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Children's literature (also called juvenile literature) consists of the stories (including in books) and poems which are enjoyed by or targeted primarily at children. Modern children's literature is classified in different ways, including by genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's literature has its roots in the stories and songs that adults told their children before publishing existed, as part of the wider oral tradition. Because of this it can be difficult to track the development of early stories. Even since widespread printing, many classic tales were originally created for adults and have been adapted for a younger audience. Although originally children's literature was often a re-writing of other forms, since the 1400s there has been much literature aimed specifically at children, often with a moral or religious message. To some extent the nature of children's fiction, and the divide between older children's and adult fiction became blurred as time went by and tales appealing to both adult and child had substantial commercial success.

There is no single, widely accepted definition of children's literature.[1]:15-17 It can be broadly defined as anything that children read,[2] but a more useful definition may be fiction, poetry, and drama intended for and used by children and young people,[3]:xvii a list to which many add non-fiction. Nancy Anderson of the College of Education at the University of South Florida defines children's literature as all books written for children, "excluding works such as comic books, joke books, cartoon books, and nonfiction works that are not intended to be read from front to back, such as dictionaries, encyclopedias, and other reference material".[4] Classifying children's literature is equally confusing. As the International Companion Encyclopedia Of Children's Literature says, "The boundaries of genre... are not fixed but blurred."[1]:4 Sometimes no agreement can be reached even on whether a given work is best categorized as adult or children's literature, and many books are marketed for both adults and children. J. K. Rowling's series about Harry Potter was written and marketed for children, but it was so popular among children and adults that The New York Times created a separate bestseller list for children's books to list them.[5] When people think of children's literature they probably mean books, or at least print. But narratives existed before printing, and the roots of some best-known children's tales go back to storytellers of old.[6]:30 Seth Lerer, in the opening of Children's Literature: A Reader's History from Aesop to Harry Potter, says "This book presents a history of what children have heard and read... The history I write of is a history of reception" Children's stories have always been accompanied by pictures.[7]:320 A papyrus from Byzantine Egypt shows illustrations accompanying the story of Hercules' labors.[9] Today children's books are illustrated in a way that rarely occurs in adult literature in the 20th or 21st century, except in graphic novels. Generally, artwork plays a greater role in books intended for the youngest readers (especially pre-literate children). Children's picture books can be an accessible source of high quality art for young children. Even after children learn to read well enough to enjoy a story without illustrations, they continue to appreciate the occasional drawings found in chapter books. According to Joyce Whalley in The International Companion Encyclopedia of Children's Literature, an illustrated book differs from a book with illustrations, in that "a good illustrated book is one where the pictures enhance or add depth to the text."[1]:221 Using this definition, the first illustrated children's book is considered Orbis Pictus by the Moravian author Comenius. Orbis Pictus had a picture on every page, followed by the name of the object in Latin and English. It was translated into English the year after it appeared, and was used in homes and schools around Europe and Great Britain for years.[1]:220 Early children's books like Orbis Pictus were illustrated by woodcut, and many times the same image was repeated in a number of books regardless of how appropriate the illustration was to the story.[7]:322 Newer processes, including copper and steel engraving began being used in the 1830s. One of the first uses of Chromolithography, a way of making multi-colored prints, in a children's book was Struwwelpeter, published in Germany in 1845. English illustrator Walter Crane refined its use in children's books in the late 1800s. Another illustration method appearing in children's books was etching, used by George Cruikshank in the 1850s. By the 1860s top artists in the west were illustrating for children, including Crane, Randolph Caldecott, Kate Greenaway and John Tenniel. Most pictures were still black-and-white, and many color pictures were hand colored, often by child labor.[1]:224-226 The Essential Guide to Children's Books and Their Creators credits Caldecott with "the concept of extending the meaning of text beyond literal visualization".[10]:350 In India Nandalal Bose, whose paintings are considered artistic treasures,[11] illustrated books for children from the late 1800s into the 1900s.[1]:811 The early Twentieth-century brought more highly regarded illustrators to the pages of children's books. Artists like Kay Nielson, Edmund Dulac and Arthur Rackham produced illustrations that are still reprinted today.[1]:224-227 The development in printing capabilities found itself reflected in children's books. After World War II offset lithography became more refined, and by the 1950s painter-style illustrations like Brian Wildsmith's were common.