{"id":11961,"date":"2022-04-08T11:08:24","date_gmt":"2022-04-08T09:08:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/wdytya\/?post_type=purple_issue&p=11961"},"modified":"2022-04-08T11:08:24","modified_gmt":"2022-04-08T09:08:24","slug":"once-upon-a-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/wdytya\/2022\/04\/08\/once-upon-a-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Once upon a time\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Julie Peakman <\/strong>tells the story of the books that our ancestors enjoyed when they were children<\/p>\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n

Early children\u2019s books were written with instruction in mind. The medieval The Babees\u2019 Book <\/em>declares itself to be \u201cmade for your lernynge\u201d, giving Adult books were rewritten for children with added didacticism directions to children to wash their hands, and not to fill their mouths, scratch themselves, or pick their teeth and nails. Adult books were rewritten for children with added didacticism. Richard Johnson, the compiler of The Oriental Moralist or the Beauties of the Arabian Nights Entertainment <\/em>(1790), admitted that he had \u201cadded many moral reflections, wherever the story would admit of them\u201d and altered the text of The Arabian Nights <\/em>\u201cto fortify the youthful heart against the impressions of vice\u201d.<\/p>\n\n

By the 18th century, stories of ghosts and goblins, and popular tales like Fortunatus <\/em>(with his bottomless purse and magic hat) and Jack <\/em>the <\/em>Giant <\/em>Killer, <\/em>had become standard fare found in cheap chapbooks. Tles of the Brothers Grimm such as Hansel <\/em>and <\/em>Gretel, <\/em>Snow <\/em>White <\/em>and <\/em>the <\/em>Seven <\/em>Dwarfs <\/em>and The <\/em>Pied <\/em>Piper <\/em>of <\/em>Hamelin <\/em>were first translated from German into English in 1823, while Hans Christian Andersen\u2019s stories such as The <\/em>Little <\/em>Mermaid, <\/em>The <\/em>Ugly <\/em>Duckling <\/em>and The <\/em>Emperor\u2019s <\/em>New <\/em>Clothes <\/em>began to appear in English in 1846. Illustrations made these books more attractive: George Cruikshank\u2019s evocative pen-and-ink drawings accompanied the Brothers Grimm\u2019s tales, and Henry Justice Ford illustrated Andersen\u2019s stories. Ford also illustrated Andrew Lang\u2019s <\/span>Fairy <\/em>Books, <\/em>written with his wife Leonora Blanche Alleyne and published between 1889 and 1913.<\/p>\n\n

While wealthier parents could afford expensive fairy books for their children, poorer parents had to make do with pious sentimental stories. Morality tales were doled out in Sunday schools as \u2018rewards books\u2019 published by evangelical religious societies. The Religious Tract Society and the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge issued warnings for naughty children in books such as Amy Le Feuvre\u2019s tales of <\/span>Teddy\u2019s <\/em>Button <\/em>(1896) and Juliana Horatia Ewing\u2019s Dandelion <\/em>Clocks <\/em>and <\/em>Other <\/em>Tales <\/em>(1887). These stories were aimed at making children conform by showing God\u2019s punishment for them if they didn\u2019t. The <\/em>History <\/em>of <\/em>Jacky <\/em>Jingle, <\/em> written around 1830, details the terrible fates for misbehaving youngsters. Sulky Sue is threatened with the cane \u201cto make her good\u201d and Jacky Jingle receives a face full of hot steam because of his carelessness when fashioning <\/span> a horseshoe.<\/p>\n\n

\"\"
A 19th-century title from the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
The Golden Age <\/h5>\n\n

The golden age of children\u2019s literature <\/span>was marked with the publication of clergyman Charles Kingsley\u2019s The <\/em>Water-Babies <\/em>(1863). The story contains a large amount of moralising and social comment.<\/p>\n\n

The chimney-sweep hero is transformed into an amphibious water baby after he falls in a river and is taken on an adventure alongside water animals in an education about life. In 1862 another clergyman, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, began telling the adventures of a girl called Alice to his child friends, the Liddell sisters. He would become known as Lewis Carroll and in his <\/span>Alice\u2019s <\/em>Adventures <\/em>in <\/em>Wonderland <\/em>(1865) mocks the \u201cnice little histories\u201d served up by the Church\u2019s moralistic teachings.<\/p>\n\n

