Timeline of Children's Literature 1485-2013

An extensive timeline of children's literature from 1485-2013, with a focus on 20th century literature.

1. TIMELINE OF
CHILDREN’S LITERATURE
1485-2013
Heysha Díaz Meléndez 09.17.13

2. "The more that you read,
the more things you will know.
The more you learn,
the more places you'll go."
—Dr. Seuss, I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!
"I have always imagined that paradise
will be a kind of library."
—Jorge Luis Borges

3. Late 15
th
century –17
th
century
1484 William Caxton
printsSubtylHistoryesand
Fables of Esop
1485 Sir Thomas MaloryLe
MorteD’arthur
1563 John FoxeActesand
Monumentes, popularly known as
theBook of Martyrs. Used for
over three centuries as a source in
many books for Protestant
children, including theNew-
England Primer.
1601 John WeeverAn Agnus
Dei(A Lamb of God), an abridged
New Testament in rhymed
couplets; a very early example of
the miniature books known as
Thumb Bibles.

4. Late 15
th
century –17
th
century
1659 Visible World, the first
English translation of Johann
Amos Comenius'sOrbis
SensualiumPictus, an educational
compendium with a pictorial
alphabet arranged according to
sounds.
1660 Thomas WhiteA Little Book
for Little Children. Set out
Puritan ideals for children;
published as part of his Manual
for Parents.
1668 Jean de La
Fontaine'sFables choisies, mises
en vers(Selected Fables, Set in
Verse); first translated into
English in 1734.
Original and
Modern versions
of the collection

5. Late 15
th
century –17
th
century
1678 John BunyanThe Pilgrim's
Progress
1697 Charles PerraultHistoires
oucontesdu temps passé (Stories
or Tales of Past Times). Often
considered the first major
collection of fairy tales for
children. The book was first
published in English in 1729;
many of the tales were separately
published as chapbooks and later
as picture books for children. The
collection was sometimes given
the title "Tales of Mother Goose."

6. 18
th
century
1719 Daniel Defoe Robinson
Crusoe
1726 Jonathan Swift Gulliver's
Travels
1744 John NewberyA Little
Pretty Pocket-Book
1749 Sarah FieldingThe
Governess; or, The Little Female
Academy. One of the first books
published specifically for girls; it
contains two didactic fairy tales.

7. 19
th
century (1800-1849)
1805 William GodwinFables
Ancient and Modern, an
adaptation for young children.
1819 Washington Irving "Rip Van
Winkle" and "The Legend of
Sleepy Hollow“
1823 Edgar TaylorGerman
Popular Stories, a translation of
selected tales from Jacob and
Wilhelm Grimm'sKinder-und
Hausmärchen(1812-
15,Children's and Household
Tales)

8. 19
th
century (1800-1849)
1823 “A Visit from St. Nicholas”
aka “The Night Before
Christmas” was published
anonymously; authorship later
attributed to Clement Clarke
Moore.
1843 Charles DickensA
Christmas Carol
1846 Mary Howitt'stranslation
ofWonderful Stories for
Childrenby Hans Christian
Andersen; one of the first English
translations of Andersen's fairy
tales, which began appearing in
Danish in 1835.

9. 19
th
century (1850-1899)
1863 Jules VerneCinqsemaines
en ballon, voyage de découvertes
en Afrique(Five Weeks in a
Balloon), the first major science
fiction novel.
1865 Lewis Carroll Alice's
Adventures in Wonderland
1868 LouisaMayAlcottLittle
Women
1877 Anna SewellBlack Beauty
1881 Robert Louis
StevensonTreasure Island

10. 19
th
century (1850-1899)
1884 Mark TwainThe Adventures
of Huckleberry Finn
1892 First U.S. comic
strip, "Little Bears and
Tykes,"San Francisco Examiner
1894-95 Rudyard KiplingThe
Jungle Book

11. 20
th
century (1900-1910)
1900 L. Frank BaumThe Wizard
of Oz
1902 Beatrix PotterThe Tale of
Peter Rabbit
1903 Jack London The Call of the
Wild; Howard Pyle'sThe Story of
King Arthur and His Knights.
1904 J. M. BarriePeter Pan, or
The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow
Uppremiers in London
(1929First definitive publication
of J. M. Barrie's playPeter Pan;
or The Boy Who Would Not Grow
Up)

12. 20
th
century (1900-1910)
1905 Frances Hodgson Burnett A
Little Princess
1906 Jack London White Fang
1908 L. M. Montgomery'sAnne
of Green Gables
1908 Kenneth GrahameThe Wind
in the Willows

13. 20
th
century (1911-1920)
1911 Frances Hodgson
BurnettThe Secret Garden
1922 Margery Williams The
Velveteen Rabbit
1926 A. A. MilneWinnie-the-
Pooh

14. 20
th
century (1921-1940)
1930 Carolyn Keene Nancy Drew
Mystery Stories (Original series
published between 1930-2003)
Carolyn Keene is a pseudonym
for the various ghostwriters used
to create the series.
1932 Laura Ingalls WilderLittle
House in the Big Woods
1933 Marjorie Flack The Story
about Ping

