cover image Minders of Make-Believe: Idealists, Entrepreneurs, and the Shaping of American Children’s Literature

Minders of Make-Believe: Idealists, Entrepreneurs, and the Shaping of American Children’s Literature

Leonard Marcus, . . Houghton Mifflin, $28 (416pp) ISBN 978-0-395-67407-9

This broad survey distills the history of American children’s publishing and librarianship, from colonial times to British interloper Harry Potter, including children’s periodicals, major publishers and changes in printing technology. While Marcus, a veteran historian and critic of children’s publishing (Margaret Wise Brown: Awakened by the Moon ), gives founders like editor Mary Mapes Dodge due respect, he is most in his element chronicling the 20th century: the influence of librarian Anne Carroll Moore, the educational reforms of Lucy Sprague Mitchell, the foresightedness of Harper editor Ursula Nordstrom and the careers of author-illustrators like Maurice Sendak. Devotees of prewar classics may be disappointed that Marcus devotes just two pages to Baum and Denslow; that he says W.E.B. Du Bois’s groundbreaking The Brownies’ Book failed to reach its audience; and that he skips whole generations almost entirely (e.g., 1905–1918). Marcus succeeds best at discussing the subjects of his past research, including Children’s Book Week and the Golden Books series; to his credit, he also builds on Nancy Larrick’s work on how white middle-class prejudices determined children’s books’ lack of racial and ethnic diversity. Drawing upon Horn Book Magazine articles and behind-the-scenes accounts of feuds and trends, Marcus’s history is ideal for industry insiders. (May 7)