Carroll\u2019s book features talking creatures including a grinning Cheshire cat, an enormous caterpillar smoking a hookah pipe and a white rabbit worried about the time. This idea was taken up by Beatrix Potter\u2019s animal stories beginning with The <\/em>Tale <\/em>of <\/em>Peter <\/em>Rabbit <\/em>(1902). The adventures of naughty Peter Rabbit and his friends were aimed at younger children and therefore rather slight, but they upset the conventional expectations of the fairy story by including unpleasant encounters.<\/p>\n\n

Talking toys were also to become popular with Winniethe-Pooh <\/em>(1926) and The <\/em>House <\/em>at <\/em>Pooh <\/em>Corner <\/em>(1928) in which characters live in an idealised wood. All have recognisable traits: Pooh, \u201ca Bear of very little Brain\u201d with his constant optimism, Piglet with his fear of nearly everything, pessimistic Eeyore and bouncy Tigger. No reader could ever forget their adventures with their human friend Christopher Robin, based on author AA Milne\u2019s son.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

\"\"
EH Shepard\u2019s original map of the Hundred Acre Wood, where Winnie-the-Pooh has his adventures GETTY IMAGES<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n

One of the most important features of these books is the illustrations that bring the   <\/span>characters to life for the child reader. EH Shepard, who undertook the drawings for Pooh, had become a successful illustrator by 1906, having produced work for Aesop\u2019s <\/em>Fables <\/em>and Charles Dickens\u2019 David <\/em>Copperfield <\/em>(1850). Shepard also illustrated The <\/em>Wind <\/em>in <\/em>the <\/em>Willows <\/em>(1908). Kenneth Grahame insisted on first showing him the river that had inspired Badger, Mole, Rat and Toad. Shepard\u2019s daughter Mary would go on to illustrate PL Travers\u2019 Mary <\/em>Poppins <\/em>books, the first of which was published in 1934.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

Parents are often absent in classic children\u2019s stories. One of the earliest of orphan stories was The <\/em>History <\/em>of <\/em>Little <\/em>Goody <\/em>Two- <\/em>Shoes <\/em>(1765), which describes two siblings\u2019 escape from poverty after the death of their parents.<\/p>\n\n

Margery Meanwell and her brother Tommy are dressed in rags and Margery has only one shoe, until a kind gentleman gives her two. She works hard, becomes a schoolmistress, marries the local landowner and inherits his wealth, using it to help the poor. Despite the obvious moral dimension, Goody <\/em>Two-Shoes <\/em>was clearly written to entertain.<\/p>\n\n

\"\"
Enid Blyton\u2019s first Famous Five book came out in 1942<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n

The protagonists of Mark Twain\u2019s The <\/em>Adventures <\/em>of <\/em>Tom <\/em>Sawyer <\/em>(1876), LM Montgomery\u2019s Anne <\/em>of <\/em>Green <\/em>Gables <\/em>(1908), Frances Hodgson Burnett\u2019s The <\/em>Secret <\/em>Garden <\/em>(1911) and Noel Streatfeild\u2019s Ballet <\/em>Shoes <\/em>(1936) are all orphans. This novelistic technique allows the child to be loosened from convention into a world of endless possibilities. This is an obvious attractive motif for young readers, indicating an understanding by the author that parents should be absent in any fantasy for children. With no constraints placed upon them, it is up to them to fulfil their own destiny. The most enjoyable children\u2019s literature transports the young reader into another world, as does CS Lewis\u2019 series The <\/em>Chronicles <\/em>of <\/em>Narnia <\/em>(1950\u20131956), which shows undistinguished children transported to strange lands where they wield great power.<\/p>\n\n

The Ultimate Child Rebel<\/h5>\n\n

JM Barrie\u2019s play-turned-novel Peter <\/em>Pan <\/em>(1911) took the neverending world devoid of parents to its limits in Neverland. With Wendy as surrogate mother, the children can fashion their own world. Barrie himself was very young-looking, only 5 foot 3 inches tall, and Peter was his own personification. While Barrie was the boy who could not grow up, he made Peter Pan as the boy who would <\/em>not grow up, allowing him to stubbornly refuse to conform.<\/p>\n\n

