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We have noted fiction books on a wide rnge of themes and written at varios age levels. There were both books with historical and contemprary focus. The books with historical settings are interesting, but the books with comtemprary settings probably have more accurate depictions of clothing in the text and illustrations. Adventure stories set in the Old West were very popular through the 1940s. Sports stories were another popular subject. Animal xstories were especially popular themes for younger readers. Religious books were especially popular in the early 20th century, especially Biblical stories. There were also prayer books. Ethnic stories have become very popular in America, although I am not yet sure of the chronology. Unlike Britain, school does not appear to have been a common subject. We note some works of historical fiction. In recent years books based on popular TV series and movies have appeared, but these sometimes are series.
We have noted fiction books on a wide rnge of subjects and written at varios age levels. There were both books with historical and contemprary focus. The books with historical settings are interesting, but the books with comtemprary settings probably have more accurate depictions of clothing in the text and illustrations. Some books were about children or included child characters. This i very common in children's literature. Oher books deal with adults. Often these are adventure stories. Adventure stories set in the Old West were very popular through the 1940s. Sports stories were another popular subject. Animal stories were especially popular themes for younger readers. Religious books were especially popular in the early 20th century, especially Biblical stories. There were also prayer books. Ethnic stories have become very popular in America, although I am not yet sure of the chronology. Unlike Britain, school does not appear to have been as common subject in America, although there were some school stories. We note some works of historical fiction. In recent years books based on popular TV series and movies have appeared, but these sometimes are series.
We have not yet developed much information on individual books, but hope to add information here as HBC develops. The list of American children's books is virtually endless. Of course for HBC we are especially interested in books that provide insights about period clothing.
The "Cracker Jackson" cover here shows a typical American boy on his bmx bicycle which were so popular in the lates 70s and early 80s. It is set in the suburbs and the boys wears a baseball team jacket. Contemprary fictions has some what more relaiable clothing depictions than books with historical settings.
Animal themes are popular with younger readers. Most American boys, like Jonathan, wanted a dog. "A Dog for Jonathan' was written by Rob White and was published by Collins, 1959. The illustration shows the typical hairstyle of the day, complete with cowlick.
Lassie was written by an American, but is not about America. It is about a boy and dog in Yorkshire, England. The movie was based on a classic children's book by Eric Mowbray Knight. Knight first published a short story which appeared in The Saturday Evening Post (December 17, 1938). It proved so popular that the John C. Winston Publishing Company secured the publication rights for an exapnded book version. The book was published in 1940 and became a popular best seller. The story has had instant appeal and has been published in over 25 languages. It has never gone out of print and is now considered a classic. This is a wonderful book, in part because of the wonderful illustrations, which are breathtaking in their beauty and their ability to capture the essence of a boy and a dog. But make sure you also buy the original Eric Knight Lassie Come-Home novel. For the heart and soul of the novel are absent from the text of this version, and the loss is
grievous indeed. The novel shows real, cranky people struggling hard with moral choices, and hurting when they are bound to make the right one. The novel also guides the reader into concluding on her own that living things cannot rightfully be sold, unlike this version, which just blats it out. Moral lessons that children reach on their own are the ones that become deeply rooted, so it is a shame to deny
them this process of moral discovery. The realism of the novel is absent from this version, which presents stick figures spouting politically correct platitudes that would be unthinkable in the communities that Knight described. The novel presents decidedly politically incorrect people who struggle to do the right thing. A child learns best from books that present life in its bewildering complexity. Without such guides, how will she deal with a real world that is not populated with politically correct stick figures? The ideal version of Lassie Come-Home would merge these illustrations, which are the best I've ever seen, with the original novel. MGM purchased the movie rights in 1942 Lassie Come Home was released in 1943, the year Knight died.
The cover of "Patrick Doyle is Full of Blarney" was done by Bill Dodge (1996). The adventure of the book takes place along the Hudson River during World War I. The baseball bats, flat caps, and knickers seem very American. The strong sure fire challenge of the boy prodding his finger into the chest of the defiant though glum looking smaller boy is wonderfully portrayed by the artist. It superbly counteracts the confident expression of the boy in the blue shirt. Their postures are strong and independent. Both are prepared to stand their ground. Ethnic stories have become very popular in America.
Walt Breville, a retired postman, has written a charming story about an 8th grade class interested in music--Revolutionary Rhythm Kids. It is the conservative era of music in the early 1950s. A class of 25 8th graders in rural Florida are talented dancers and singers seeking livlier tunes. They get more than they bargaed for when they hike through the wilds to aacientist;s labortory, time travel to the hot jazzera of 1929 to get filmed in a musical. It is all very exciting, although the boys don't care much for their knickers. Encounters with dngerous animals, strange creatures, flying saucers, and malfunction of the time machine makes it doubtful they'll return home safely. They become part of an alien plan to cool the Cold War.
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