20th Century American Children's Literature

•1922 Newbery Medal created
•1930s Dick and Jane first appeared in reading primers
•1932 Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder
•1938 Caldecott Medal created
•1941 The Moffats by Eleanor Estes
•1947 Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle by Betty MacDonald

•1952 Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White
•1957 The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss
•1962 The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
•1962 A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
•1963 Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
•1969 The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
•1970 Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
•1993 The Giver by Lois Lowry
•1999 Holes by Louis Sachar

Anansi The Spider and African Children's Literature

African children's literature came from an oral tradition of mythology and folk tales, such as the Anansi the Spider stories. 

• Anansi tales originated from the Ashanti people of present-day Ghana.
• Ananse is an Akan word for "spider."
• The tales spread to the West Indies, Suriname, and the Netherlands Antilles
• In the United States, he has evolved into Aunt Nancy
• Related to the trickster Brer Rabbit stories

The Golden Baobob Prize for African Children's Literature

20th Century Indian Children's Literature

•1919 Sukumar Ray wrote and illustrated nonsense rhymes in the Bengali language
•1957 Khar Khar Mahadev by Narayan Dixit was the first full-length children’s books
•1957 K. Shankar Pillai founded the Children’s Book Trust publishing company known for high quality children’s books released in several languages
•Pandit Krushna Chandra Kar was one of the most distinguished authors

The Crossword Book Award

20th Century Russian Children's Literature

1914 My Dear Childhood by Klavdiya Lukashevich

•1913 10-volume children’s encyclopedia published
•Klavdiya Lukashevich wrote girls’ fiction
•Sherlock Holmes was most popular boys’ material in Russia
•1920s was the Golden Age of Children’s Literature in Russia
•1923 Vladimir Nabakov translated Adventures of Alice in Wonderland into Russian
• Samuil Marshak was labeled “the founder of Soviet children’s Literature”

The Yasnaya Polyana Book Awards include some children's books

  (Wikipedia article about the award)

20th Century Spanish and Latin American Children's Literature

•Has developed significantly since 1920

•Salvador Bartolozzi created a Pinocchio-like character

•1932 Hermanos Monigotes by Antonio Robles Soler won the National Literature Competition

•Elena Fortún,’s Celia series is the most frequently republished children’s adventure series in Spain

•Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Award established in 1996

The Pura Belpre Book Award

20th Century European Children's Literature

•1929 Emil and the Detectives by Erich Kastner
•1931 Histoire de Babar by Jean de Brunhoff
•1939 Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans
•1945 Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren
•1945 The Moomins and the Great Flood by Tove Jansson
•1952 Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
•2004 Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke

The Astrid Lungren International Children's Book Award

Peter and Iona Opie

•Specialized in the children’s literature, the customs of schoolchildren, children’s rhymes and playground rhymes
•1951 The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes
•1959 The Lore and Language of Schoolchildren
•The Opie Collection at the Bodleian Library at Oxford University contains 20,000 pieces, covering the 16th to 20th centuries

Biography of the Opies

Lilly Library Collection

University of Sheffield Collection

Bodleian Library Collection

Opie Collection of Children's Games and Songs (recordings)

Children's Playground Games and Songs in the New Media Age

20th Century British Children's Literature

•1926 Winnie-The Pooh by A. A. Milne
•1937 The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
•1941 First children’s paperback books published
•1950 The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
•1964 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
•1997 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J. K. Rowling

The CILIP Carnegie & Kate Greenaway Children's Book Awards

20th Century Chinese and Japanese Children's Literature

•Most children’s literature was orally transmitted until the early 20th Century

•1932 Big Lin and Little Lin by Zhang Tianyi was the first full length Chinese novel for children
•1990 General Anthology of Modern Children’s Literature of China (15 vols) was released. Included literature since 1920

Information on Zhang Tianyi

Website selling Chinese Children's Literature for examples

The Feng Zikai Chinese Children's Picture Book Award

Some famous Japanese children's authors include:

• Kurushima Takehiko (1874-1960), known as "the Japanese Hans Christian Andersen."
• Mitsumasa Anno, (1926- ), illustrator and writer, best known for picture books with few or no words. His "Journey" books depict a tiny character travelling through scenes densely populated with pictures referring to art, literature, culture, and history.
• Satoshi Kitamura (1956- ), picture book author and illustrator now lives in London.
• Koji Ishikawa (1963- ), popular author and illustrator.

Japanese Children's Literature Online Exhibit

Bilingual Magazine about Japanese Children's Books

The Secret Garden

•1910 classic of English children’s literature by Frances Hodgson Burnett
•Using the garden theme, Burnett explores the healing power inherent in living themes
•Struggle between common sense and the accepted wisdom of the day
•Was marketed to both children and adults

Complete Story

Anne of Green Gables

•1908 novel by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery
•Considered a children’s novel since the mid-20th century
•First in a large series
•Inspired by the “formula Ann” orphan stories that were popular at the time
•Tourism on Prince Edward Island is now a large part of their economy

Movie Website

Complete Story

Peter Pan

•1904 play and 1911 novel by James Barrie
•Major theme: the conflict between the innocence of childhood and the responsibility of adulthood
•Traditionally in the play, a woman plays the part of Peter Pan and an actor plays both Mr. Darling and Captain Hook

Five Children and It

•1902 by Edith Nesbit
•Fantasy book that expanded into a trilogy
•Has never been out of print since its initial publication
•Direct influence on P. L. Travers, Edward Eager, Diana Wynne Jones, C. S. Lewis, and J. K. Rowling

Complete story

The Tale of Peter Rabbit

•1901 animal story written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter
•Translated into 36 languages and is one of the best-selling books of all time
•Generated other merchandise over the decades, including dolls, games, wallpaper, clothing, etc.
Nick Jr. Peter Rabbit printables

The Beatrix Potter Society Information

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

•1900 by L. Frank Baum
•Was not predicted to be a success
•Was published when the manager of the Chicago Grand Opera House committed to making it into a musical stage play to publicize the novel
•Influenced by the stories of the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen, as well as Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

Complete story

Information on the 1902 Musical

Library of Congress Wizard of Oz Exhibits

Korean Wizard of Oz

1925 Silent Movie of the Wizard of Oz