Boarding-school stories had a similar effect as orphan stories because they effectively removed parental authority from the picture, but their focus was on same-sex friendships and loyalty. Sarah Fielding\u2019s The <\/em>Governess <\/em>(1749) contains the first school stories. Each of the schoolgirls gives an account of her own life, adding a moral story for the edification of the whole class. These themes only really took off with Thomas Hughes\u2019 Tom <\/em>Brown\u2019s <\/em>School  <\/em>Days, <\/em>published in 1857 and again illustrated by EH Shepard. The narrative teaches boys to be honest, clean-minded, kind and thoughtful. These were the days of muscular Christianity when boys were moulded to be men, beer was served with their meals, and they fought like prizefighters with naked fists. Being caught out of bounds earned boys a birching. \u2018Fagging\u2019 was made famous with younger boys having to do the bidding of older ones.<\/p>\n\n

Blyton\u2019s School Stories<\/h5>\n\n

One of the best-known series set in a girls\u2019 school is Enid Blyton\u2019s about St Clare\u2019s. The first book, The <\/em>Twins <\/em>at <\/em>St <\/em>Clare\u2019s <\/em>(1941), shows the twins beset by shocks and arguments but eventually they settle down and make friends. The Malory <\/em>Towers <\/em>series proved even more popular going through six books and countless editions, the first published in 1946. Each girl has a recognisable trait \u2013 hot-tempered, playful, steady or wild \u2013 and the teachers are strict, scatty, friendly or kind.<\/p>\n\n

\"\"
Enid Blyton\u2019s countless children\u2019s books have sold more than 600 million copies<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n

Readers could enjoy the stories because they recognised the types of boys and girls and the problems they encountered, even if they never attended a boarding school themselves.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

Blyton was one of the most prolific children\u2019s writers of her generation. Her creations the Famous Five, the Secret Seven and the Adventure <\/em>series enchanted many a young reader. Five <\/em>on <\/em>a <\/em>Treasure <\/em>Island, <\/em>published in 1942, introduced the characters: Julian, Dick, Anne, Georgina (who dresses as a boy and insists on being called \u2018George\u2019) and her dog Timmy. The constant round of food and lashings of ginger beer can be accounted for as a necessary fantasy in a real world of wartime rationing. The children play by themselves during their holidays, often on Kirrin Island which George owns. Scrapes involve nuclear scientists, spies, hidden treasure with castles, secret tunnels and smugglers\u2019 passages.<\/p>\n\n

The values of the majority of children\u2019s books involved children who were distinctly middle class and educated; these were \u2018good\u2019 children having exciting escapades, making their own \u2018good\u2019 decisions. This points to the endurance of moral influence in children\u2019s literature. Despite the flowering of fantasy literature, instruction was just as important a part of children\u2019s literature in the 20th century as it had been at its origins 200 years previously.<\/p>\n\n

\n\n

JULIE PEAKMAN is an author and historian, and a fellow of the Royal Historical Society<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

<\/div>
\n

BEATRIX POTTER 1866\u20131943<\/span><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The legacy of this remarkable author extends beyond her literary accomplishments<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Beatrix Potter was born in West Brompton, South-West London, in 1866 and had a secluded childhood. She often visited her grandmother\u2019s country house in Herefordshire, and spent her summers in a house her father rented for their holidays in Perthshire. She and her brother Bertram would bring home dead animals to dissect and kept rats, hedgehogs, frogs, rabbits and snails as pets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Potter grew up to become a determined and self-confident woman. In the 1890s, she began to write letters to children she knew that featured her pets\u2019 adventures. Her first book, <\/span>The <\/em>Tale <\/em>of <\/em>Peter <\/em>Rabbit, <\/em>came out in 1902. She went on to write 30 books, including bestselling children\u2019s tales that she illustrated herself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1905 Potter moved to the Lake District, and in 1913 she married William Heelis. She became a keen farmer, buying and preserving much of the land that now forms the Lake District National Park. She died in 1943 aged 77. She bequeathed 14 farms and more than 4,000 acres of land to the Trust along with her Hill Top Farm, which can be visited today<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>\n\n

<\/div>
\n

Resources<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Take your research further<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

