History of Children and Adolescent Literature

History of Children's Literature under Classical World (Greek and Roman)

500 BCE – 400 CE

All literature began with the ancient art of storytelling. Our ancestors told stories to
entertain each other, to comfort each other, to instruct the young in the lessons of living, to pass
on their religious and cultural heritage. Storytelling is an integral part of every world culture. In
early times, Western civilization has its roots in the cultures of ancient Greece and Rome, which
flourished between about 500 BCE and 400 CE, now known as the Classical period. Greece in
the fifth century BCE is in many ways the birthplace of Western culture and so that is where our
story begins. In this cradle of democracy and individualism, children grew up with the stories of
the Trojan War (from Homer's Iliad) and of the travels of Odysseus (from Homer's Odyssey) and
the stories of Jason and the Golden Fleece and the adventures of Hercules. They also knew of the
now-famous fables attributed to the slave Aesop, believed to be a teacher, writing to instruct his
students in cultural and personal values.

With the decline of Greek civilization, the Roman Empire rose to power, but the Romans
remained under the long shadow of Greeks, whom they greatly admired. The children of Rome
in the first century CE undoubtedly knew not only Homer's tales, but also Virgil's Aeneid, which
recounted the stories of Aeneas, the Trojan hero who was credited with founding the Roman
race. They also knew the wildly imaginative tales of Ovid's Metamorphoses, the tales of the
gods, goddesses, heroes, and heroines of the classical world. The power of these ancient stories
remains with us, and modern writers and illustrators frequently turn to the Greek and Roman
myths for inspiration and retelling.

Our culture is filled with references to these Classical stories-we speak of Achilles' heels,
Herculean tasks, the Midas touch, Pandora's Box, and sour grapes (a reference to one of Aesop's
fables). Planets, galaxies and star clusters, days of the week, months of the year, automobile
tires, and tennis shoes-all bear names of classical gods and heroes. These stories are both
exciting and an important part of our cultural heritage-they should not be missed. A great many
of these stories live today and children continue to find them fascinating. The retellings by the
poet Padraic Colum (The Children's Homer and The Golden Fleece) are excellent sources for
children. Most recently, Jeanne Steig's A Gift from Zeus: Sixteen Favorite Myths is a lively-
sometimes racy-version for modern middle and high school audiences, and it is illustrated by
William Steig's earthy, even ribald, drawings. It is just the kind of rendition to bring the stories to
life for older readers. These myths are an essential part of culture and indispensable to any well-
rounded education.

MIDDLE AGES
The following characteristics are depicted:
 Religious tales / Biblical stories
 Set examples for children, for a didactic purpose
 Created a mixture of realism and fantasy
 Romantic tales / Legends

Famous Author and literary works (REYMARK CUENCA)

 In 600 A.D., the Old English period, monks and other learned men wrote “lesson books” for
children.

 Aldhelm (640 - 700 AD), Bishop of Sherborne, was probably the first man to write lesson
books for children.
a. Riddles and puzzles children had to be solved were written in Latin.
b. He set the pattern for all books of instruction from that time up to 1500 A.D. All books
used question and answer form and were written in verse

 The Venerable Bede (763-735 A.D.) was a teacher at a monastery school.

a. His lessons showed more imagination; they were a spark of learning in the Dark Ages.
b. They contained all the knowledge then known of natural science, natural history, and
the study of plants and flowers and stars.

 Egbert of York (766 A.D.) founded the famous school of York.

a. Collected the works of the previous monks and books by outstanding Greek and
Roman authors.
b. Wrote a variety of lesson books, still using question and answer (dialogue) method.
c. Many books on grammar.
d. Tutored sons and daughter of the household at the court of Charlemagne (the 1st Holy
Roman Emperor). It is also one of earliest records of co-education.

