User:Wadewitz/Draft1

I will be working on a history of children's literature here. Hopefully, I will be able to post it as an article sometime in the future. Please post all comments to the talk page.

Introduction
There is no single moment when children's literature "began" or was "invented." The generally cited date of 1744, referring to the publication of John Newbery's A Little Pretty Pocket-book, has been challenged by recent work on early eighteenth-century publishing. While once scholars believed that Newbery was the first publisher to make children's literature available to the public, they now know that publishers such as Mary Cooper did so before him. Scholars have also broadened their definition of children's literature beyond F. J. Harvey Darton's [insert definition] to include textbooks, religious tracts and chapbooks; consequently, one can look at much literature before 1744. One of the richest sources for such work as been Puritan literature for children. Thus, it is the definition of children's literature that one adopts that determines its "origin."