In a historical context, the term “ children's literature ” is a fairly young phenomenon since the children's books emerged as a distinct and independent genre only a little more than two centuries ago. I thought my readers would enjoy and appreciate a short recap of history related to the children's books, as well as some interesting facts related to the most famous examples of the genre.
Prior to the eighteenth century books rarely were created for children, and even those books that were created were not intended for pure amusement, but rather for educational purposes, such as grammar books, religious books, and books on manners. At the end of the 17th and early 18th centuries it became evident that there is a need for children to read for pleasure and enjoyment, not only to satisfy educational needs. The writings of such philosophers as Locke and Rousseau influenced British educators to take a more humane approach to education in which enjoyment was considered an aid to learning.
By the early eighteenth century interest in children's literature (and a rise in literary) led to new markets and a flourishing of new publishers, particularly in England. The most important of the early publishers was John Newbery (1713-67). Newbery ran his London bookshop from 1745 to 1767, publishing vast quantities of children's literature of all types as well as a wide range of books on reading, philosophy, and science.
Other enterprising London publishers who succeeded Newbery were John Harris, who published a number of fairy tales and nursery rhymes, and John Marshall, whose books were published in a variety of forms, including the first infant libraries. Children's literature at this time ranged from the more expensive editions to the widely published chapbooks, inexpensive pamphlets distributed by peddlers throughout the countryside.
The two most significant genres of eighteenth century children's literature were the fairy tale and the moral tale. Fairy tales, which had been passed down from generation to generation through oral tradition, were first collected and put into print at the French court of Louis XIV and contain the first written versions of such timeless tales as "Cinderella," "Sleeping Beauty," "Red Riding Hood," "Blue Beard”, “Puss in the Boots,” and others. “Moral” or cautionary tales, in which good children were rewarded and bad children were appropriately punished, were generally of less interest with regard to illustrations than were fairy tales, but it was not until well into the nineteenth century that fairy tales came to dominate the children's book market.
The nineteenth century heralded the arrival of timeless children classics as the understanding of childhood as a period of time to be enjoyed, took a more definitive shape. During the latter half of the century many of the classics of children's literature in English appeared, including Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865), Louisa May Alcott's Little Women (1868-69), Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island (1883), Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), and Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book (1894). This period also saw the emergence of the picture book in which illustrations - and the artist's vision - were at least as important as the text.
In the twentieth century near-universal literacy in developed countries and technical advances made it possible to produce relatively inexpensive high-quality illustrated books that have contributed to the tremendous growth in children's literature publishing. Nothing, however, could compare with the glory and splendor of W. W. Denslow's illustrations for L. Frank Baum's Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900). These illustrations included one hundred two-color images and twenty-four full-color plates, making it one of the most elaborate books of its time.
I was always curious in these days of technological advances as to the level of interest that is being exhibited towards what I would consider the examples of classic children’s literature, namely the books that withstood the test of time. I decided to take a look at the Wikipedia’s List of classic children's literature. Most of these books were printed prior to 1960 and each has over 1 million searches on Google worldwide (I have to note that while using Google search may provide accurate statistics in general, it does not always take into consideration a variety of other factors. For example, searching for “Peter Pan,” gives stats not only for books, but also movies, characters, costumes, Disney, toys, games, etc. In order to make sure that I am not comparing apples and oranges, I only chose in the first sampling to provide books-related statistics in order to achieve the most accurate results).
