Children's literature

In 1964 Roald Dahl wrote Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the story of Charlie Bucket's adventures inside Willy
Wonka's chocolate factory. At the end of the story, Charlie wins a prize--the chocolate factory!
In 1964 Louise Fitzhugh wrote Harriet the Spy, the story of an 11 year old girl who gets into trouble by spying on
her neighbors, classmates, and friends. She ultimately becomes editor of the school newspaper, in which capacity she
makes amends for earlier remarks that alienated people.
In 1972 Graham Oakley wrote The Church Mouse, the first of a series of twelve Church Mouse books extending
until 2000. The main characters are Arthur and Humphrey, two mice who, along with the lazy cat Sampson, operate
in England's Anglican Church of Saint John.
In 1990 Joanne (J.K.) Rowling wrote The Harry Potter Series, in which 3 characters embark on new adventures
across 7 books, all leading up to an epic battle between good and evil. The main characters are Harry Potter,
Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley.
21st Century
In 2001, Eoin Colfer (born 1965) published the first installment of his Artemis Fowl series in Ireland. In 2008, titles
from the series spent six weeks at number one and helped the Penguin Group post record profits in a tough
economy.[13]

Scholarship
Scholarship in children's literature written in or translated into English
is primarily conducted in three different disciplinary fields: (1) literary
studies (English departments, language departments), (2) library and
information science, and (3) education (Wolf, et al., 2011). There has
historically been little overlap between the topics studied or the
methodologies used to conduct research in each of these fields, but
recently more attention has been paid to how scholars from across
disciplines might collaborate, as well as how each field of study
contributes unique information and theories to scholarship related to
children's literature.
Research from a Literary Perspective: Typically, children's literature
scholars from literature departments in universities (English, German,
Spanish, etc. departments) conduct literary analyses of books. These
studies are considered literary criticism analyses and may focus on an
author, a thematic (e.g.,) or topical (e.g., ) concern, a genre, a period, or
a literary device (e.g., ). The results of this type research are typically
published as books or articles in scholarly journals. The highly
regarded research journals that publish literary studies in children's
Dutch writer Anne de Vries
literature include Children's Literature Association Quarterly,
Children's Literature in Education, Children's Literature, The Lion and the Unicorn, and International Research in
Children's Literature.
Research from a Library & Information Science Perspective: The field of Library and Information Science has a long
history of conducting research related to children's literature. The focus of the 1999 Trejo Foster Institute for
Hispanic Library Education was Library Services for Youth of Hispanic Heritage. [14]
Research from an Education Perspective: Most educational researchers studying children's literature explore issues
related to the use of children's literature in classroom settings. Some educational researchers, however, study home
settings, children's out-of-school reading or parents' use of children's books, for example.

Children's literature
Educational Application
Children's literature has long been used by good teachers to augment classroom instruction providing a
meaning-centered application for one of education's richest resources - children's literature.
When introducing fiction to young readers, using a children's literature is an effective means to introduce the parts of
a story to students (characters, setting, plot, introduction, theme, and conclusion). For our youngest students, the
teacher may elect to start out with only characters, introduction, and conclusion. As the students become more
proficient, the other components of a story may be introduced. By grade 5, students are able to grasp more
complicated concepts, such as theme, on a basis level of understanding.
Scholarly associations & centers: the Children's Literature Association, the International Research Society for
Children's Literature, the Library Association Youth Libraries Group, the Society of Children's Book Writers and
Illustrators the Irish Society for the Study of Children's Literature, IBBY Canada and Centre for International
Research in Childhood: Literature, Culture, Media (CIRCL), National Centre for Research in Children's Literature.

