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Wales
Menna Lloyd Williams
It is believed that the first Welsh language book for children was Anrheg i Blant (1816), a
translation of James Janeway’s A Token for Children. In the nineteenth century there
were very few books for children in Wales apart from religious tracts, pamphlets and
catechisms designed to save children’s souls. Between 1823 and 1891, many religious
magazines appeared, for example Yr Addysgydd (1823), Yr Oenig (1857–1959), Trysorfa
y Plant (1862–1965), and Y Winllan (1848–1965).
At the end of the century, Owen Morgan Edwards, a history don and fellow of Lincoln
College, Oxford, and afterwards His Majesty’s Inspector of Schools had a new vision of
what children’s literature should be. He believed that the children of Wales should be
familiar with the historical and literary heritage of their country and their mother
tongue. In 1892 he published Cymru’r Plant, a monthly magazine for children. His aim
was to educate children through the magazine by discussing subjects such as nature,
science, history, geography, music and literature. From then the motive behind
publishing books for children changed from the religious to the educational and many
classroom ‘readers’ and ‘learners’ were published.
During the 1920s and 1930s some authors began to write adventure and history
stories for children. In 1925, Llyfr y Bobl Bach was published, the first bumper book for
children. Another milestone in the field was the publication in 1931 of Llyfr Mawr y Plant,
a sumptuous and colourful publication. One of the main characters in this book was
Wil Cwac Cwac, who is still popular with children today.
In the early 1940s, Welsh-medium primary schools were established, followed by
Welsh-medium secondary schools. This development created a new demand for Welsh-
language books for children and the response to this demand can be seen in the pattern
of publishing for children over the last forty years. The late 1950s and 1960s saw the
setting-up of the Welsh Joint Education Committee and the Welsh Books Council, two
institutions which support children’s books.
Publishing in a minority language results in relatively small print runs, thus the
granting of subsidies becomes a major factor. Until about 1978, the Welsh Joint
Education Committee was the only institution to operate a children’s book publishing
programme on the basis of guaranteed sales to local education authorities. Over the
years this scheme has ensured the publication of many original Welsh fiction and non-
fiction, and translations of numerous colourful picture books. A further source of grant
aid was the Arts Council, whose Literature Committee established a Children’s Book
Panel in 1976. Through this panel, ambitious projects such as Y Mabinogion, Culhwch