French-Speaking Canada
Elvine Gignac-PharandFrench Canadian children’s literature is constantly developing, and scholarly research in
this area is expanding. During the latter part of the nineteenth century, children in
French-speaking Canada were exposed to an oral literature that had been handed down
from generation to generation by story-tellers. Apart from a few translations and imports
arriving from France, books written by authors Philippe Aubert de Gaspé, Patrice
Lacombe, Joseph Marmette, Pierre-Georges Boucher de Boucherville and Laure Conan
were given as school prizes. Children were subjected to what Louise Lemieux in Plein
feux sur la littérature de jeunesse au Canada français (1972) describes as une littérature
spontanée or récupérée as opposed to intentionnelle (32). According to her, such
literature only appeared in the 1920s. In 1923, Claire Daveluy’s book, Les adventures de
Perrine et de Charlot, first serialised in L’Oiseau bleu was published. The principal
characters of this pioneer story were orphan children who settle in New France. Other
works followed such as Le Petit Page de Frontenac (1930) by Maxine, Aux quatre coins
des routes canadiennes (1921) by Eugène Achard and L’ABC du petit naturaliste
canadien (9 vols) by Harry Bernard.
In the twentieth century certain events influenced children’s literature in French
Canada. The Second World War brought with it a scarcity of children’s books coming
from Europe, and Canadian publishers tried to fill the gap with national publications.
These consisted largely of fairy tales and legends, written by Achard, and Marius
Barbeau whose Les Contes du grand-père sept-heures (1950– 1953) filled 12 volumes.
Felix Leclerc also produced his trilogy of fables and poems, Adagio (1943), Allegro
(1944), and Andante (1944), while Guy Boulizon and Ambroise Lafortune wrote
adventure stories about Boy Scouts. Public interest in children’s books soon
diminished, and changes were needed to reflect new societal attitudes. Thus was born
l’âge d’or (1955–1964) of children’s literature. Some of the writers who became well-
known included Paule Daveluy (L’Été enchanté) (1958), Yves Thériault (Alerte au camp
29) (1959), Claudine Vallerand (Chante et joue) (1957), Monique Corriveau (Le Secret de
Vanille) (1958), and Suzanne Martel (Quatre Montréalais en l’an 3000) (1971). Other
popular children’s books were Claude Aubry’s Le Loup de Noël (1962), and Andrée
Maillet’s Le Marquiset têtu et le mulot réprobateur (1944).
Surprisingly, after this successful period there was a drastic decline. In fact, very few
books were published from 1965 to 1970, and only seven were published in the latter
year. Books were no longer given as school prizes. Teaching in Quebec was secularised
and the province’s editors chose to concentrate on the production of textbooks. At the
same time, the Revolution tranquille in that part of French Canada caused the
reassessment of traditional values. The numbers of books published diminished, leaving
the door wide open to French and Belgian imports which resurfaced in the children’s
book market.
This dramatic slump was followed in the 1970s and 1980s by an increase in
production which has continued into the 1990s. Created in 1971, a corporation known
as Communication-Jeunesse has remained a key element in the promotion and
distribution of Canadian children’s books written in Quebec. It publishes a repertoire of
people with an interest in children’s literature, and biographies of the créateurs et
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