Awards
Some noted awards for children's literature are:
Australia: the Children's Book Council of Australia runs a number of annual CBCA book awards
Canada: the Governor General's Literary Award for Children's Literature and Illustration (English and French). A
number of the provinces' school boards and library associations also run popular "children's choice" awards where
candidate books are read and championed by individual schools and classrooms. These include the Blue Spruce
(grades K-2) Silver Birch Express (grades 34), Silver Birch (grades 56) Red Maple (grades 78) and White
Pine (High School) in Ontario. Programs in other provinces include The Red Cedar and Stellar Awards in B.C.,
the Willow Awards in Saskatchewan, and the Manitoba Young Readers Choice Awards. IBBY Canada offers a
number of annual awards.
The Philippines: The Carlos Palanca Memorial Award for Literature for Short Story for Children in English and
Filipino Language (Maikling Kathang Pambata) since 1989 and Children's Poetry in English and Filipino
Language since 2009. The Pilar Perez Medallion for Young Adult Literature (2001 and 2002). The major awards
are given by the Philippine Board on Books for Young People. They include the PBBY-Salanga Writer's Prize for
excellence in writing and the PBBY-Alcala Illustrator's Prize for excellence in illustration. The Ceres Alabado
Award for Outstanding Contribution in Children's Literature; the Gintong Aklat Award (Golden Book Award);
The Gawad Komisyon para sa Kuwentong Pambata (Commission Award for Children's Literature in Filipino) and
the National Book Award (given by the Manila Critics' Circle) for Outstanding Production in Children's Books
and Young Adult Literature.
United States: the major awards are given by the American Library Association Association for Library Service to
Children. They include the Newbery Medal for writing, Michael L. Printz Award for writing for teens, Caldecott
Medal for illustration, Golden Kite Award in various categories from the SCBWI, Sibert Medal for informational,
Theodor Seuss Geisel Award for beginning readers, Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal for impact over time, Batchelder
Award for works in translation, Coretta Scott King Award for work by an African-American writer, and the
Belpre Medal for work by a Latino writer. Other notable awards are the National Book Award for Young People's
Literature and the Orbis Pictus Award for excellence in the writing of nonfiction for children.
United Kingdom and Commonwealth: the Carnegie Medal for writing and the Kate Greenaway Medal for
illustration; the Nestl Smarties Book Prize; and the Guardian Award.
Internationally: the Hans Christian Andersen Award, the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award and the Ilustrarte
Bienale for children's book illustration (Barreiro, Portugal).
Online: the Cybils Awards, or Children's and Young Adult Bloggers' Literary Awards, are the first major series of
book awards given by children's and young adult book bloggers.

Children's literature

Notes
[1] Convention on the Rights of the Child (http:/ / www. hakani. org/ en/ convention/ Convention_Rights_Child. pdf) The Policy Press, Office
of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
[2] "Biography of Nancy A. Anderson, EdD" (http:/ / www. nancyaanderson. com/ ). . Retrieved 2009-03-03.
[3] Anderson 2006, p. 2.
[4] Card, Orson Scott (November 5, 2001). "Hogwarts" (http:/ / www. hatrack. com/ osc/ reviews/ everything/ 2001-11-05. shtml). Uncle Orson
Reviews Everything. Hatrack River Enterprises Inc. . Retrieved 2009-03-03.
[5] Liukkonen, Petri (2008). "Mark Twain" (http:/ / www. kirjasto. sci. fi/ mtwain. htm). . Retrieved 2009-03-03.
[6] Anderson 2006
[7] Anderson 2006, pp. 8485.
[8] Anderson 2006, p. 89.
[9] Leader, Zachary, Reading Blake's Songs, p.1 (http:/ / books. google. com/ books?id=z7Q9AAAAIAAJ& pg=PA1& dq=books+ written+
specifically+ for+ the+ use+ of+ children+ outside+ of+ school+ had+ become& ei=1menS_jiOJPyzATkqvXbCA& cd=1#v=onepage&
q=books written specifically for the use of children outside of school had become& f=false)
[10] Leader, Zachary, Reading Blake's Songs, p.3 (http:/ / books. google. com/ books?id=z7Q9AAAAIAAJ& pg=PA1& dq=books+ written+
specifically+ for+ the+ use+ of+ children+ outside+ of+ school+ had+ become& ei=1menS_jiOJPyzATkqvXbCA& cd=1#v=onepage&
q=books written specifically for the use of children outside of school had become& f=false)
[11] See Ruth Bottigheimer: Fairy tales, old wives and printing presses. History Today, 31 December 2003. Retrieved 3 March 2011.
Subscription required. (http:/ / www. historytoday. com/ ruth-bottigheimer/ fairy-tales-old-wives-and-printing-presses)
[12] Elias Bredsdorff, Hans Christian Andersen: the story of his life and work 180575, Phaidon (1975) ISBN 0-7148-1636-1
[13] "Penguin Group Announces Record 2008 Profits" (http:/ / www. booktrade. info/ index. php/ showarticle/ 20011) (Press release). Book
Trade Announcements. Monday 2 March 2009. . Retrieved 2009-03-03.
[14] Immroth, Barbara Froling, and Kathleen de la Pea McCook. 2000. Library services to youth of Hispanic heritage. Jefferson, N.C.:
McFarland. Toggle expanding/contracting information section Harvard (18th ed.)

