Oak Knoll

First trade edition of this rare and sought-after title by Chris Loker and published by the Grolier Club. This milestone catalogue showcases one hundred enduring classics of children's literature, each printed between 1600 and 2000. It contains brief but informative descriptions and color photographs of all one hundred famous children's books as well as provenance information for each specific copy shown. The books are organized chronologically, which allows readers to see the variety and growth of genres of literature for children from early forms of instructional primers to exuberant expressions of rhymes, stories, novels, and picture books. An appendix lists historic artifacts related to the books, including original illustrations, autograph letters, manuscript drafts, antique hornbooks, ivory alphabet discs, toys, dolls, and games, in order to demonstrate the interrelationships between children's books and the culture of their times.

Four scholarly essays address various aspects of children and their books during different historical eras. The essays explore children's literacy and education in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the impact of technological developments on children's book design, production, and marketing in the nineteenth century, and the evolution of the picture book genre in the context of important art and illustration movements in the twentieth century. Also included is a two-century history of children's book collectors, many of whose books are found in this catalogue.

Some of the beloved books included herein are Grimm's Fairy Tales, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Tom Sawyer, Treasure Island, Peter Rabbit, The Wizard of Oz, Peter Pan, Winnie-the-Pooh, Charlotte's Web, The Cat in the Hat, Where the Wild Things Are, and Harry Potter. These classics and others-many famous today, some only in their time-will delight adults and children alike.

One Hundred Books Famous in Children's Literature is the sixth in the series known as the Grolier Hundreds. The Grolier Club has published only five such catalogues in its 130-year history, focusing previously on English Literature (1903), American Literature (1946), Science (1958), Medicine (1994), and Fine Printed Books (1999). These admired works have set the standard for book collecting and reading enjoyment in their fields, and the compilers expect no less from this new addition to the Grolier Hundred canon.