 Alfred the Great (849-399 A.D.), King of England who drove back the invasion of the Danes.
a. He translated Latin Literature into Anglo-Saxon with the help of many scholars.
b. Until 1350, children in monastery schools had to read and speak Latin in and out of
school.
c. He had the best literature of his time translated from Latin into old English so it would
be understandable to the common man.

 Anselm (1033-1109 A.D.), the Archbishop of Canterbury, wrote the first encyclopedia for
children.
a. First book published was The Bible.

 William Caxton was the creator of the 1st English printer in 1476.
a. His first publication was Aesop’s Fables.
b. The romantic tales of the legendary King Arthur and the knights of the round table or
of the great heroes Roland(from France)
c. The Cid (from Spain)
d. Beowulf (from the Norse)
e. Dragon Slayer (1976) (Retelling of the Old English Epic,Rosemary Sutcliff)
f. Arthur and his knights in The Light Beyond the Forest (1979)
g. The sword and the circle (1981)
h. Selma Hastings’s Sir Gawain and The Green Knight(1981)
i. Barbara Cooney’s picture book
j. Chanticleer and the fox (1958) –adapted from Chaucer

History of Children's Literature under Middle Ages 476 CE – 1400 (ANGELICA

BUERANO)

Following the fall of the Roman Empire in 476 CE, European civilization entered a
period of decline. Much of the knowledge of the Classical world was lost during the early
chaotic period historians once referred to as the Dark Ages. We now call the period between the
fall of Rome and the rise of the Renaissance (in about the fourteenth century) the Middle Ages-
literally because they fell between the Classical and Renaissance periods. During the Middle
Ages the Roman Catholic Church dominated the social and political scene and was responsible
for what education there was. Throughout the Middle Ages, poverty was wide-spread and life for
the average person was very difficult-much harsher than it had been in the ancient Greek and
Roman worlds. Education was a luxury, and few people could read or write. Books were
extremely rare and expensive, for they had to be hand copied on costly parchment. A single bible
could take as long as three years to produce, and in many medieval libraries the books were
chained to the desks to discourage theft. As it was in the Classical world, the oral tradition was
the principal entertainment for most people. Local Story tellers and professional bards (the
famous wandering minstrels) recited stories and poems for eager audiences.

What stories did they recite? Biblical stories were among the most popular-both Old and
New Testament-and so were the stories of the lives of saints of the church. The lives of saints
were used to set examples for young people. In addition to religious tales, nonreligious-secular-
stories were also popular. The romantic tales of the legendary king Arthur and the Knights of the
Round Table or of the great heroes Roland (from France) or the Cid (from Spain) or even
Beowulf (from the Norse) surely thrilled many children and adults, for, as in the Classical period,
children and adults shared a common literature. The exciting battle scenes, powerful heroes, and
wondrous enchantments of these romances made them very popular-and many remain so today.

Children's versions of these tales are easy to find. Rosemary Sutcliff's Dragon Slayer
(1976) is a retelling of the old English epic, Beowulf and she has also retold the legends of King
Arthur and his knights in 7he Light beyond the Forest (1979), The Sword and the Circle (1981),
and 7he Road to Camlann (1981). Some of the Arthurian stories have been transformed into
modem picture books, as in Selma Hastings's Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (1981). Barbara
Cooney's picture book, Chanticleer and the Fox (1958), adapted from Chaucer, is a retelling of a
favorite medieval trickster tale about Reynard the Fox. Many of the stories from this period are
exciting narratives that have become an indelible part of our society. Our entire reading
experience is enriched if we know the stories of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Noah and the
flood, Jonah and the whale, and the tower of Babel-side by side with those of King Arthur and
Sir Launcelot and Queen Guinevere.

