| "Here and now" | in the early 1900s, Lucy Sprague Mitchell pointed out the young child's preoccupation with self and interest in daily experiences. Her collection of stories provided simple little tales of the small child's everyday activities.
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| Abridged version | a shortened or condensed version.
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| Anthropomorphic | ascribing human characteristics or form to something that is not human.
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| Big business conglomerate | recently, mergers have occurred between publishing houses and large conglomerates; publishing companies owned by a large conglomerate must show a profit measured against the success of other companies in the corporation, most of which have nothing to do with publishing.
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| Chapbook | a small, inexpensive, folded-paper booklet sold by peddlers, or chapmen, that appeared in the late 1500s and achieved real popularity in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
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| Classic | a work of the highest quality, or a work that is of enduring interest.
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| Classic narrative approach | reissues and new editions of old favorites appeal to adult book buyers because they are familiar; today's editions of classic stories often have the added attraction of appearing with illustrations that benefit from improved technology.
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| Didactic tales | juvenile literature determined to influence the moral development of children.
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| Dime novel | a melodramatic novel published in paperback, usually sold for ten cents circa 1850-1920.
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| End grain of a block of wood | Thomas Bewick perfected the white-line method of engraving on the end grain of a block of wood to achieve a delicacy of line not found in usual carved wood block designs.
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| First-person telling | the story is told from the point of view of the protagonist, in the character's own words.
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| Frontispiece | an illustrated leaf that precedes the title page of a book.
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| Gilt paper | gold-colored paper
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| Global education | education that reflects cultural diversity.
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| Hornbook | a little wooden paddle to which was pasted a sheet of parchment printed with the alphabet, the vowels, and the Lord's Prayer. A thin sheet of transparent protective horn bound with strips of brass covered the text. Most hornbooks were tiny, measuring 2 by 5 inches.
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| Jobber | a person or company whose entire business is supplying book fairs.
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| Lecture approach | conveying a message through warning or lengthy instruction; in previous centuries, children's books often took the form of a lecture on correct behavior.
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| Literature-based reading programs | reading programs in which instruction is based in authentic children's literature. The whole-language movement and new understandings about children's literacy learning brought the use of real literature to the classrooms of many schools.
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| Manuscript | a text written before the invention of printing
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| Moralistic | concerned with the principles of right and wrong.
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| Moral platitude | a flat or dull remark about correct behavior.
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| New realism | new realism in children's literature can probably be dated from the publication of Harriet the Spy (1964) by Louise Fitzhugh. Children readily identified with Harriet, for she had the courage to think and say the things they didn't dare to say, including swearing. Following the breakthrough made by Harriet the Spy, many longstanding taboos in children's literature came tumbling down.
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| Oral tradition | before there were books, there were stories. In the medieval days--from the fifth to the fifteenth century--stories were told around the fires in cottages or sung in the great halls of castles. Young and old alike gathered to listen, to be entertained after a hard day's labor.
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| Parody | an imitation of a serious work of literature.
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| Pirated book | early books often contained both pictures and stories taken from other books.
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| Preschool movement | this movement influenced the development of children's books. Lucy Sprague Mitchell of the Bank Street School pointed out the young child's preoccupation with self and interest in daily experiences. Her collection of stories provided simple little tales of the small child's everyday activities. Increased understanding of human development brought the recognition that the child was naturally curious and actively sought information; this knowledge inspired the creation of new nonfiction books for children.
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| Prig | a person who demonstrates exaggerated propriety and precise conformity.
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| Primer | a book designed for teaching children how to read.
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| Prototype | something that exemplifies the typical qualities of a group, or the original model on which a group of things is based.
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| Pseudonym | a pen name; a made-up name used by an author to conceal his or her true identity.
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| Question-and-answer approach | some early lesson books followed the form of a dialogue between the pupil and teacher, usually in the form of questions and answers. Aldhelm, abbot of Malmesbury during the seventh century, is credited with introducing the question-and-answer approach. The "Goodly Godly" books of the Puritans followed a question-and-answer approach. For example, there was the question "How did God make you?" The child had to memorize the accompanying answer: "I was conceived in sin and born in iniquity."
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| Religious tract | a religious pamphlet.
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| Rhymed couplets | some early lesson books followed the form of rhymed couplets, which made for easy memorization. A rhymed couplet consists of two lines of text that each end with words that rhyme with each other.
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| Robinsonade | The Life and Strange and Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (1719) was later printed in an abridged and pocket-size volume that became a "classic" of children's literature. This book was so popular that it spawned many imitations--so many, in fact, that a word, Robinsonade, was coined for them.
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| Secular reader | a book that contained stories unrelated to religious practices.
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| Spin-off books | a book that is related in some way to a previously published book.
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| Stereotype | a preconceived idea about something or someone, generally shared by a group of people, that often has little or no basis in fact.
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| Taboos in children's literature | prior to the 1960s it was unheard of to include such topics as war, drugs, divorce, abortion, sex, and homosexuality in children's literature.
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