HoB_ABCs

Title Large Letters for the Little Ones

Full description In this book the alphabet is depicted with young children performing activities associated with each letter. The letters serve as an architectural framework as some of the children sit, lean, lie, and stand on the letters as if they are actual physical entities. The overall tone of this book is sweet, calm, and idyllic, reflecting the notions of childhood and the expectations of child behavior during the 19th century.

Literacy Simple depictions of the letters with children and accompanying verses requires the reader to know how to read, but not at a highly advanced reading level. The book does require a certain level of graphical literacy. Since the depicted letters serve as an architectural framework for the children, a reader would have to understand the unrealistic proportions and existence of the letters in a physical reality. A child would attain this graphical literacy through time and exposure to such images.

Childhood The quiet and idyllic nature of the book reflects the Romantic notions of children and childhood during the late 18th to the mid-19th century. The images are vignettes, creating an untarnished and fantasy setting away from the harsh realities of the world. Within the vignettes the children are illustrated to appear doll-like, with innocent and sweet faces. The children quietly pass the time with leisure activities such as watching sailboats and playing with dolls. Through the book's illustrations the Romantic Era's notions of angelic children and the innocence of childhood are conveyed.

Iconography Looking at the illustrations in this book viewers are able to see how middle to upper class children were pictured during the 19th century. Children of the upper and middle class had the ability to engage in leisure activities unlike children of the lower class who were expected to work once they were old enough.

Most of the figures in the book are doing relatively passive activities such as reading, sitting, politely talking to one another, etc. None of the children are fighting or running around. A few of the children are playing, but they are doing quiet activities such as observing butterflies or collecting flowers.

The overall quiet and idyllic tone of the images adds to the leisurely nature of the activities depicted. However, most of the children do not directly gaze at the viewer and many of the figures have downcast eyes. The indirect gazes of the children reflect the expectations that children, of any class, were supposed to be obedient, submissive, and well behaved.

Production This book was published in 1865 by Hurd & Houghton, and is one of the many publications produced by this New York company. Henry Oscar Houghton started working for Freeman & Bolles and eventually took over the business in 1852 and renamed the company Riverside Press. In 1864, Houghton partnered with Melanchton Hurd and established Hurd & Houghton. The publishing firm grew quickly and success led to an increased workforce in order to accommodate new orders. Today, Hurd & Houghton is known as Houghton Mifflin and continues to publish educational materials such as textbooks, assessments, fiction, and non-fiction books.