References
Anderson, Nancy (2006). Elementary Children's Literature. Boston: Pearson Education. ISBN0205452299.
Chapleau, Sebastien (2004). New Voices in Children's Literature Criticism. Lichfield: Pied Piper Publishing.
ISBN9780954638443.
Huck, Charlotte (2001). Children's Literature in the Elementary School, 7th ed.. New York: McGraw-Hill.
ISBN0072322284.
Hunt, Peter (1991). Criticism, Theory, and Children's Literature. Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN0631162313.
Hunt, Peter (1996). International Companion Encyclopedia of Children's Literature. London: Routledge.
ISBN0415088569.
Lesnik-Oberstein, Karin (1996). "Defining Children's Literature and Childhood". In Hunt, Peter (ed.).
International Companion Encyclopedia of Children's Literature. London: Routledge. pp.1731.
ISBN0415088569.
Lesnik-Oberstein, Karin (1994). Children's Literature: Criticism and the Fictional Child. Oxford: Clarendon
Press. ISBN0198119984.
Lesnik-Oberstein, Karin (2004). Children's Literature: New Approaches. Basingstoke: Palgrave.
ISBN1403917388.
Rose, Jacqueline (1993, orig. pub. 1984). The Case of Peter Pan or the Impossibility of Children's Fiction.
Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN0812214358.
Wolf, Shelby (2010). Handbook of Research in Children's and Young Adult Literature. Cambridge: Routledge.
ISBN9780415965064.

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Children's literature

Further reading
The Oxford Encyclopedia of Children's Literature, ed. by Jack Zipes, Oxford [etc.]: Oxford Univ. Press, 2006, 4
vls.

External links
International Children's Digital Library (http://www.childrenslibrary.org/) Repository of 2,827 children's
books in 48 languages viewable over the Internet.
Small World Books children's literature from around the world (http://www.itsasmallworld.co.nz)
Arne Nixon Center for the Study of Children's Literature (http://www.arnenixoncenter.org)
Children's Literature Research Collections (http://special.lib.umn.edu/clrc/), at the University of Minnesota
Baldwin Digital Library of Children's Literature (http://www.uflib.ufl.edu/UFDC/UFDC.aspx?c=juv)
Children's Books Wiki (http://childrensbooks.wikia.com), a Wikia-hosted wiki about children's literature.
Children's eTexts (http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/world/results?subject=Children) at Project Gutenberg (
more (http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/world/results?locc=PZ))
German Children and Young Adult Literature Portal, Goethe-Institut (http://www.goethe.de/kue/lit/prj/kju/
enindex.htm)

International Board on Books for Young People (http://www.ibby.org)

Popular Children's Book for Teaching Chinese (http://www.mandyandpandy.com)
CBI Clubhouse, Informational Site for Children's Book Writers (http://www.cbiclubhouse.com:The)
The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (http://www.scbwi.org)
Children's Literature Network (http://www.childrensliteraturenetwork.org)
The academic discipline of Children Literature of ZJNU in China (http://www.chchc.cn/)
Children's Book Council of Australia (CBCA), Sutherland Sub branch literacy in children and young adults of
the Sutherland Shire (http://www.cbcasutherland.org.au/)
Litland.com Review of Children's Literature against character education guidelines (http://www.litland.com)
The Ball State University Digital Media Repository Historic Children's Book collection (http://libx.bsu.edu/
cdm4/collection.php?CISOROOT=/HistChldBks) provides online access to children's books from the 20th and
19th centuries.

