ABSTRACT
The idea of children’s fiction arose in middle-class homes where wives and children were not needed in productive labour and where Protestant commitment suggested the need to pay attention to the child’s growing mind. One of the earliest and most interesting cases is that of Jane Johnstone (1706-59), a vicar’s wife with three sons and a daughter, whose collection of home-made books and toys was discovered in 1986 and was described in two of the chapters in Hilton et al. (1997). What she wrote for her children is only moderately interesting compared with the fact that she did it in the first place. Hers is a very early example of women composing fiction for their own children and not seeking wider publication. Another, much later, example is provided by stories written by Mrs Corbet in the 1890s. There are probably examples today. This aspect of the lives of women has been largely lost to history. Men who composed stories for their own children or those of friends were much more likely to seek publication. Lewis Carroll’s Alice books, the fairy stories of Oscar Wilde, The Wind in the Willows and Peter Pan all started life that way.