15. 20
th
century (1921-1940)
1936 Munro Leaf and Robert
LawsonThe Story of Ferdinand
1937J.R.R. TolkienThe Hobbit
1939 Ludwig Bemelmans
Madeline
1939 Robert L. May
Rudolph the
Red-Nosed
Reindeer

16. 20
th
century (1941-1950)
1941 H.A. Rey Curious George
1942 Margaret Wise
BrownRunaway Bunny
1947 Margaret Wise
BrownGoodnight Moon
1950 C. S. LewisThe Lion, the
Witch, and the Wardrobe, the first
of the seven Narnia chronicles
(1950-56)

17. 20
th
century (1951-1960)
1951 J. D. SalingerThe Catcher
in the Rye
1952 Anne FrankDiary of a
Young Girl
1952 E. B. White Charlotte's Web
1955 Beverly Cleary Beezusand
Ramona(the Ramona Quimby
series continued until the final
installment, Ramona’s Worldwas
published in 1999)

18. 20
th
century (1951-1960)
1955 Kay Thompson Eloise
1957 Dr. SeussThe Cat in the Hat
1960 Scott O’Dell Island of the
Blue Dolphins
1960 P.D. Eastman Are You My
Mother?

19. 20
th
century (1961-1970)
1961 Roald DahlJames and the
Giant Peach
1961 P.D. Eastman Go Dog Go
1963 Madeleine L'EngleA
Wrinkle in Time
1963 Maurice SendakWhere the
Wild Things Are
1964 ShelSilverstein The Giving
Tree
1964 Ronald Dahl Charlie and
the Chocolate Factory

20. 20
th
century (1961-1970)
1967 Bill Martin Brown
Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You
See?
1967 S.E. Hinton The Outsiders
1968 Eric CarleThe Very Hungry
Caterpillar
1968 Don Freeman Corduroy
1970 Judy BlumeAre You
There, God? It's Me, Margaret

21. 20
th
century (1971-1980)
1972 Judith ViorstAlexander and
the Terrible, Horrible, No
Good, Very Bad Day
1974 ShelSilverstein Where the
Sidewalk Ends
1975 Natalie BabbittTuck
Everlasting
1977 Katherine PatersonBridge
to Terabithia
1978 Judi Barrett Cloudy With a
Chance of Meatballs

22. 20
th
century (1981-1990)
1981 Chris Van AllsburgJumanji
1981 ShelSilverstein A Light in the
Attic
1983 Francine Pascal Sweet Valley
High series
1985 Chris Van AllsburgThe Polar
Express
1985 Laura NumeroffIf You Give A
Mouse A Cookie
1986 Graeme Base Animalia
1986 Robert MunschLove You Forever
1989 Jon ScieszkaThe True Story of
the Three Little Pigs

23. 20
th
century (1981-1990)

24. 20
th
century (1991-1999)
1992 Jon ScieszkaThe Stinky
Cheese Man
1992 Marc PfisterThe Rainbow
Fish
1993 JanellCannon Stellaluna
1993 Lois Lowry'sThe Giver
1994 Sam McBratneyGuess How
Much I Love You
1995-2000 Philip PullmanHis
Dark Materialstrilogy
1997 J. K. RowlingHarry Potter
and the Philosopher's Stone(U.S.
title:Harry Potter and the
Sorcerer's Stone)

25. 21
st
century (2000-2013)
2000 Ian Falconer Olivia
2000 Doreen Cronin
Click, Clack, Moo Cows That
Type
2003 Kate DiCamilloThe Tale of
Desperaux
2005 StephenieMeyer Twilight
2005 Rick Riordan The Lightning
Thief (Percy Jackson and the
Olympians)
2005 Jane O’Connor Fancy
Nancy
2007 Jeff Kinney Diary of a
Wimpy Kid

26. 21
st
century (2000-2013)
2008 Suzanne Collins The
Hunger Games
2009 Grace Lin Where the
Mountain Meets the Moon
2010 Clare VanderpoolMoon
Over Manifest
2011 Jack GantosDead End in
Norvelt
2012 K.A. Applegate The One
and Only Ivan
2013 Susan Cooper Ghost
Hawk

27. References
American Library Association. (2013).Newberry medal and honor books,
1922 to present. Retrieved from
http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/newberymedal/newb
eryhonors/newberymedal
Children's Book Guide. (2013).Top 100 children's books of all time.
Retrieved from http://childrensbooksguide.com/top-100
The nortonanthology of children's literature timeline index. (2005).
Retrieved from
http://www.wwnorton.com/college/english/nacl/index.html
Note: My most important references cannot be named individually. They
are all the teachers I had through the years who took the time to either
read the majority of these books to me in class or to provide me with class
time to read them myself. Thank you! Please READ to your children
and to your students. It makes a difference 

28. THANK YOU FOR YOUR
ATTENTION!
"Oh, magic hour, when a child first knows she can read printed words!"
—A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, 1943
"Once you learn to read,
you will be forever free."
—Frederick Douglass