ABSTRACT
In the early eighteenth century, when peddlers’ wares included English-language chapbooks, these literary portrayals cast children as villains, adventurers and imaginative creatures who could easily transform themselves into miscreants, thieves and tricksters. Little ones could pose as innocents, drawing attention away from their wily peers who meanwhile deftly parted a wealthy man from his purse. Throughout the eighteenth century, such pictures of children were meant both to entertain little ones and to remind adults of their leadership role, guiding the young to moral and productive pursuits.
