A historical and critical survey traces the development of literature for young readers from early instructional formats such as horn-books and primers through the contributions of European storytellers and early juvenile publishers. It examines pedagogical influences including Rousseauian ideas and the Sunday-school movement, and considers the work of moralists, poets, and reforming authors who shaped the old-fashioned juvenile library. Practical chapters address classification of children's books, the complementary roles of library, school, and home in cultivating taste, criteria and lists for book selection, and contemporary experimental tendencies. Appendices provide selected book-lists and bibliographical notes for librarians and parents.