| Title - Author - Year fred | World search | US search |
| Arabian Nights or One Thousand and One Nights | 12,100 | 4400 |
| A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens - 1853 | 3,600 | 2,400 |
| Aesop's Fables - William Caxton (Translation) - 1484 | 1,000 | 320 |
| Don Quixote - Miguel de Cervantes - 1616 | 12,100 | 2,900 |
| A Token for Children - James Janeway - 1675 | 170 | 91 |
| Pilgrim's Progress - John Bunyan - 1678 | 12,100 | 5,400 |
| Robinson Crusoe - Daniel Defoe - 1719 | 2,400 | 720 |
| Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome - 1930-1931 | 12,100 | 1,300 |
| Gulliver's Travels - Jonathan Swift - 1726 | 1,000 | 480 |
| Tales of Mother Goose - Charles Perrault - 1729 (English) | 720 | 390 |
| Little Pretty Pocket-book - John Newbery - 1744 | 390 | 210 |
| Little Goody Two Shoes - Oliver Goldsmith - 1765 | 320 | 210 |
| The Swiss Family Robinson - Johann Rudolf Wyss - 1812-1813 | 8,100 | 3,600 |
| The Nutcracker and the King of Mice - E.T.A Hoffman – 1816 | 210 | 140 |
| Ivanhoe - Walter Scott - 1819 | 590 | 320 |
| The Legend of Sleepy Hollow - Washington Irving - 1819 | 1,900 | 1,000 |
| Rip Van Winkle - Washington Irving - 1820 | 2,900 | 1,900 |
| Grimm's Fairy Tales - Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm - 1823 (English) | 3,600 | 2,400 |
| The Hunchback of Notre Dame - Victor Hugo - 1831 | 720 | 390 |
| A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens - 1843 | 6,600 | 3,600 |
| The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas, pre - 1844 | 1,900 | 880 |
| Fairy Tales - Hans Christian Andersen - 1846 (English) | 3,600 | 1,000 |
| The Children of the New Forest - Frederick Marryat – 1847 | 2,400 | 140 |
| Slovenly Peter - Heinrich Hoffmann - 1848 (English) | 320 | 260 |
| David Copperfield - Charles Dickens – 1850 | 18,100 | 2,900 |
| The Coral Island - R. M. Ballantyne – 1857 | 2,900 | 1,000 |
| Tom Brown's Schooldays - Thomas Hughes - 1857 | 880 | 170 |
| The Water Babies - Charles Kingsley – 1863 | 5,400 | 1,600 |
| A Journey to the Center of the Earth - Jules Verne - 1864 | 2,900 | 1,000 |
| Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll - 1865 | 9,900 | 2,900 |
| Hans Brinker or the Silver Skates - Mary Mapes Dodge – 1865 | 880 | 720 |
| Little Women - Louisa May Alcott – 1868 | 9,900 | 4,400 |
| Lorna Doone - R. D. Blackmore – 1869 | 210 | 73 |
| 8,100 |
3,600 | |
|
At the Back of the North Wind - George MacDonald – 1871 |
880 |
590 |
|
8,100 |
4,400 |
|
|
1,900 |
1,000 | |
|
What Katy Did - Susan Coolidge - 1873 | 210 |
28 |
|
6,600 |
3,600 | |
|
Black Beauty - Anna Sewell – 1877 |
3,600 |
1,600 |
|
5,400 |
2,900 | |
|
Nights with Uncle Remus - Joel Chandler Harris - 1883 | 1,300 | 1,000 |
| 12,100 | 6,600 | |
|
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain - 1884 |
1,900 |
1,600 |
|
Heidi - Johanna Spyri - 1884 (English) |
6,600 |
1,000 |
|
King Solomon's Mines - H. Rider Haggard - 1885 |
4,400 |
1,000 |
|
Kidnapped - Robert Louis Stevenson - 1886 |
5,400 |
1,900 |
|
9,900 | 3,600 | |
| The Happy Prince and Other Tales - Oscar Wilde - 1888 | 14,800 | 1,600 |
|
The Blue Fairy Book - Andrew Lang - 1889 |
1,000 |
590 |
|
The Adventures of Pinocchio - Carlo Collodi - 1891 (English) |
6,600 |
2,400 |
|
The Jungle Book - Rudyard Kipling - 1894 |
4,400 |
1,900 |
|
Seven Little Australians - Ethel Turner - 1894 | 1,300 | 91 |
| Moonfleet - J. Meade Falkner – 1898 |
27,100 |
1,000 |
|
The Story of the Treasure Seekers - E. Nesbit - 1899 |
590 |
170 |
|
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - L. Frank Baum - 1900 |
18,100 |
8,100 |
|
Five Children and It - E. Nesbit – 1902 |
5,400 |
1,300 |
|
6,600 |
2,900 | |
|
The Tale of Peter Rabbit - Beatrix Potter - 1902 |
5,400 |
2,900 |
|
King Arthur and His Knights - Howard Pyle - 1902-3 |
4,400 |
2,900 |
|
The Call of the Wild - Jack London - 1903 |
8,100 |
4,400 |
|
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm - Kate Douglas Wiggin – 1903 |
