Genres in Children's Books
|
Mass Market: These books can be picture books, fiction, nonfiction, traditional literature, but of lower printing quality and design than their more literary counterparts: poorer editing, graphic design, paper quality, binding, and, more often than not, story execution.
Mass Market books have a long tradition beginning with chapbooks soon after the invention of the printing press. Dime novels and "penny dreadfuls" continued the tradition until the end of the 19th century.
They are meant to be inexpensively produced and often have lower quality in both literary and artistic arenas; they appeal to a less sophisticated reader and have the advantage of both mass production and low cost. Many books become classics (the definition for classic: a book that stays in print through more than one generation). These titles go beyond the bookstore, into big box chain stores like Target and Wal-Mart and any place paperbacks are sold.
The word “genre fiction” was first associated with these books so it has had, until recently, a somewhat pejorative connotation.
Lately, however, the mass market has taken a decided turn upwards as high quality stories are produced and distributed to mass market venues.
|
||
|
Mysteries |
Mysteries, Westerns, Romances for adults, led to adventure stories and mysteries and adventures for children.
Many mysteries for children were written by syndicates such as the Stratemeyer Syndicate rather than single authors. The names Carolyn Keene and Franklin W. Dixon are world famous.
The Boxcar Children books did have a single author,Gertrude Chandler Warner ; after her death her books were continued by the publisher. |
The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner Nancy Drew by Carolyn Keene Hardy Boys by Franklin W. Dixon |
|
The early series books for young children were sugar coated and without much depth, but they appealed to children.
Little Golden Books debuted in 1942.
|
Little Golden Books (some classics here) Poky Little Puppy |
|
|
Adventure stories for kids |
Tom Swift Trixie Belden
American Girl Animorphs |
|
|
TV and Movie and Toy Tie-Ins |
Books as commercial tie-in
|
Raggedy Ann and Andy by Johnny Gruelle Barney the Dinosaur |
|
Comic Books |
Until the electronic age, these little pulp paper books were the poor step-child of the literary world…but graphic novels have turned them into a Cinderella. |
Archie
|