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Children's books like all books come in fiction and non-fiction. There were a wide variety of both types. We are unsure if the French had periodical children's magazines as were so popular in England. We have noted that a popular series of books in the 1950s and 60s for younger readers was Signe de Piste. These books seem more focused on boys than girls as they are primarily adventure stories. We also note many primary reading text books illustrated by Marcel Marlier. There were titles like Mary and Her Family and Mary’s Holidays. These look rather like the American Dick and Jane readers. Hopefully our French readers will provide us more information on French children's literature.
We are just beginning our assessment of French children's literature. We have found several different over-lapping types of books. There are fiction and non-fiction books, story series, activity books, and periodicals. There are also school textbooks. This is our initial assessment.
Single children's books, like all books, come in fiction and non-fiction. There were a wide variety of both types. A perenial favorite for younger children who can not yet read or who are beginning readers, is the story book. There are a wide variety of story books. Older boys turn to books with adventure or youth themes.
There were popular series of both fiction and non-fiction books in England. I'm not sure the same was true in France. We have noted that a popular series of books in the 1950s and 60s for younger readers was Signe de Piste. These books seem more focuded on boys than girls as they are primarily adventure stories. We do not note any of the more sedate series like the Bobsy Twins, Nancy Drew, Secret Seven, Our William, or Jennings. Of course we have very limited information on French children's loterature so similar seeroes may exist and we are just not familiar with them. This of course is part of the interesting quest of HBC, to learn more about other countries.
We are unsure if the French had 19th periodical children's magazines as were so popular in England. French readers tell us that France had several periodical children's magazines
in the post World War II era. The most popular magazine for younger children was Roudoudou which came out one or twice monthly. There were also several popular magazines for teenagers. Coeur Vaillant (Valliant Heart) was a popular boys' magazine. It came out each Thursday and had a Catholic view. Vaillant and Tintin was another popular weekly boys magazine. Lisette was a popular girls' magazine. These cheaply printed magazines dealt with a variety of different topics of interest to children. A French reader writes, "Personnaly, being a good Catholic boy, I loved Coeur Vaillant and also, as a younger boy, Roudoudou ". We note quite a number of children's magazines that were comics.
We have only limited information on French textbooks at this time. Textbooks often have a great deal of interesting information about a country, including information on contemporaty clothing styles. We do note many primary reading text books illustrated by Marcel Marlier. There were titles like Mary and Her Family and Mary’s Holidays. These look rather like the American Dick and Jane readers. The illustrations were so appealing that the French readers were translated into English and used in Englsh and British Empire countries. I don't believe, however, that they were widely used in America.
We do not yet have enough information on types of French children's books to understand chronological trends. We have begun to collect information and hope to better understnd trends as HBC develops. We note activity books in the 1920s. We see some popular series in the 1950s-60s. Hopefully our French readers will be able to provide more information here. What we want to understand is how types of children's literature in France changedcover time.
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