A Brief History of Kids’ Lit – the 21st Century

Only 16 years into the new millenium, the direction of kids’ literature has yet to be clearly charted but so far are a few things are clear. There are few topics that kids’ literature doesn’t dare to tackle. In the past decade, topics have covered such controversial subjects as suicide, gender identify, bullying, self-harm, dysfunctional family life, and – most notably – dystopian themes.

It’s this genre that’s gained the rapt attention of pre-teen and teenage audiences. There are some books in this theme aimed at younger kids (e.g., Dr Seuss’ The Lorax, The Flower by John Light). But dystopian lit has especially captured the attention of slightly older readers, addressing futuristic topics like genetic engineering (e.g., cloning in Replica, 2015), bioethics, environmental degradation, life in totalitarian states (e.g., The Hunger Games triology).

The Rise in Dystopian Lit

Dystopian lit bubbled to the surface in the mid-20^th century with a few titles, like George Orwell’s 1984 (1949), Williams Golding’s The Lord of the Flies (1954), and Kurt Vonnegut’s short story, Harrison Bergeron (1961). Orwell’s 1984 remains on the best-seller list of books in this genre to this day. But in the libraries of today’s young readers, dystopian lit takes up the majority of shelf space.

What is meant by “dystopian lit”? A dystopia is an imagined place in which everything is unpleasant, the story typically set in an environmentally degraded state and/or under the influence of a corrupt, totalitarian government that oppresses the masses. Realistic yet fictional, with direct comparisons to real world events, the relativity of the real world from a teenage perspective was first introduced by Lois Lowry’s The Giver (1993). Many 21^st centure titles in this genre have a female as the strong, masculine-like protagonist, in an effort to make the story relatable to both genders (Hunger Games series, Divergent series, Revealing Eden, Across the Universe).

Reading Gecko, V. Lawton

A Brief History of Kids Lit -- the 20th Century

The ground work laid in the 19th century paved the way for new and innovative genres of kids lit in the 20th century, which didn't rely on traditional folklore. With the dawning of the new century, fantasy stories with novel settings and characters appeared on both sides of the Atlantic, as was perfectly timed by L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in 1900. A.A. Milne wrote his first Winnie-the-Pooh (delightfully illustrated by Ernest Shepard) in 1927, and the first Mary Poppins (P. L. Travers) came out in 1934. J. R. R. Tolkien's works established what's become known as epic fantasy with The Lord of the Rings beginning in 1937.

A Brief History of Kids' Lit

Tales and stories have entertained and educated kids for hundreds of years, but books written and published especially for kids is relatively new in the western world. Up until the Georgian period, kids were just given such riveting reading material as ballads, religious catechism and books about how to behave. While the advent of the printing press widen the selection of books for adults, kids were left looking over their adults' shoulders.


Then, in 1691, English philosopher John Locke came up with the great idea that children learning to read should start with some easy books with pictures... like Aesop's Fables. While these are still fun to read today, Locke didn't have any other recommendations for good reads for kids of that era.



Reading Owl (Canadian Animals series), V. Lawton