RENAISSANCE PERIOD
The following characteristics are depicted:
 Rise of Educational books
 Promoted mass education
 Helped to keep interest in traditional tales
 The printing press made it possible to make multiple copies of books
 The emphasis was on spiritual and intellectual development
 Emphasized giving lessons in proper behavior for boys
 Emergence of Chapbooks (small and cheaply made books containing fairy tale)
 Books were too expensive to be used by children, so the Hornbook was created
for them about 1550. It was the first “permanent” book.
Famous author and literary works (CELINE SIGUE)
 Hornbook
a. It was a square piece of wood with a handle at one end (much like an old time paddle or the
shape of an old cutting board), which measured 2 3/4 inches of wood by 5 inches.
b. A printed page of vellum (made from skin of calf, lamb or kid) was pasted on the board.
c. The page was protected by transparent piece of horn (a hard, smooth material forming the
outer cover of the horns of cattle and other related animals).
d. The book was often bound by a metal rim and had a cord through hole in handle and was
fastened to a child’s belt/girdle. Another source said it was worn about the neck.
e. The text contained the christcross, followed by the alphabet in lower and upper case. Groups
of syllables were written below the letters.
f. The next piece of text was the words “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Ghost. Amen.”
g. The final text was “The Lord’s Prayer.” (Our Father, who art in heaven, etc.)
h. After the hornbook, rhymed alphabets and primers were published for children.
i. The Royal Primer had a letter of alphabet, followed by a familiar verse. Ex. A In Adam’s fall,
we sinned all. This primer sold 5 million copies during the hundred years it was used as a text
book for younger children.
j. This version was followed by the New England Primer, published in Boston in 1690.
(Remember the Pilgrims arrived in 1620.)

 Orbis Sensualism Pictus by John Comenius (1658) - the 1st children’s picture
book
 New England Primer (1690 -1886) - the most famous early school book
 Sir Thomas Elyot’s The Book Named the Governor(1531)
 John Foxe’s Book of Martyrs(1563)
 John Comenius's Orbis Sensttaliurn Picttts(1658)
 Roger Ascham’s The Scholemaster(1570)
 Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crtlsoe (1719)
 Jonathan Swift's Galliver's i'kuels (1726)

History of Children's Literature under Renaissance Period 1400 – 1700 (SHIKYNA

ACLAN)

Around 1400, a new era began in Europe. It was called the Renaissance, a term meaning
"rebirth," because people saw it as a rebirth of the ideals of ancient Greece and Rome- their art,
literature, philosophy, and especially their respect for learning. Of course, the changes did not
happen overnight, but the changes did come. The Crusades of the eleventh and twelfth centuries
had opened up trading routes to the Far East, which brought both wealth and new ideas to
Europe. Strong rulers rose up and established stable kingdoms with written laws. Trade, industry,
and learning advanced. In 1492, Columbus's voyage to the Americas resulted in the founding of
overseas empires, which brought great wealth to many European kingdoms (sadly, at great
expense to the native peoples). However, one development would overshadow all others. Around
1450, a German named Johannes Gutenberg invented the movable-type printing press-said by
many to be the most significant invention of the last thousand years. (Actually the Chinese
originally developed the technology, but the Europeans put it to practical use.) It is difficult to
exaggerate the importance of this event. The printing press made it possible to make multiple
copies of books in a fraction of the time it took to hand copy them. In just a few decades, books
became plentiful. Now it was possible to spread information quickly, and this opened the door to
mass education.
During the early Renaissance, most books specifically for children were textbooks or
educational books. Sir Thomas Elyot's The Book Named the Governor (1531) and Roger
Ascham's The Scholemaster (1570) are two examples of "books of courtesy," giving lessons in
proper behaviour for young gentlemen. (Women did not yet merit their own books.) The
Renaissance, like the Middle Ages, was a religious period and during this time the hatred
between the Roman Catholics and the Protestants resulted in much bloodshed. John Foxe's Book
of Martyrs (1563), an anti-Catholic work filled with grisly scenes of violent deaths for religion's
sake, was one of the most popular books among England's schoolchildren. On a cheerier note,
about one hundred years later, John Comenius's Orbis Sensualium Pictus (1658) appeared. It is
generally regarded as the first children's picture book and was intended as a textbook for the
teaching of Latin through pictures.