Last week The New Yorker published an excellent piece by Jill Lepore called “The Lion and the Mouse.” Anne Caroll Moore pretty much created the children’s librarian profession in New York City, first at Pratt Institute (my grad school alma mater) and then with the creation of the children’s department of the New York Public Library. She was hugely influential in the world of children’s books; she essentially began the critiquing of children’s books as literature. But she was also considered humorless and rigid about what makes good children’s literature. This article explores how she kept her influence until she tried to block publication of E.B. White’s Stuart Little because, basically, it wasn’t childish enough. It’s an excellent look at two approaches to books for children that are still debated today: those that shelter children from anything unpleasant, and those that feel children can handle a lot more than adults give them credit for.
Tag: jill lepore