Carpenter Nancy - Balderdash!: John Newbery and the boisterous birth of childrens books

To every librarian who has assisted me on my projects, including those in Special Collections, for getting those tiny, wonderful antique books into my hands M. M.

In memory of Vinnie Kralyevichwhose mind bubbled with ideas N. C.

Text copyright 2017 by Michelle Markel.
Illustrations copyright 2017 by Nancy Carpenter.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Names: Markel, Michelle, author. | Carpenter, Nancy, illustrator.
Title: Balderdash! : John Newbery and the boisterous birth of childrens books / by Michelle Markel ; illustrated by Nancy Carpenter.
Description: San Francisco : Chronicle Books, 2017.
Identifiers: LCCN 2015028182 | ISBN 9780811879224 (Hardcover) | ISBN 9781452130798 (epub 2) | ISBN 9781452164489 (mobi) | ISBN 9781452164496 (epub 3) | ISBN 9781452164502 (epib)
Subjects: LCSH: Newbery, John, 1713-1767Juvenile literature. | Publishers and publishingEnglandBiographyJuvenile literature. | Childrens literaturePublishingEnglandHistory18th century. | Newbery MedalHistoryJuvenile literature.
Classification: LCC Z325.N53 M37 2016 | DDC 070.5092dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015028182

Design by Kristine Brogno.
Typeset in Old Claude, Veneer, and Zapatista.
The illustrations in this book were rendered in pen and ink and digital media.

Chronicle Books LLC
680 Second Street
San Francisco, California 94107

Chronicle Bookswe see things differently.
Become part of our community at www.chroniclekids.com.

THIS BOOKS FOR YOU.

Every page,

every picture,

every word, and even its

letters are designed for

your pleasure.

Lucky, lucky reader.

BE GLAD ITS NOT 1726.

In those days of powdered wigs and petticoats, England was brimming with books. Books of pirates and monsters and miniature people. Tales of travels and quests and shipwrecks and crimes. At the fairs, in the market stalls, in the bookshop windows were hundreds of wonderful books.

But not for children.

Oh, no.

CHILDREN HAD TO READ

preachy poems and fables,

religious texts that made them fear that death was near,

and manuals that told them where to stand,

how to sit,

not to laugh,

and scores of other rules.

Because the
future champion OF CHILDRENS BOOKS
was just a lad.

HIS NAME WAS
John Newbery.

The boy lived on a farm but fancied reading more than forking hay, so upon coming of age, he set off to work for a printer.

John got a kick out of
TYPE STICKS AND TYPE STANDS AND CHASES AND QUOINS.

He came to love galleys and presses and the smell of fresh ink.

As soon as he was able,
John became a publisher himself.

Then he went big timehe moved to
London,
CENTER OF THE BOOKSELLING TRADE.

Smack dab in the heart of the book marketplace, in St. Pauls Churchyard,

he found a place for a store.

Brilliant!

The streets were bustling with tradesmen, doctors, lawyers, clerks, and many other eager readers.

John wanted to publish fine books for the whole lot of themand for their children. He knew the youngsters were hungry for stories. Many boys and girls handed coppers to street hawkers for ugly chapbooks of fairy tales, or for chopped-up versions of grown-up books.

JOHN LIKED CHILDREN.

Why shouldnt they have delightful books of their own?

John! What were you thinking!

What about the parents? Many mums and dads worried that if their little nippers read fun books, theyd turn wild as beasts!

Reading should be a treat for children.

Thats what a famous philosopher wrote, and John agreed.

So did two other publishers. One issued a book with alphabet rhymes and well-known stories, and the other printed itty-bitty books about animals, plants, and local buildings.

John wanted his first book for children to be irresistible. Thered be letters from Jack the Giant-Killer.

Thered be pictures of PITCH AND HUSSEL, HOOP AND HIDE, blindmans buff, and other childrens games.

Plus ABCs, PROVERBS, and other classic material, and for extra punch

A MESSAGE TO MUMS AND DADS.

He ordered gilt floral paper for the covers, and titled his creation
A LITTLE PRETTY POCKET-BOOK.

Price of book alone, 6 pence, with a ball or pincushion, 8 pence, the notice read.

A BOOK AND TOY! WHY HADNT ANYONE ELSE THOUGHT OF THAT?

Then John set his bright books in the window of his store, and wondered, Will the parents buy them? Are they too... cheerful?

The children gobbled them up like plum cakes.

John thought if they liked fun, attractive books, theyd probably like a magazine, too. Grown-ups read magazineswhy shouldnt children?

A MAGAZINE WITH
rhymes, riddles, recipes, stories.

Adorned with crisp copperplate engravings.

Working in the back of his bookshop, or chatting with his chums in the tavern, Johns mind bubbled with more ideas. For older children, he printed books about arithmetic, geography, astronomy, and other subjectsincluding one taught by a pretend boy philosopher named Tom Telescope.

Then John came up with his most ingenious product for youngsters yet. A novel! Grown-ups were reading novels, why shouldnt the little masters and ladies? One long, luscious story to savor for several days.