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Religious Writing for Children
In its early stages of development, children’s literature was closely associated with
religion; it had a strong didactic purpose and was influenced by religious requirements
and perceptions. The production of manuscripts and early printed books was a costly
business and the products far too valuable to be purely for children’s entertainment.
Formal provision for the acquisition of literacy developed in conjunction with religious
institutions and it is not surprising, therefore, that the earliest children’s books were
intended to propound and support prevailing beliefs. Although children’s books
gradually became less overtly didactic, they have continued to prescribe what are
regarded as morally and socially acceptable behaviour and attitudes. Even as the
barriers around topics previously considered unsuitable for books for young people have
been pushed back, ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ have continued to be clearly signalled.
Although these essays look at religion in children’s literature from the viewpoint of
countries which regard themselves as primarily Christian, the points which are made
can be paralleled in countries where other religions predominate, although timescales
may vary. For example, in a survey of the children’s literature available in Kuwait in the
mid-1980s, religion was the prevalent theme, with books containing explanations of
religious rites and stories from the Koran (Ramadan 1988).
Catechistical, Devotional and Biblical Writing
Ruth B.BottigheimerCatechisms and Bibles before 1900Catechisms for children represent the oldest form of religious instruction. Known since
the early middle ages, catechisms multiplied dramatically in the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries in conjunction with the Protestant and Catholic Reformations.
Early catechisms were directed indiscriminately at ‘the simple’, a concept that—in the
words of Richard Barnard’s Two twinnes: or, two parts of one portion of scripture (1613)—
included adult ‘babes in knowledge’ together with young ‘babes in yeares’. In the
eighteenth century and after, children were often distinguished as a separate, educable
group. Catechesis as a pedagogical practice affected only a small proportion of Jewish
children (cf. Abraham Jagel’s Catechismus Judaeorum, c. 1587 et seq.).