Children’s Folklore Recent Titles in Greenwood Folklore Handbooks Myth: a handbook

CHILDREN’S LITERATURE
The first printed book for children, John Newbery’s 
A Little Pretty Pocket-Book, 
Intended for the Instruction and Amusement of Little Master Tommy and Pretty 
Miss Polly,
was published in England in 1744. Combining alphabet letters with 
morally uplifting verses and entertaining illustrations, Newbery’s book succeeded 
in pleasing young readers. Each copy was sold with a ball and a pincushion; 
following eighteenth-century gender roles, the ball was for boys, while the pin-
cushion was for girls. The 
Little Pretty Pocket-Book
’s illustrations help folklorists 
understand patterns of eighteenth-century British children’s play. Its description 
of “base-ball” is the first reference to that game in print. Besides offering informa-
tion about what children enjoyed doing then, the book demonstrates its author’s 
belief in combining useful lessons with amusement.
During the nineteenth century, books of fantasy and realistic fiction for chil-
dren became popular. Lewis Carroll’s 
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
(1865) 
delighted children and adults with its imaginative portrayal of a little girl enter-
ing a secondary world through a rabbit hole. 
Th
rough the Looking Glass
(1871) 
further developed Alice’s adventures. The first of these two fantasy classics shows 
the influence of children’s folklore, including riddles, puns, and nonsense rhymes. 
“Jabberwocky,” a poem based on nonsense words, has become one of the best-
known poems in English literature. Another amusing piece of verse is “Twinkle, 
Twinkle, Little Bat,” a parody of the popular children’s song “Twinkle, Twinkle, 
Little Star.”
Mid-nineteenth-century realistic fiction for children reflects the gender roles 
of that era. In Louisa May Alcott’s 
Little Women
(1867), the four March sisters 
play games together, act out dramas for their family, and dream about the future. 
Most of their activity takes place inside the domestic sphere of their family’s 
home. In contrast to Alcott’s four female characters, the protagonist of Mark 
Twain’s 
Th
e Adventures of Tom Sawyer
(1871) skips school, goes swimming, ex-
plores a cave, plays pranks on his friends, and fakes his own funeral. Both Tom 
Sawyer and the March sisters enjoy traditional amusements that were common 
during that time period.
In the early twentieth century, the American “Our Little Cousin” series at-
tempted to teach young readers about the games and customs of children living 
in other parts of the world. Blanche McManus’s 
Our Little Scotch Cousin
(1906), 
for example, explains that on Saint Patrick’s Day, Scottish boys wearing blue 
ribbons fight with Irish boys wearing green ribbons. On Halloween, Scottish 
children play “queer games” and eat pieces of a cake into which a silver coin has 
been inserted. Instead of promoting understanding of other cultures, the book 
focuses on quaint deviation from familiar customs. Similarly, Mary Hazleton 
Wade’s 
Our Little Indian Cousin
(1901) introduces a boy named Yellow Thunder, 
whose family drinks a “queer drink” and celebrates perplexing holidays. “How 

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Contexts 131
you would laugh to see them gathering at a party,” the author tells her young 
readers (70). The only neutral description is a matter-of-fact explanation of how 
children play lacrosse (67).
Some children’s books of the early twentieth century combine adventures in 
mysterious places with guidelines for a happy, healthful life. In Frances Hodgson 
Burnett’s novel