11

Children's literature timeline

Children's literature timeline

Timeline of turning points in children's literature
Orbis Pictus (1658) by John Amos Comenius: Earliest picturebook specifically for children.
Fairy tale collections are one of the earliest forms of published fiction that have never lost their charm for
children, though several of the classic tales are gruesome and were not originally collected for children. Famous
collectors and retellers of Fairy Tales include Charles Perrault, the brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Andersen and
Andrew Lang.
The Pilgrim's Progress from This World to That Which Is to Come by John Bunyan (1678): many later children's
fantasies were modeled on this Christian allegory.
A Token for Children. Being An Exact Account of the Conversion, Holy and Exemplary Lives, and Joyful Deaths
of several Young Children (1672) by James Janeway: One of the first books specifically written for children
which shaped much eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century writing for children.
A Little Pretty Pocket-Book (1744) by John Newbery: Earliest marketing tie-in and storybook marketed as
pleasure reading in English
The Governess, or The Little Female Academy (1749) by Sarah Fielding: Often described as the first novel for
children.
Lessons for Children (1778-9) by Anna Laetitia Barbauld: The first series of age-adapted reading primers for
children printed with large text and wide margins; in print for over a century.
Struwwelpeter (1845) by Heinrich Hoffmann (published in English as Slovenly Peter): One of the earliest
examples of grotesque humor as well as of modern picturebook design.
Little Eva: The Flower of the South by Philip J. Cozans (1853): First known children's novel to feature racial (i.e.
pro-slavery) bias.
Tom Brown's Schooldays (1857) by Thomas Hughes, the first true school story.
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) by Lewis Carroll: Early surrealism and extensive criticism of
didacticism.
The Jungle Book (1894) by Rudyard Kipling.
Swallows and Amazons (1930) by Arthur Ransome, started trend of outdoor holiday adventures.
Five on a Treasure Island is published in 1942 by Enid Blyton.
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950) by C. S. Lewis.
The Lord of the Rings (19541955) by J.R.R. Tolkien.
The Cat in the Hat (1957) by Dr. Seuss: First high quality limited-vocabulary book, written for early readers.
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) by Harper Lee: Pulitzer for book market to children; also seminal work on race.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (1997) by J. K. Rowling, and sequels; worldwide publishing
phenomenon, one of the bestselling books of all time and one of the most widely translated works of literature.
Worldwide popularity caused resurgence of interest in children's literature.
Maggie Goes on a Diet (2011) by Paul Kramer: Insperational book for children who are over weight, and stiring
controversy before being released.

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Children's literature canon

Children's literature canon

As with adult literature, the validity of defining a canon of worthy or renowned works in children's literature is hotly
debated. Nevertheless, many books have had enormous impact on publishing history and are still in print today. Due
to the didactic nature of much children's publishing, in which the majority of books are written, published, selected,
and taught by adults but consumed by children [1] , the children's literature canon is extremely powerful in
influencing the books actually read.

Important Children's Books

Nineteenth Century
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass (1871) by Lewis Carroll:
early surrealism and children's novels as pleasurable and non-didactic.
Max and Moritz (1865) by Wilhelm Busch.
Little Women (1868) by Louisa May Alcott.
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) by Mark Twain.

The Adventures of Pinocchio (1883) by Carlo Collodi.

Treasure Island (1883) by Robert Louis Stevenson.
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884) by Mark Twain.
The Jungle Book (1894) by Rudyard Kipling: a collection of several stories.

Early Twentieth Century

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) by L. Frank Baum, later expanded into a series of books which were
tremendously popular in America during the first half of the twentieth century. One of the earliest fantasy books
where children go to another world.
The Tale of Peter Rabbit (1902) by Beatrix Potter. The first in her series of 23 animal stories, published in a
miniature format.
The Call of the Wild (1903) by Jack London: Inspired by the high adventure of the Yukon gold rush.
The Wind in the Willows (1908) by Kenneth Grahame
Anne of Green Gables (1908) by Lucy Maud Montgomery
Peter and Wendy (1911) by J. M. Barrie (better known as Peter Pan)
Winnie-the-Pooh (1926) and The House at Pooh Corner (1928) by A. A. Milne.
Little House in the Big Woods (1932) and sequels by Laura Ingalls Wilder
The Hobbit or There and Back Again (1937) by J. R. R. Tolkien: an early example of the modern lighthearted
quest fantasy
Le Petit Prince (1943, English: The Little Prince) by Antoine de Saint-Exupry
Pippi Longstocking (1944) by Astrid Lindgren.
The Chronicles Of Narnia (19491954) by C. S. Lewis
The Cat in the Hat (1957) by Dr. Seuss: First high quality limited-vocabulary book, written for early readers

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Children's literature canon

Since 1960

James and the Giant Peach (1961) by Roald Dahl

The Phantom Tollbooth (1961) by Norton Juster
Where the Wild Things Are (1963) by Maurice Sendak
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964) by Roald Dahl
A Wizard of Earthsea (1968) by Ursula K. Le Guin, and sequels broke ground for epic fantasy in several ways:
the first book had a non-white hero, the later books explored the role of gender in fantasy and power, and the
quest structure isn't good vs. evil but balance.
Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret (1970) by Judy Blume, approached puberty more openly than children's
books had in the past.
Harry Potter (1997) by J.K. Rowling

References
[1] Nodelman, Perry (1992). "The Other: Orientalism, Colonialism, and Children's Literature". Children's Literature Association Quarterly 17:
2935.

