ABSTRACT
In the world of children's books, there are certain factors which are common to all literatures. The need for stories is universal, and there can be few children, even in the most deprived circumstances, who do not have the opportunity from a very early age, to listen to people telling them stories. In some countries and in many ethnic groups, the custom of oral story-telling continues into adulthood and, even in the most developed countries, as late as the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries it was possible for many people to learn all they needed to know by listening to others.
