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William Caxton prints the first copy of "Aesop's Fables." Even though this 150 chapter book was written for adults, children enjoyed it, too, due to its woodcut illustrations (Tunnell and Jacobs, 41). Photo credit: (https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/aesops-fables-printed-by-william-caxton-1484)
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Chapbooks (such as "A New Riddle Book" pictured here) were "crudely printed booklets...often sold by peddlers for pennies." (Tunnell and Jacobs 44). Though they did not start appearing for children until the 17th century, their introduction and their growth in popularity over the next century is what inspired John Newbery to begin printing books for which children were the intended audience. (see 1744 point on timeline.) Photo Credit: https://thenewinquiry.com/the-witch-of-the-woodlands/
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Moravian teacher Johann Amos Comenius writes Orbis Pictus (The World in Pictures), a book with short text and woodcut illustrations of the wonders of the natural world. This book is considered to be the first children's picture book. (Tunnell and Jacobs, 44). (Photo Credit:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbis_Pictus)
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Taking a page from John Locke's belief that children should enjoy reading, John Newbery observed the popularity of chapbooks among children and decided to print and market children's books. His first title was "A Pretty Little Pocket-Book," a book of simple rhymes for each letter of the alphabet. (Tunnell & Jacobs, 44). (Photo Credit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Little_Pretty_Pocket-Book).
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Reverend Charles Kingsley's "The Water-Babies" is published. This story is about a young chimney sweep who falls into a river, drowns, and becomes a "water baby." This time period (mid-19th century) saw stories beginning to transition from learning morals through reading (Didacticism) to reading for pleasure. (Tunnell and Jacobs, 44). (Photo Credit:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Water-Babies,_A_Fairy_Tale_for_a_Land_Baby).
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Most stories about contemporary life were preachy prior to "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott. Continuing the stray from Didacticism, Alcott's characters were more realistic, with flaws and atypical behavior compared to the expectations of the time period. Soon followed other realistic fiction novels, such as Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer," published in 1876 (Tunnell and Jacobs, 45). (Photo Credit:http://www.lynnebarrett.com/blog/little-women-published-this-day-1868)
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Prior to Beatrix Potter's "The Tale of Peter Rabbit," illustrations in books for children were primarily for decoration. Potter wove her illustrations with text to help tell the story (Tunnell and Jacobs, 46). (Photo Credit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tale_of_Peter_Rabbit).
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Although "talking books" were available for adults on traditional 78 rpm records as early as the 1930s, children's books weren't available as "talking books" until the 1950s. Depicted here is the cover for the talking book "Treasure Island" by Robert Louis Stevenson, recorded under the label "A Talking Book." (Rubery, 2013) (Photo Credit: http://blogs.bl.uk/english-and-drama/2013/08/the-first-audiobook-.html)
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Taboos that previously hindered authors/illustrators from addressing subjects such as death, divorce, & child abuse crumbled during the 1960s social revolution. Maurice Sendak's "Where the Wild Things Are" & Louise Fitzhugh's "Harriet the Spy" are examples of new realism books from this era with both depicting imperfect child/parent relationships (Tunnell and Jacobs, 48). (Photo Credit:https://books.google.com/books/about/Where_the_Wild_Things_Are.html?id=M-CocWLBGB4C&source=kp_cover)
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In 2000, the first 3 books in J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" series were simultaneously on "The New York Times Bestselling Fiction List," displacing many usual adult bestselling fiction books. Since the 4th book, "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" was about to be released, "The New York Times" added a "Children's Bestselling List," moved the Harry Potter books to it, and restored order to the "Bestselling Fiction List" (Fitzsimmons, 2012). (Photo Credit: https://www.jkrowling.com/writing/)
