History of children's books is surprisingly interesting

From the publication of the lesson-filled "New-England Primer" to the midnight bookstore parties for the latest "Harry Potter" volume, children's books have provided a valuable -- and fascinating -- window into American culture.

That's the premise of "Minders of Make-Believe" (Houghton Mifflin, $28), the newest book by children's book historian Leonard S. Marcus. In this highly readable book aimed at adults, Marcus details the rise (and, often, the fall) of major U.S. children's book publishers, as well as the key role played by librarians in the 20th century in determining what American children should read.

A book focused on the history of American children's book publishing might seem as dull as dishwater to some readers. Nothing could be further from the truth in this book, where Marcus -- drawing on years of research -- masterfully pulls together strands of history and literature to show how the answer to the question of "What should children read?" has changed radically over the past couple of centuries.

Along the way, Marcus introduces readers to characters such as Colonial-era-publishing "impresario" Mason Locke Weems, who wrote the first biography of George Washington, and Edward Stratemeyer, whose publishing syndicate used assembly-line techniques to churn out the "Nancy Drew" and "Hardy Boys" series, among many others.

Marcus provides sketches of such famous children's book creators as Robert McCloskey, Margaret Wise Brown and Maurice Sendak. Readers also make the acquaintance of the many grande dames of children's books during the middle of the 20th century, especially Anne Carroll Moore, the imperious head of the New York Public Library, and her nemesis, Ursula Nordstrom, whose career coups as a noted children's book editor included "Where the Wild Things Are," "Charlotte's Web" and "Harriet the Spy."

In an example of how Marcus skillfully weaves in memorable details, he notes how Moore once asked Nordstrom what qualified her -- someone who wasn't a librarian, teacher or parent -- to publish children's books. Nordstrom replied: "I am a former child, and I haven't forgotten a thing."

"Children's books are really a kind of X-ray into the culture at any given moment," Marcus said during a recent talk about his book at Politics & Prose bookstore in Washington, D.C. "Children's books are the most basic expression of the ideas and dreams of one generation for the next."

But, as Marcus notes in his foreword: "Children's books have had a 300-year-long history in America, and for nearly all that time there has been scant agreement as to the books that were best.

"Yet overall it has been a defining feature of children's publishing, as contrasted with other kinds, that the people who buy the books have not been the people for whom the books were intended."

Today, children's books are big business, as demonstrated by the millions of copies of J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" books. It's hard to imagine a time, less than a century ago, when the bulk of children's books generally were sold only to libraries and schools and thus weren't readily available to parents -- or children -- for purchase.

It was a time when people like Moore, the librarian, sought, often successfully, to dictate the kinds of children's books that should be published. While many of the women who pioneered children's book departments at key publishers agreed with her, others, like Nordstrom, refused to bow to Moore's tastes.

Yet children's literature experts have long been united in their disdain for the most popular reading material among many children -- comics. Yet children voted their preference by their purchases: As Marcus points out, Action Comics, which debuted with Superman in June 1938, sold at the rate of nearly 1 million copies per month, compared to a first printing of 5,000 copies for a top children's picture book at that time.

Meanwhile, in a particularly thought-provoking section of his book, Marcus explores the angst of the children's book world in the 1960s after Nancy Larrick, a former International Reading Association president, published an article titled "The All-White World of Children's Books." While the situation has vastly improved in the years since then, many experts would agree there still is more work to do in this area.

Marcus' book is so rich that it's possible to give only a tiny taste of it. In fact, the book's only flaw is that it seems to end too soon and too abruptly. Otherwise, "Minders of Make-Believe" is "must" reading for anyone who loves children's literature, as well as for those interested in an unusual cultural history book.