3,600 |
2,400 |
|
Peter Pan - J. M. Barrie – 1904 |
5,400 |
1,900 |
|
A Little Princess - Frances Hodgson Burnett - 1905 |
880 |
260 |
|
27,100 |
1,300 | |
|
White Fang - Jack London – 1906 |
1,600 |
1,000 |
|
Anne of Green Gables - Lucy Maud Montgomery - 1908 |
2,400 |
1,300 |
|
The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame - 1908 |
1,000 |
320 |
| 3,600 | 1,600 | |
| The Lost World - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - 1912 | 880 | 260 |
| Pollyanna - Eleanor H. Porter – 1913 | 590 | 320 |
| The Magic Pudding - Norman Lindsay - 1918 | 1,900 | 140 |
| Winnie The Pooh - A.A Milne - 1926 | 3,600 | 1,300 |
| House At Pooh Corner - A.A Milne - 1927 | 1,000 | 480 |
| The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien – 1937 | 3,600 | 1,900 |
| Pippi Longstocking - Astrid Lindgren - 1945 | 2,400 | 1,300 |
| Goodnight Moon - Margaret Wise Brown - 1947 | 1,900 | 1,000 |
| The Little Prince - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry - 1943 | 4,400 | 1,600 |
| The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis – 1950 | 4,400 | 2,400 |
| The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien - 1954-1955 | 18,100 | 8,100 |
| Momo - Michael Ende – 1973 | 12,100 | 390 |
| The Never Ending Story - Michael Ende - 1979 | 1,600 | 480 |
After sorting data Worldwide,below is a list of top 30 titles
|
Title - Author – Year |
World search |
US search |
|
Moonfleet - J. Meade Falkner – 1898 |
27,100 | 1,000 |
| 27,100 | 1,300 | |
| David Copperfield - Charles Dickens – 1850 | 18,100 | 2,900 |
| The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - L. Frank Baum – 1900 | 18,100 | 8,100 |
| The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien - 1954-1955 | 18,100 | 8,100 |
| The Happy Prince and Other Tales - Oscar Wilde 11888 | 14,800 | 1,600 |
| Arabian Nights or One Thousand and One Nights | 12,100 | 4400 |
| Don Quixote - Miguel de Cervantes – 1616 | 12,100 | 2,900 |
| Pilgrim's Progress - John Bunyan – 1678 | 12,100 | 5,400 |
| Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome - 1930-1931 | 12,100 | 1,300 |
| 12,100 | 6,600 | |
| Momo - Michael Ende – 1973 | 12,100 | 390 |
| Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll - 1865 | 9,900 | 2,900 |
| Little Women - Louisa May Alcott – 1868 | 9,900 | 4,400 |
| 9,900 | 3,600 | |
| The Swiss Family Robinson - Johann Rudolf Wyss - 1812-3 | 8,100 | 3,600 |
| 8,100 | 3,600 | |
| 8,100 | 4,400 | |
| The Call of the Wild - Jack London - 1903 | 8,100 | 4,400 |
| A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens - 1843 | 6,600 | 3,600 |
| 6,600 | 3,600 | |
| Heidi - Johanna Spyri - 1884 (English) | 6,600 | 1,000 |
| The Adventures of Pinocchio - Carlo Collodi - 1891 (English) | 6,600 | 2,400 |
| 6,600 | 2,900 | |
| The Water Babies - Charles Kingsley - 1863 | 5,400 | 1,600 |
| 5,400 | 2,900 | |
| Kidnapped - Robert Louis Stevenson - 1886 | 5,400 | 1,900 |
| Five Children and It - E. Nesbit - 1902 | 5,400 | 1,300 |
| The Tale of Peter Rabbit - Beatrix Potter - 1902 | 5,400 | 2,900 |
SortingData by US
| Title - Author – Year | World search | US search |
| The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - L. Frank Baum - 1900 | 18,100 | 8,100 |
| The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien - 1954-1955 | 18,100 | 8,100 |
| 12,100 | 6,600 | |
| Pilgrim's Progress - John Bunyan – 1678 | 12,100 | 5,400 |
| Arabian Nights or One Thousand and One Nights | 12,100 | 4400 |
| Little Women - Louisa May Alcott – 1868 | 9,900 | 4,400 |
| 8,100 | 4,400 | |
| The Call of the Wild - Jack London – 1903 | 8,100 | 4,400 |
| 9,900 | 3,600 | |
| The Swiss Family Robinson - Johann Rudolf Wyss - 1812-3 | 8,100 | 3,600 |
| 8,100 | 3,600 | |
| A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens – 1843 | 6,600 | 3,600 |
| 6,600 | 3,600 | |
| David Copperfield - Charles Dickens – 1850 | 18,100 | 2,900 |
| Don Quixote - Miguel de Cervantes – 1616 | 12,100 | 2,900 |
| Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll - 1865 | 9,900 | 2,900 |
| 6,600 | 2,900 | |
| 5,400 | 2,900 | |
| The Tale of Peter Rabbit - Beatrix Potter – 1902 | 5,400 | 2,900 |
| King Arthur and His Knights - Howard Pyle - 1902-3 | 4,400 | 2,900 |
| The Adventures of Pinocchio - Carlo Collodi - 1891 (English) | 6,600 | 2,400 |
| The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis - 1950 | 4,400 | 2,400 |
| A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens – 1853 | 3,600 | 2,400 |
| Grimm's Fairy Tales - Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm - 1823 (English) | 3,600 | 2,400 |
| Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm - Kate Douglas Wiggin – 1903 | 3,600 | 2,400 |
| Kidnapped - Robert Louis Stevenson – 1886 | 5,400 | 1,900 |
| Peter Pan - J. M. Barrie – 1904 | 5,400 | 1,900 |
| The Jungle Book - Rudyard Kipling – 1894 | 4,400 | 1,900 |
| The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien – 1937 | 3,600 | 1,900 |
As a next step, I decided to modify the search by expanding the scope of search to a theme, rather than only books (For example, a person who is looking for Peter Pan bus service might first type "Peter Pan” in the Google search, and then refine it later to “bus”, “transportation”, etc.). This is the list of 25 most popular titles that came up in the World and the US:
| Title - Author - Year | World search | US search |
| Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll - 1865 | 4,090,000 | 1,500,000 |
| 3,350,000 | 673,000 | |
| The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien - 1954-1955 | 2,740,000 | 823,000 |
| Peter Pan - J. M. Barrie - 1904 | 2,240,000 | 550,000 |
| Winnie The Pooh - A.A Milne - 1926 | 1,500,000 | 450,000 |
| The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - L. Frank Baum - 1900 | 1,220,000 | 823,000 |
| 823,000 | 450,000 | |
| A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens - 1843 | 673,000 | 301,000 |
| Don Quixote - Miguel de Cervantes - 1616 | 673,000 | 135,000 |
| The Adventures of Pinocchio - Carlo Collodi - 1891 (English) | 673,000 | 135,000 |
| 450,000 | 135,000 | |
| The Jungle Book - Rudyard Kipling - 1894 | 368,000 | 135,000 |
| The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien – 1937 | 368,000 | 165,000 |
| Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain - 1884 | 301,000 | 246,000 |
| Robinson Crusoe - Daniel Defoe - 1719 | 301,000 | 40,500 |
| Black Beauty - Anna Sewell – 1877 | 246,000 | 74,000 |
| The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas, père - 1844 | 201,000 | 74,000 |
| A Little Princess - Frances Hodgson Burnett - 1905 | 201,000 | 49,500 |
| Little Women - Louisa May Alcott - 1868 | 165,000 | 90,500 |
| A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens - 1853 | 165,000 | 110,000 |
| The Hunchback of Notre Dame - Victor Hugo - 1831 | 135,000 | 60,500 |
| The Call of the Wild - Jack London - 1903 | 110,000 | 74,000 |
| Arabian Nights or One Thousand and One Nights | 22,200 | 12,100 |
| Pilgrim's Progress - John Bunyan - 1678 | 12,100 | 5,400 |
| 9,900 | 5,400 |
It is interesting tonote the comparison of popularity of a particular title in the US vs. theWorld. For example, both titles, “Lord of the Rings” and “Wizard of Oz,” have thesame number of searches in the US (823,000 monthly), yet the “Lord of the Rings”has twice as many searches worldwide.
Below is a list of some otherpopular titles for comparison purposes.
| Title - Author - Year | World search | US search |
| Harry Potter | 24,900,000 | 6,120,000 |
| Cinderella | 2,740,000 | 823,000 |
| Dracula | 1,500,000 | 301,000 |
| Frankenstein | 1220000 | 550000 |
| To Kill a Mockingbird | 823,000 | 673,000 |
| Little Red Riding Hood | 246,000 | 135,000 |
| Around the World in 80 Days | 135,000 | 27100 |
| The Secret Garden | 135000 | 40500 |
| Doctor Dolittle | 90500 | 18100 |
| 20000 Leagues Under the Sea | 22200 | 12100 |
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