19 Dec 2023

The Children's And Youth Book Through Time

children's and youth literature is literature aimed at non-adult readers, from pre-readers to adolescent readers< a i=3>. The concept of youth literature is used less frequently; it involves different age groups that are offered different themes, styles and narrative forms. In academic studies, the set is usually designated by the abbreviation LIJ.

History of children's and youth literature
children's literature, aimed at the little ones, must have a series of key characteristics. The topics must be those in which they are identified: from 0 to 3 years, monographic topics such as school or books to manipulate, from 3 to 6 years, books in which the protagonists are animals. or that they tell children's stories in which fantasy texts are recognized and from 6 to 8 years old. The language should be simple and with short sentences< a i=9>; the structure must include approach, middle and end; the tense has to be fixed, since, if the verb tenses are changed, the children lose the thread of the story and abandon the book. The format may include die-cuts and textures, these books should have little text and many colorful images. And it is also important that they include values ​​such as social equality, gender equality, environmental protection and self-esteem.

youth literature, intended for adolescents, must also have a series of characteristics. It must address topics in which they feel identified: love, loneliness, anger, search for one's own identity, social and emotional environment, etc.; narratives should tend to be less complex than those directed at adults; direct style should be used more than indirect style; the internal monologue must predominate; adolescent thinking and language must be represented; and the structure of the work is usually closed.

History of children's and youth literature
1. Middle Ages and Renaissance
Access to books was very limited and their preparation was very complicated, since there was almost no demand given the level of widespread illiteracy. Literature aimed at children was characterized by their pedagogical character as alphabets and bestiaries. For a long time, both adults and children shared the same readings as El Cantar de mio Cid or El Conde Lucanor. Also noteworthy are the works of Ramón Llull dedicated to education and proverbs with a moralizing nature.

With the arrival of the printing press, books were published that until then were only known through oral versions. One of the first was the translation into Spanish of Aesop's Fables.

2. The 17th and 18th centuries
In France, in the 17th century, Charles Perrault stood out with Tales of yesteryear, by Sebastián Mey was very successful, there were 57 fables and stories that ended with a moral lesson.Fabulario, this work defends coeducation and kindergarten. And in Spain, the Juan Amos Comenio, written by Orbis sensualium pictus. In Germany, the edition of the Puss in Boots or Little Red Riding HoodCinderella, which includes French and Italian popular stories and Celtic legends that became classics, examples of which are

In the 18th century, children's literature began to emerge in Europe. In Spain, the first periodical aimed at children was published, La Gazeta de los niños, created by Bernabé and José Canga Argüelles and published in Madrid in 1798, by the workshop of Antonio de Sancha, one of the printers most important of the time. In England Robinson Crusoe, by Daniel Defoe and Beauty and the Beast, when it begins to be seen that the little ones have their own reading characteristics. And then, we begin to think about children's literature aimed exclusively at children.Jean-Jacques Rousseau by Emile or On Education. It was from the work , which included the story of The Children's Store, In 1757, he wrote Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont. Both adventure novels were written for adults, but became recommended reading for children. In 1745, in London, the first children's bookstore and publishing house called The Bible and the Sun was opened. In France, Jonathan Swift by Gulliver's Travels

3. The 19th century
At the beginning of the 19th century, Romanticism led to the rise of fantasy and at this stage great classics of children's literature were born. The German brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm wrote Stories for childhood and the home, among the stories that have become famous in this collection are Hansel and Gretel, Sleeping Beauty or Snow White. Hans Christian Andersen highlighted the sensitivity of the characters in his stories, for example in The Ugly Duckling .

In the second half of the 19th century, scientific literature appeared, led by Jules Verne, with Journey to the Center of the Earth and Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. The adventure novel also stood out, thanks to Treasure Island by the Scotsman Robert Louis Stevenson< a i=11> or The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain . On the other hand, the British Lewis Carroll, with Alice in Wonderland, wrote what is considered one of the best novels of the Nonsense genre.

In Spain Cecilia Böhl de Faber stood out with Stories, prayers, riddles and popular and children's sayings , signed under the pseudonym Fernán Caballero. Luis Coloma Roldán popularized the character of Ratoncito Pérez, included in the collection Recreational readings from 1884. The Saturnino Calleja publishing house became popular in Spain for the edition of children's stories, with a large number of illustrations and a low price thanks to its huge print runs. He disseminated such famous texts as The Thousand and One Nights, within the collection Cuentos de Calleja< at i=18>. He also made the first edition of Platero y yo by Juan Ramón Jiménez and published various editions of Don Quixote, including one with pink paper or a microscopic one.

4. The 20th century
At the beginning of the 20th century, children's psychology, their interests and experiences began to be taken into account and topics such as overcoming fears, freedom, rebellion, dreams or desires began to be addressed. wishes. In 1904 the character Peter Pan was born, by J. M. Barrie and in 1935 Pamela Travers wrote Mary Poppins, although it is considered a children's work, deals with themes such as love, loss and anxiety. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry of The Little Prince. Furthermore, in this first half of the century, one of the most important characters in literature emerges:

In the second half of the 20th century, The Neverending Story by Michael Ende was published. a>. It is a novel that, despite having been described as “a new classic of youth literature”, was always defended by its author as a novel that goes beyond mere narration to become a critique. The problem in adolescents came from the hand of the American author Susan Eloise Hinton with Rebeldes< a i=8>. A text that sparked a great debate over the treatment of violence and alcohol consumption among minors was even banned in some libraries and schools. In addition to the novel, the comic also had great notoriety, characters such as Superman, Asterix and Obélix or Tintin had a global influence. In Spain, Mortadelo y Filemón and Zipi y Zape stood out.

In Spain, the Second Republic brought an educational renewal and with it the first school libraries began to be created. However, with the outbreak of the Civil War and during the postwar period, Spain moved away from the development process that children's and youth books had in the rest of Europe, where it experienced a profound change after the Second World War, adopting new values ​​such as freedom, solidarity and the autonomy of the child. Until the 60s and 70s, Spanish children's literature would not reach these new European currents.

5. The 21st century
At the beginning of the 21st century, sales and children's literary production increased and reached quite high levels. It is worth highlighting the British writer J.K. Rowling. His Harry Potter saga has been translated into more than sixty languages, his first book, Harry Potter and the Stone Philosopher was published in 1997. The collection of Gerónimo Stilton also has a special mention, written by Elisabetta Dami, or Greg's Diary, by the writer and artist < a i=14>Jeff Kinney. In Spain we find the collection of Los Futbolísimos by Roberto Santiago, which highlight friendship and teamwork. Or the trilogy Memories of Idhún or Guardians of the Citadel of the writer Valencian Laura Gallego, who is a reference in youth literature, among others.

Children's and youth literature today
Currently, children's books are growing. Regarding publishers of children's and youth literature, it is worth mentioning that large groups such as SM, Alfaguara.Half Cow or Kókinos, Bamboo, Kalandrakanew publishers have appeared over the years, offering high quality and creative offerings, such as continue in the market launching new collections every year. But Edelvives and Anaya,

In recent times there has been a lot of talk about literature Crossover, a literature written both for young people as well as adults. This phenomenon jumped into the literary field a few years ago and is here to stay. An example of this is the tetralogy of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins or  The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. Thus, youth literature, which has always been more undervalued and underrecognized, is being revalued thanks to this breaking down of age boundaries.