Children's Books Come of Age

The onset of the 19th century brought some of the most influential, honest, and last­ing stories into print. Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm collected from oral sources the German variants of the folk and fair}' tales and retold them in their Household Tales, which appeared in 1812 and included "Snow White" and "Rumpelstiltskin." Some of Hans Christian Andersen's original fairy tales were published in 1835 in a volume tided Fairy Tales Told for Children. The stories of this Danish author, such as "The Ugly Duckling" and "The Emperor's New Clothes," have remained popular to this day.

The century's greatest contribution to verse for children came from England. Edward Lear's A Book of Nonsense (1846), a collection of outrageous limericks, became an immediate bestseller. Lear made the limerick famous, and it remains a favorite verse form among today's children. Robert Louis Stevenson's A Child's Garden of Verses (1885) is another poetry collection that children still love today.

A number of noteworthy books surfaced during the second half of the 19th century. Fantasy novels emerged with the publication of such greats as The Water Babies by Charles Kingsley in 1863 and, of course, Lewis Carroll's [Charles Dodgson] Alice's Adventures in Wonderland in 1865. Other noteworthy tides include At the Back of the North Wind (1871) by George MacDonald, The Adventures of Pinocchio (1881) by Carlo Collodi, and the novels of Jules Verne, which mark the advent of the science fiction genre. Beginning with Journey to the Center of the Earth in 1864, Jules Verne created stories meant for adults but which were happily embraced by young readers.

Stories about contemporary life were especially preachy and pious until a monu­mental children's novel made its debut in 1868. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott was like a breath of fresh air, with its lively characters whose actions, words, and feelings reflected honest human experiences. Little Women set the course for many contemporary realistic novels that immediately followed its publication, including several more from Alcott herself. A few years later came Mark Twain's [Samuel Clemens] The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island. The last decade of the 19th century gave us Rudyard Kipling's masterpiece, The Jungle Books (1894-95).

A number of magazines for children began publication during the 19th century. The best-known children's authors and illustrators appeared first in the magazines in serialized form, including The Jungle Books by Rudyard Kipling.