Children's literature criticism

The term children's literature criticism includes both generalist discussions of the relationship between children's
literature and literary theory and literary analyses of a specific works of children's literature. Some academics
consider young adult literature to be included under the rubric of 'children's literature.'
Nearly every school of theoretical thought has been applied to children's literature, most commonly reader response
(Chambers 1980) and new criticism. However, other schools have been applied in controversial and influential ways,
including Orientalism (Nodelman 1992), feminist theory (Paul 1987), postmodernism (Stevenson 1994),
structuralism (Neumeyer 1977), post-structuralism (Rose, 1984, Lesnik-Oberstein, 1994) and many others.

Approaches
Child focused
Early children's literature critics aimed to learn how children read literature specifically (rather than the mechanics of
reading itself) so that they could recommend "good books" for children. These early critics were often teachers,
librarians and other educationalists. The critics often disagreed about what books they think children would like, and
why, and about which books will be "good" for children and why. Though many critics are still child-centric, the
discipline has expanded to include other modes of analysis. As children's literature criticism started developing as an
academic discipline (roughly in the past thirty years or so, see historical overviews by Hunt (1991) and McGillis
(1997)), children's literature criticism became involved with wider work in literary theory and cultural studies.
Construction of the child
Many children's literature critics now point out that children are not one group, but differ according to gender,
ethnicity, religious background, and so on. Feminist children's literature critics such as Lissa Paul (1987) therefore
try to work out how boys and girls read differently, for instance. Other critics (for instance, Peter Hunt (1991), Perry
Nodelman (1992), John Stephens (1992), and Roderick McGillis (1996)) take this idea a step further and argue that
children are often "colonized" by adults, including children's literature critics, because adults speak on behalf of
children instead of letting children express themselves. However, these critics too can not agree on what then are
"true" children expressing themselves, and which books are therefore "good" for them. Finally, a few critics, notably

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Children's literature criticism

Jacqueline Rose (1984) and Karin Lesnik-Oberstein (1994 and 2004) take this discussion even further, arguing that
identities are created and not "inherent", and that in the case of an identity such as "childhood" it is created by
"adults" in the light of their own perceptions of themselves. That is, "adulthood" defines "childhood" in relation to
differences and similarities it perceives to itself. This post-structuralist approach is similar to that argued by critics in
gender studies such as Judith Butler and is widely accepted and used in sociological and anthropological studies of
childhood (Jenks 1996; Jenks, James and Prout 1997).1

Textual focus
Many scholars approach children's literature from the perspective of literary studies, examining the text as text
without focus on audience. Stephens and McCallum (1998) discuss the intertextuality of children's literature, while
Rose explores the identifying characteristics of the genre. Nodelman (1990) looks at the synthesis of text and
illustration in picturebooks.

Cultural studies focus

Culture studies scholars investigate children's literature as an aspect of culture. Children's literature, in this light, is a
product consumed like other aspects of children's culture: video games, television, and the like. For more analysis of
children's culture in general, see Jenkins. For literature in particular as cultural artifact, see Mackey.

