More on Books for Young People

Go grab the 7/21/08 issue of The New Yorker off the shelf and turn to page 66! Jill Lepore writes about the arrival of Stuart Little and the changing scene (of 80 years ago) for publishing books for kids.

She begins by reminding us that private and public libraries banned children out-right in the 19th century and many librarians shunned light reading, i.e., all novels. Anne Carroll Moore lead one of the first collections for children, at the New York Public Library, at the beginning of the 20th century. From "behind the lions" she formed the core collections of children's librarianship.

One writer she encouraged as he plodded away at a book for kids was E. B. White -- and when he finally finished Stuart Little, she didn't give it her seal of approval! One criticism was that fantasy and reality were too blurred. (Wow, would she dislike much of modern writing for kids!)

If this link to our Gale DB will stay live, read the article online, here. (Or search Gale on your own.)