Figure 1.--This book on sports had a cheeful picture of a boy from an expensive private preparatory school. Thee school gave much more attention to sport than state schools. Note his school book satchel. I'm not sure when this book was published, perhaps about 1950. A reader estimates that it might be earlier. The artist looks to be Molly Benatur (the image is a little indestinct). I'm not sure about the contents here, but it appears to be a collection of short fiction stories and not a non-fiction book on sports.

A perenial favorite for younger children who can not yet read or who are beginning readers, is the story book. These were especially helpful for younger readers because they were collections of short stories. There are a wide variety of story books. Older boys turn to books with adventure or youth themes. British books before World War II often had imperaialistic themes. Another especially popular theme was life at boarding schools, which interestingly reflected only a small portion of British boys. In fact much of the literature written before World War I seem written for a small part of the English population. This continued until well after World War II, although not in such a clearly observable way. There were serveral popular series of fiction books. While often held in low esteem by teachers, these books were very poular with young readers. Increasingly the children's book market todat is becoming dominated by individual stories.

Types

There are several types of children's fiction: stoty bok collections, series, and individual books. A perenial favorite for younger children who can not yet read or who are beginning readers, is the story book. These were especially helpful for younger readers because they were collections of short stories. There are a wide variety of story books. Older boys turn to books with adventure or youth themes. There were serveral popular series of fiction books. While often held in low esteem by teachers, these books were very poular with young readers. Increasingly the children's book market today is becoming dominated by individual stories.

Social Class

Much of the literature written before World War I seem written for a small part of the English population. The focus on school life is a good example of this. Almost always it is life at expensive private schools. The characters are often not rich and often financial background is not developed in the stories, but the palcenment in expensive private schools in itself is a statement of social class. This continued until well after World War II, although not in such a clearly observable way. Since the 1960s there has been a notable demoratization of children's literature. The important characters are almost always white English childre, even in stories set in the colonies. The most famous book set in India for example is Ruyard Kipling's Kim about a white English boy.

Themes

British books before World War II often had imperaialistic themes. Another especially popular theme was life at boarding schools, which interestingly reflected only a small portion of British boys. These were expensive private schools. Only a small portion of British boys went to these schools. Schools stories about children in state schools are almost non existent until after World War I. Boys' literature often dealt with experiences at schools--but almost always at these schools. Note the sports book picture here (figure 1). The boy pictured is from an expensive private preparatory school. These school gave much more attention to sport than state schools. Few state primary schools had any kind of organized sports program. Another popular theme was mystery type adventures. There were also many stories with imperailistic thems. These included stories about explorers, soldiers, and children living in the colonies. The kind of stories addressing children's issues such as divore, death in the family, race, ect that can be found today were largely absent until the 1970s.

Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Introduction] [Activities] [Biographies] [Chronology] [Clothing styles] [Countries]
[Bibliographies] [Contributions] [FAQs] [Glossaries] [Images] [Links] [Registration] [Tools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]

Created: September 24, 2002
Last updated: 12:01 AM 1/27/2011