The history of children's books

In 1901, Beatrix Potter had 250 copies of The Tale of Peter Rabbit printed at her own expense, because no publisher wanted it. A year later, Frederick Warne published it.¹ BookTrust still recommends it today, with an interest age of 3 to 6.²

In 1926, Methuen published A. A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh.³ BookTrust gives it an interest age of 4+ and a reading age of 7+: a book to be read aloud long before a child reads it alone.³

In 1936, the Carnegie Medal was founded in Britain, in memory of Andrew Carnegie. An award for illustration followed in 1955, for a long time called the Kate Greenaway Medal.⁵⁶

In 1947, Harper & Brothers published Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown, illustrated by Clement Hurd. It never won the Caldecott Medal, contrary to a widespread belief. Anne Carroll Moore, the influential children's librarian of the New York Public Library, rejected it, and the library didn't add it to its catalogue until 1972.⁷

In 1958, William Collins published Michael Bond's A Bear Called Paddington.⁴

In 1963, Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are appeared in the United States. It won the Caldecott Medal in 1964, and BookTrust recommends it in Britain.⁸

In 1968, two books arrived that British children still grow up with: Judith Kerr's The Tiger Who Came to Tea, published by William Collins¹⁰, and David McKee's Elmer, first published by Dobson Books and newly illustrated at Andersen Press from 1989.⁹

In 1969 came Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar. It has since sold more than 55 million copies worldwide and been translated into 70 languages.¹¹

In 1974, Jill Murphy's The Worst Witch began a school story for young readers; BookTrust gives it an interest age of 6+.¹²

From 1990, Ireland had its own children's book awards, first as the Bisto Book of the Year, later the CBI Book of the Year and today the KPMG Children's Books Ireland Awards. They are open to authors and illustrators born or living in Ireland, and books in English or Irish.¹³

In 1994, Orion published Francesca Simon's first Horrid Henry, illustrated by Tony Ross¹⁵, and Walker Books published Sam McBratney and Anita Jeram's Guess How Much I Love You.¹⁷

On 26 June 1997, Bloomsbury published Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in Britain.¹⁸ In 1999, Macmillan published Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler's The Gruffalo.¹⁶

Books from other languages found British readers in their own way. In 2003, Chicken House published Cornelia Funke's Inkheart in Anthea Bell's translation.¹⁹ In 2007, the small Hawthorn Press brought out Pancakes for Findus, keeping the Swedish names Pettson and Findus; the American edition calls the pair Festus and Mercury.²⁰

In 2005, HarperCollins published Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers, who was born in Belfast.²¹ In 2007, Amulet Books published the first Diary of a Wimpy Kid in the United States; in Britain, the series is published by Puffin.²²²³

Julia Donaldson was Children's Laureate from 2011 to 2013.²⁴ In 2011, Scholastic published Liz Pichon's The Brilliant World of Tom Gates.²⁵

The two Carnegie awards now go by the name Yoto Carnegies. They are run by CILIP, the library and information association, with BookTrust involved in the nominations.⁵

On 10 September 2026, Macmillan published a new Gruffalo story, Gruffalo Granny. BookTrust sends 40,000 copies to libraries as part of its Storytime programme.²⁶

In Ireland, more children learn in Irish than ever: in 2023 there were 188 Gaelscoileanna at primary level outside the Gaeltacht, with over 40,000 pupils. Fifty years earlier there were ten.²⁷