Black and white photograph of Augusta Baker seated at a desk with papers spread out before her.

The Legendary Children’s Librarian of Harlem

Raised in a family of storytellers, Augusta Baker continued that tradition, imparting a love of books to readers of all ages.
An illustration from Aleksandr Volkov’s Wizard of the Emerald City

Twin Curtains: Oz and the USSR

Aleksandr Volkov’s The Wizard of the Emerald City reimagined L. Frank Baum’s classic, imbuing the story with a love of labor for readers in the Eastern bloc.
"Mrs. Bedonebyasyoudid." Illustration for Charles Kingsley's The Water Babies by Jessie Wilcox Smith, ca. 1916

Man of Science, Man of God

In The Water-Babies, Charles Kingsley parodied the dogmatic belief held by many in Victorian England that faith and reason are incompatible.
The cover of three issues of The Brownies Book

The Short Life (and A New Revival) of The Brownies’ Book

A new anthology celebrates the life and impact of one of the earliest American periodicals written for Black children.
An Illustration from Leila; or, The Island

What if Robinson Crusoe was a Girl?

In nineteenth-century England, stranding a (fictitious) girl on an island made a good argument for imperialism.

Edmund Dulac’s Fairy Tales Go to War

One of the best-known illustrators of the “golden age of children’s gift books,” Dulac was also a subtle purveyor of Allied propaganda during the Great War.
The seven dwarves find Snow White asleep in their bedroom, from the fairy tale by the brothers Grimm, c. 1812

Children’s Fairy Tales and Feminine Beauty

Fairy tales, many of which associate women’s beauty with goodness, act as scripts that pass along specific messages about women’s bodies and attractiveness.
From the album cover of Free to Be... You and Me

Don’t Dress Your Whale in Galoshes

Free to Be... You and Me was meant to help rear a generation free of sexist stereotypes. Fifty years on, some of its well-intentioned messages are worn around the edges.
Scene from 'Mischievous Matt,' Bracebridge Hemyng (Jack Harkway's), new story in No. 487 Frank Leslie's Boys' and Girls' Weekly

Dime Novels and Story Papers for Kids

The rise of popular literature for children put a story, a role model, and a set of values in a young boy’s pocket.
Children playing ring around the rosie

The Linguistics of Cooties (and Other Weird Things Kids Say)

The game of cooties lets children learn about the idea of contagion, but kid culture and wordplay aren't meant for adults.