Diversity and Innovation in 20th Century Children’s Books
Widening Worlds: Greater Diversity in Children’s Books
Characters, Authors, and Books
20th-century children’s literature was marked by increased diversity in both characters and authors. Earlier popular children’s books such as Hugh Lofting’s The Story of Doctor Dolittle (1920) and Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964) have since been judged racist. Most children’s literature prior to the 20th century embodied a White ideology that was reflected in both the text and illustrations. From the 1920s on, there have been attempts to provide a more multicultural approach to children’s literature. W.E.B. Du Bois’s The Brownies Book (1920-1921) was the first African-American children’s magazine. On the other hand, children’s literature has become more segmented in terms of age appropriateness. In the 1940s, Margaret Wise Brown, inspired by the education theories of Lucy Sprague Mitchell, the founder of the Bank Street College of Education, began to produce picture books intended for children under age six. Brown’s best-known picture books for the very young are The Runaway Bunny (1941) and Goodnight Moon (1947), both illustrated by Clement Hurd. While Lothar Meggendorfer developed the movable picture book at the end of the 19th century with tabs and pullouts, pop-up books, shaped books, and tactile books didn’t achieve widespread popularity until the 20th century. The best-known of these books is Dorothy Kunhardt’s interactive Pat the Bunny (1940). Board books are available for infants and toddlers. While many 20th-century children’s texts appealed to and explored the lives of older children, most critics point to Maureen Daly’s Seventeenth Summer (1942) and J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye (1951) as the beginning of adolescent literature as a genre separate from children’s literature.
Series Books and TV
While librarians and critics have tended to dismiss the repetitive nature of series books, such as C.S. Lewis’s collection Chronicles of Narnia, media adaptation of children’s books as films or as TV series has become an increasingly important aspect of children’s literature. Walt Disney has dominated the field of film adaptation of children’s texts into cinema, beginning with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), the first feature-length animated film. Best known for animated films based on fairy tales, Disney has produced a number of live-action films, such as Mary Poppins (1964), Le avventure di Pinocchio (1882), and T.H. White’s The Sword in the Stone (1939).
Since the 1960s
An increasing number of well-designed picture books have been produced. Talented graphic designers—such as Eric Carle with The Very Hungry Caterpillar (1969), Leo Lionni with Swimmy (1963), and Lois Ehlert with Color Zoo (1989)—have provided bold new approaches to creating picture books. An increasing number of adults have begun reading children’s books, blurring the boundaries between children’s and adult texts. J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series has wide appeal with both child and adult readers. Picture books have always been a showcase for designers and illustrators to display their talents.