Forgotten Books of the American Nursery A History of the Development of the American Story-Book

"Forgotten Books of the American Nursery" by Rosalie Vrylina Halsey, traces the story of how children's books in America grew from colonial times into the early years of the nation. The book looks at the steps in the making of these books, noting their past unattractiveness while recognizing the important look into past childhoods and what society cared about, during that time. It highlights the strange nature of early books for kids, like chapbooks and toy-books, which had lots of moral and religious teachings. Halsey shows how the culture and society of those times, like Puritan beliefs and the importance of religious teaching, shaped what kids read. She states that looking at these old books lets us see what life was like for children long ago and marks how literature for young people has changed.