Microsoft Word final-current Developments at the Intersection of British Children-online-version doc

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A historical survey: The development of British 
children’s fantasy
For a better understanding of the current situation of British fantasy novels for 
children a closer look at the historical developments is indispensable. This chapter therefore 
outlines important diachronic changes and innovations. As this historical survey is tailored to 
both corpus and alignment of the present project, it does not encompass the development of 
the entire field. Comprehensive treatises of the history of British children’s literature have 
been presented by M. F. Thwaite, F.J. Harvey Darton, and Humphrey Carpenter, to name only 
a few.
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These explore the general history in depth and give a good overview of the broadband 
developments, dealing with the various genres of children’s literature. 
Here, we will concentrate on the historical milestones of British fantasy for children,
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limiting the extent of this chapter to publications which proved turning points, giving new 
impulses and directions to children’s fantasy. Many of these now classic works employ 
traditions of old on the one hand, while introducing innovative, original and creative changes 
on the other hand.
The development proper of novels specifically written for children can be traced back 
to the seventeenth century. According to Darton, there “were no children’s books in England 
before the seventeenth century, and very few even then.”
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In its beginning, early children’s 
literature consisted mainly of Horn books, primers and so-called chapbooks. From the 16
th
up 
to the 19
th
century
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the latter were popular reading material. Sold by pedlars or “chapmen”, 
these cheap booklets consisted of only a few folded pages without cover, mostly containing 
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For extensive reading on the history of British children’s literature the following selection can be 
recommended: Humphrey Carpenter. Secret Gardens. A Study of the Golden Age of Children’s Literature. 
London; Sydney: Unwin, 1985; Marcus Crouch. Treasure Seekers and Borrowers: Children’s Books in Britain 
1900-1960
. London: The Library Association, 1962; Marcus Crouch. The Nesbit Tradition: The Children’s 
Novel 1945-1970
. London: Ernest Benn, 1972; Alec Ellis. A History of Children’s Reading and Literature. 
Oxford; London; Edinburgh et al.: Pergamon Press, 1968; Harvey Darton. Children’s Books in England. Five 
Centuries of Social Life
. Cambridge et al.: Cambridge University Press, 1982
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[1932]; Peter Hunt (Ed.) 
Children’s Literature: An Illustrated History
. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 1995; M.F. 
Thwaite. From Primer to Pleasure: An Introduction to the History of Children’s Books in England, From the 
Invention of Printing to 1900
. London: The Library Association, 1963. 
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Any separation of the history of fantasy and other children’s literature may appear artificial since they are 
tightly interwoven, yet necessary if we focus on fantasy. This necessitates the omission of works not directly 
linked to the project outline. 
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Darton, Children’s Books, p. 1.
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Compare Humphrey Carpenter; Mari Prichard, The Oxford Companion to Children’s Literature. Oxford; New 
York et al.: Oxford University Press, 1984, p. 106. 

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popular stories. Chapbooks were not specifically designed for children, but proved easy 
reading material. 
Under the dominant influence of Puritanism in the 17
th
century, parents, teachers and 
clerics declared the spiritual welfare of the child to be the main concern of religious 
education.
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Religious reading was strongly promoted in order to allow as many people as 
possible access to the Holy Scriptures. These books were “strictly utilitarian and 
instructional”,
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as piety and salvation
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- and not enjoyment - were regarded as the ultimate 
aims. The Puritan classic is John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress (1678). Originally, this 
work of spiritual fantasy was not intended for children, yet adopted by them over time. If one 
sets the religious allusions and motifs of Christian’s journey to salvation aside, The Pilgrim’s