Books That Shaped Our Minds

Steve Pitt is a Toronto-based freelance writer and an award-winning journalist. He has written many young adult and children's books, including Day of the Flying Fox: The True Story of World War II Pilot Charley Fox.

The University of British Columbia’s Special Collections and
University Archives Division contains more than 10,000 books for
children and young people. The collection includes volumes from
American, British, and Canadian sources. In 1992, UBC published a
bibliography (Canadian Children’s Books, 1799 to 1939) that featured
children’s literature published in Canada. This subsequent volume is
devoted to 364 books in the Special Collection from British and American
sources.

The criteria for selecting books for inclusion in this catalogue are
fourfold: (i) “[t]o show that the University of British Columbia has a
working collection for study and research comprehensively illustrating
the development of children’s literature ... that shaped what children
read, or, more importantly, what adults felt children should read”;
(ii) “[t]o provide, in conjunction with our catalogue of Canadian
items, the basis for comparative study of British, American and Canadian
trends in children’s writing and publishing”; (iii) “[t]o
emphasize children’s books as an important piece of social history”;
and (iv) “[t]o direct special attention to the work of graphic
artists.”

The contents are arranged in 16 chapters according to their genre. Each
chapter is prefaced by a short introduction that discusses the general
characteristics of these volumes and the specific social context that
produced them. The individual books are listed by date of publication,
followed by a wealth of technical information and a brief summary of
contents.

The painstaking attention to detail required to meet the highest
academic standards is evident throughout this catalogue. All facets of
each book’s publication are listed according to author, title, type,
paper, binding, illustration, watermarks, and even damage inflicted by
previous owners. The commentary is highly readable, sometimes humorous
and always extremely informative. The graphic work and color plates have
been selected with equal care to present a well-rounded view of more
than two centuries of children’s illustration. Books That Shaped Our
Minds was written for serious scholars, but will find another
appreciative audience in laypersons interested in pre–Dr. Seuss
children’s literature.