Teaching children to read seems like a concept as basic to us as A-B-C. But it hasn’t always been that way. In the early history of the printed word, the lucky few who did learn to read, generally were taught as adults. A new exhibit at the Newberry Library explores a time when it first became common for children to read books and when they started to become learners, consumers, and even writers.
Eight Forty-Eight’s Shawn Campbell recently got a personal tour of Artifacts of Childhood: 700 Years of Children’s Books, from one of the exhibition’s two co-curators, Paul Gehl. He says one of the earliest books in the collection – a 1485 edition of Aesop’s Fables – was a common teaching tool.
Music Button: King Palmer, "Holiday Playtime" from the complilation Music for TV Dinners (Scamp Records)
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