References
Chambers, Aidan (1980). "The Reader in the Book". In C.Carpelan, A.Parpola P.Koskikallio (ed.). The Signal
Approach to Children's Books. Metuchen: Scarecrow. pp.250275.
Hunt, Peter (1991). Criticism, Theory, and Children's Literature. Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN0-631-16231-3.
Hunt, Peter (1996). International Companion Encyclopedia of Children's Literature. London: Routledge.
ISBN0-415-08856-9.
Jenkins, Henry (1998). The Children's Culture Reader. New York: New York UP.
Jenks, Chris (1996). Childhood. London: Routledge.
Jenks, Chris, Allison James and Alan Prout (1997). Theorizing Childhood. Oxford: Blackwells.
Lesnik-Oberstein, Karin (1994). Children's Literature: Criticism and the Fictional Child. Oxford: Clarendon
Press.
Lesnik-Oberstein, Karin (2004). Children's Literature: New Approaches. London: Palgrave.
McGillis, Roderick (1996). The Nimble Reader: Literary Theory and Children's Literature. New York: Twayne
Publishers.
Mackey, Margaret (1998). The Case of Peter Rabbit: Changing Conditions of Literature for Children. New York
and London: Garland.
Neumeyer, Peter (1977). "A Structural Approach to the Study of Literature for Children". Elementary English 44:
883887.
Nodelman, Perry. "Bibliography of Children's Literature Criticism" [1]. Retrieved October 26, 2005.
Nodelman, Perry (1992). "The Other: Orientalism, Colonialism, and Children's Literature". Children's Literature
Association Quarterly 17: 2935.
Nodelman, Perry (1990). Words About Pictures: The Narrative Art of Children's Picture Books. Athens, Ga: U.
Georgia Press. ISBN0-8203-1271-1.
Nodelman, Perry (1996). The Pleasures of Children's Literature, 2nd ed. New York: Longman.
ISBN0-8013-1576-X.
Paul, Lissa (1987). "Enigma Variations: What Feminist Theory Knows about Children's Literature". Signal 53:
186201.

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Children's literature criticism

Rose, Jacqueline (1992 (originally published 1984)). The Case of Peter Pan or the Impossibility of Children's
Fiction. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Stephens, John (1992). Language and Ideology in Children's Fiction. London: Longman.
Stephens, John and Robyn McCallum (1998). Retelling Stories, Framing Culture: Traditional Story and
Metanarratives in Children's Literature. New York: Garland.
Stevenson, Deborah (1994). "'If You Read This Last Sentence, It Won't Tell You Anything': Postmodernism,
Self-Referentiality, and The Stinky Cheese Man". Signal 19: 3234.

External links

Centre for International Research in Childhood: Literature, Culture, Media (CIRCL) [2]
Children's Literature Association [3]
National Centre for Research in Children's Literature [4]
The International Research Society for Children's Literature [5]

References
[1] http:/ / io. uwinnipeg. ca/ ~nodelman/ resources/ allbib. htm
[2] http:/ / www. rdg. ac. uk/ circl/
[3] http:/ / www. childlitassn. org/
[4] http:/ / www. ncrcl. ac. uk/
[5] http:/ / www. irscl. ac. uk/ news. htm

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17

Types of children's literature

Fairy tale
A fairy tale is a type of short story that typically features folkloric
characters, such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, dwarves, giants or
gnomes, and usually magic or enchantments. However, only a
small number of the stories refer to fairies. The stories may
nonetheless be distinguished from other folk narratives such as
legends (which generally involve belief in the veracity of the
events described)[1] and explicitly moral tales, including beast
fables.
In less technical contexts, the term is also used to describe
something blessed with unusual happiness, as in "fairy tale
ending" (a happy ending)[2] or "fairy tale romance" (though not all
fairy tales end happily). Colloquially, a "fairy tale" or "fairy
story" can also mean any far-fetched story or tall tale.
In cultures where demons and witches are perceived as real, fairy
tales may merge into legends, where the narrative is perceived
both by teller and hearers as being grounded in historical truth.
However, unlike legends and epics, they usually do not contain
more than superficial references to religion and actual places,
people, and events; they take place once upon a time rather than in
actual times.[3]

1865 illustration of Tom Thumb and the Giant

Fairy tales are found in oral and in literary form. The history of the fairy tale is particularly difficult to trace because
only the literary forms can survive. Still, the evidence of literary works at least indicates that fairy tales have existed
for thousands of years, although not perhaps recognized as a genre; the name "fairy tale" was first ascribed to them
by Madame d'Aulnoy in the late 17th century. Many of today's fairy tales have evolved from centuries-old stories
that have appeared, with variations, in multiple cultures around the world.[4] Fairy tales, and works derived from
fairy tales, are still written today.
The older fairy tales were intended for an audience of adults, as well as children, but they were associated with
children as early as the writings of the prcieuses; the Brothers Grimm titled their collection Children's and
Household Tales, and the link with children has only grown stronger with time.
Folklorists have classified fairy tales in various ways. The Aarne-Thompson classification system and the
morphological analysis of Vladimir Propp are among the most notable. Other folklorists have interpreted the tales'
significance, but no school has been definitively established for the meaning of the tales.