that is new and original and has put so much of himself
that a new story resulted.

• Other examples
Restored humor and fantasy as desirable part of children’s literature.
Widened the appearance of modern literary tales.

THE TRADITION OF LITERARY FAIRY TALES WAS CARRIED THROUGH

THE 19TH CENTURY BY:

a. REALISTIC LITERATURE BOOKS THAT CENTER UPON LIVES OF BOYS

AND GIRLS IN SIMPLE HOMES AND CARE ABOUT BRAVE MEN AND
WOMEN WHO SHOW PATRIOTISM, DEVOTION AND LOYALTY.
b. NOTED AS THE BEGINNING OF SCIENCE FICTION
c. ILLUSTRATION IN CHILDREN’S BOOKS -- his characters are all on the
move and his pictures are complete till the last detail. RANDOLPH
CALDECOTT (1846-1861) CALDECOTT MEDAL - Awarded to the most
distinguished picture book for children.
d. RECOGNITION OF CHILDREN’S BOOKS Organized the first special
department for publishing children’s books in 1919.
e. ANNE CARROLL MOORE Began the first regular review of children’s books
in the literary supplement of the New York Herald Tribune.
f. CHILDREN’S MAGAZINE Outstanding magazine for children in the U.S.
CONTRIBUTORS
g. THE RISE OF PICTURE BOOKS
h. • A BOOK DESIGNED IN WHICH THE PICTURES ARE DESIGNED AS AN
INTEGRAL PART OF THE TEXT. BY. WANDA GAG (1928) 1ST AMERICAN
PICTURE BOOK
i. FIRST WINNER OF THE CALDECOTT MEDAL
j. THE SPIRIT OF PRESENT-DAY LITERATURE

2 FORCES THAT ARE AT WORK IN CHILDREN’S LITERATURE

1. CHILD’S NEEDS
2. ADULT’S IDEA ABOUT WHAT A CHILD NEEDS