BOOKS <\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Children\u2019s Literature <\/em>Kimberley Reynolds <\/strong>
Oxford University Press, 2011 <\/em>This short introduction provides a valuable overview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Oxford Companion to Children\u2019s Literature <\/em>Daniel Hahn <\/strong>
Oxford University Press, 2017 <\/em>This guide covers every genre from fairy tales to chapbooks, school stories, science fiction, comics and children\u2019s hymns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MUSEUMS <\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

SEVEN STORIES
a 30 Lime Street, Ouseburn Valley, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 2PQ <\/strong><\/span>
t 0300 330 1095 <\/span>
w sevenstories.org.uk<\/a> <\/strong>Seven Stories is the national centre for children\u2019s books.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM
a Cromwell Road, London<\/strong><\/span> SW7 2RL <\/strong>
t 020 7942 2000 w vam.ac.uk<\/a> <\/strong>
The newly opened exhibition \u2018Beatrix Potter: Drawn to Nature\u2019 runs until 8 January 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WEBSITES <\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

BRITISH LIBRARY
w bl.uk\/childrens-books<\/a> <\/strong><\/span>
The library\u2019s site has a wealth of material about children\u2019s books.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

COTSEN CHILDREN\u2019S LIBRARY
w cotsen.princeton.edu\/online-exhibitions<\/a> <\/strong><\/span>
This Princeton University Library site includes an online exhibition about Beatrix Potter.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

UNIVERSITY OF READING
w tinyurl.com\/un-rdg-child<\/a> <\/strong><\/span>
The university\u2019s website has links to online exhibitions and articles on items in its extensive Children\u2019s Collection.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>\n\n

<\/p>\n\n

Photos: GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Julie Peakman tells the story of the books that our ancestors enjoyed when they were children<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":15055,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ub_ctt_via":"","purple_page_number":"70","purple_custom_meta_purple_page_number":"70","purple_seq_number":"1","purple_custom_meta_purple_seq_number":"1","purple_source_article":"article_70-1.xml","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_article":"article_70-1.xml","purple_source_issue":"May-2022","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_issue":"May-2022","purple_external_id":"May-2022-70-1","purple_custom_meta_purple_external_id":"May-2022-70-1","purple_issue_code":"|0000105658||","purple_custom_meta_purple_issue_code":"|0000105658||","purple_android_product":"com.im.wdytya.190","purple_custom_meta_purple_android_product":"com.im.wdytya.190","purple_ios_product":"com.im.wdytya.190","purple_custom_meta_purple_ios_product":"com.im.wdytya.190","purple_web_product":"","purple_custom_meta_purple_web_product":"","purple_publication_id":"ef59bcf9-d1d8-4088-a81b-df06cc4ab496","purple_migrated":"","kt_blocks_editor_width":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2022-04-08T09:08:34Z","apple_news_article-theme":"","apple_news_api_id":"f5da82dd-e0d5-40e0-aad6-32c659f9122d","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2022-04-08T09:08:34Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/A9dqC3eDVQOCq1jLGWfkSLQ","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":true,"apple_news_is_preview":true,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_article_theme":"","apple_news_sections":"[]"},"categories":[19],"tags":[72,69],"apple_news_notices":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2022\/04\/322467K8WW2RR52B97815XL8C3GC.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/wdytya\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"10","apple_news_title":""},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2022\/04\/322467K8WW2RR52B97815XL8C3GC.jpg",2031,2048,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2022\/04\/322467K8WW2RR52B97815XL8C3GC-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2022\/04\/322467K8WW2RR52B97815XL8C3GC-298x300.jpg",298,300,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2022\/04\/322467K8WW2RR52B97815XL8C3GC-768x774.jpg",768,774,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2022\/04\/322467K8WW2RR52B97815XL8C3GC-1016x1024.jpg",800,806,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2022\/04\/322467K8WW2RR52B97815XL8C3GC-1523x1536.jpg",1523,1536,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2022\/04\/322467K8WW2RR52B97815XL8C3GC.jpg",2031,2048,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/wdytya\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Julie Peakman tells the story of the books that our ancestors enjoyed when they were children","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/wdytya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11961"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/wdytya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/wdytya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/wdytya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/wdytya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11961"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/wdytya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11961\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15223,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/wdytya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11961\/revisions\/15223"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/wdytya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15055"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/wdytya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11961"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/wdytya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11961"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/wdytya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11961"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}