Caity Wright

THE MICRO-HISTORY OF CHILDREN’S LITERATURE

THE MICRO-HISTORY OF CHILDREN’S LITERATURE

➤ Lessons for Children by Anna Laetitia Barbauld (1778)

➤ Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder (1932)

➤ The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter (1902)

➤ Five Children and It by Edith Nesbit (1902)

➤ The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton (1942)

THE LITTLE HOUSE

➤ Author: Virginia Lee Burton

➤ 1942

➤ Picture book

➤ Summary

VIRGINIA LEE BURTON

➤ 1909-1968

➤ Massachusetts

➤ “Heroes and happy endings, lively illustrations, and a dash of nostalgia” (Scholastic)

➤ Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel and Katy and the Big Snow

WHY THE LITTLE HOUSE SHOULD BE INCLUDED

➤ Appeals to boys and girls

➤ Educational value

➤ Emotional connection

THE LITTLE HOUSE’S IMPORTANCE IN HISTORY

➤ Falls between The Box of Delights (1935) and The Children of Green Knowe (1954)

➤ Between World War I and World War II / the beginning of World War II

➤ Fantasy

➤ Technology

➤ Trapped in the past

➤ Little threat

➤ Disney animated short (1952)

➤ The Little House is still in print

READERS’ AMAZON.COM REVIEWS

“This is one of the earliest ‘reading’ books that I remember from my youth more than 40 years ago, but it still has an impact on me now.”

“It was a little beyond by grandchildren but they enjoyed the beginning. As they get older, it’ll mean more to them.”

“This book is intended to make children think about what is truly important in life. It also might have a political agenda. Only a book for a little older child!”

N/A

“Neither my daughter (4-yo) or I liked this book. Maybe because it’s about a house…just couldn’t relate to the story.”

PROFESSIONALS’ OPINIONS

➤ 1943 Caldecott Medal Winner

➤ “Advancement of technology is supposed to make us happier, yet, The Little House poses the question of whether this is true. Even though she is in the middle of the modern city, the Little House appears to be miserable” (Elizabeth Han and Stephanie Maitre)

➤ “The story especially comforts that group of individuals whose lives are rearranged willy-nilly when they don’t expect it and they don’t understand the reasons for it. I’m talking about children of course” (Anne Tyler)

“ Good children’s literature appeals not only to the child in the adult,

but to the adult in the child.

-Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“

WORKS CITED

➤ https://www.amazon.com/Little-House-Board-Book/dp/0547131046

➤ http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/contributor/virginia-lee-burton

➤ http://www.teachingchildrenphilosophy.org/BookModule/TheLittleHouse

➤ https://www.amazon.com/Little-House-Board-Book/dp/0547131046

➤ http://www.carlemuseum.org/content/those-telling-lines-art-virginia-lee-burton

➤ http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/04/19/specials/tyler-little.html