hpq

It is important to determine the background of Children’s literature in order to fully understand how it is the way it is now. The earliest forms of children’s literature was very basic, some of the earliest books are the Venerable Bede's 7th century text on natural science, the teaching books of the 11th century written by Alcuin of York, and, also from the 11th or early 12th century, the first encyclopedia for children, by Anselm. Another early writer for children was Geoffrey Chaucer. He wrote a 'Treatise on the Astrolabe' in 1391 for his son Lowis. There were many more authors in the 15th and 16th centuries who wrote 'manuals of good conduct' for children, called 'Books of Courtesy'. However, though evidence of the existence of this genre in literature, these books were made for the sole purpose of instructing children. They would not have been engaging or incredibly interesting.

It was during the Renaissance that 'popular literature' was first produced; it was aimed at adults, however due to the low number of people who could actually read at this point in time, these books were...