s became known as the "Golden Age of Children's Literature" as this period included the publication of many books acknowledged today as classics. Contents [hide]

o stories and songs, part of a wider oral tradition, that adults shared with children before publishing existed. The development of early children's literature, before printing was invented, is difficult to trace. Even after printing became widespread, many classic "children's" tales were originally created for adults and later adapted for a younger audience. Since the 1400s, a large quantity of literature, often with a moral or religious message, has been aimed specifically at children. The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries became known as the "Golden Age of Children's Literature" as this period included the publication of many books acknowledged today as classics.
Contents  [hide]
1 Introduction
2 History
2.1 Antiquity and the Middle Ages
2.2 Early-modern Europe
2.3 Origins of the modern genre
2.4 Golden age
2.5 Recent national traditions
2.5.1 Britain
2.5.2 Continental Europe
2.5.3 United States
2.5.4 Russia and USSR
2.5.5 India
2.5.6 China
3 Classification
3.1 By genre
3.2 By age category
4 Illustration
5 Scholarship
6 Awards
7 See also
8 References
9 Further reading