5 Books Worth Reading About the History of Children’s Lit

Lately I’ve been going back and re-reading Leonard S. Marcus’s history of children’s literature Minders of Make-Believe. It’s gotten me back into the historical mode, pulling out things I’ve read and looking for new.

If you’re interested in the history of children’s books, here are four more titles I recommend.

Tell Me a Story: Fantastic Children’s Books from the Library of Congress by Hannah Freece

This one is the newest book on the list. Freece pulls out some of the most interesting books in the LOC collection (and they have a BIG collection to pull from). Interspersed with short essays from all the living National Ambassadors for Young People’s Literature.

A Caldecott Celebration: Seven Artists and their Paths to the Caldecott Medal by Leonard S. Marcus

Leonard S. Marcus is going to show up on this list more than once – the guy is thee children’s literature historian. This book is short and sweet, telling the Caldecott stories of seven world-class picture book creators. Lots of great behind the scenes images in this book.

Wild Things! Acts of Mischief in Children’s Literature by Betsy Bird, Julie Danielson, and Peter Sieruta

This trio of children’s book blogger GOATS pulls out the most interesting, unique, and funny mishaps, controversies, and conspiracies in children’s lit history.

100 Years of Children’s Book Week Posters by Leonard S. Marcus

This one is more of a visual coffee table book, which is perfect for the subject matter. I love seeing all the great illustrators who have created (in some cases, pretty far out) CBW posters.

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