ed in mid-18th century England.[21] A growing polite middle-class and the influence of L

In Italy, Giovanni Francesco Straparola released The Facetious Nights of Straparola in the 1550s. Called the first European storybook to contain fairy-tales, it eventually had 75 separate stories and written for an adult audience.[19] Giulio Cesare Croce also borrowed from stories children enjoyed for his books.[20]:757
Russia's earliest children's books, primers, appeared in the late 16th century. An early example is ABC-Book, an alphabet book published by Ivan Fyodorov in 1571.[1]:765 The first picture book published in Russia, Karion Istomin's The Illustrated Primer, appeared in 1694.[1]:765 Peter the Great's interest in modernizing his country through Westernization helped Western children's literature dominate the field through the 1700s.[1]:765 Catherine the Great wrote allegories for children, and during her reign, Nikolai Novikov started the first juvenile magazine in Russia.[1]:765
Origins of the modern genre[edit]
The modern children's book emerged in mid-18th century England.[21] A growing polite middle-class and the influence of Lockean theories of childhood innocence combined to create the beginnings of childhood as a concept. A Little Pretty Pocket-Book, written and published by John Newbery, is widely considered as the first modern children's book, published in 1744. It was a landmark as the first children's publication aimed at giving enjoyment to children,[22] containing a mixture of rhymes, picture stories and games for pleasure.[23] Newbery believed that play was a better enticement to children's good behaviour than physical discipline,[24] and the child was to record their behaviour daily.
The book was child sized with a brightly coloured cover that appealed to children—something new in the publishing industry. Known as gift books, these early books became the precursor to the toy books popular in the 19th century.[25] Newbery was also adept at marketing this new genre successfully. According to journal The Lion and the Unicorn, "Newbery's genius was in developing the fairly new product category, children's books, through his frequent advertisements ... and his clever ploy of introducing additional titles and products into the body of his children's books."[26][27]
The improvement in the quality of books for children, as well as the diversity of topics he published, helped make Newbery the leading producer of children's books in his time. He published his own books as well as those by authors like Samuel Johnson and Oliver Goldsmith - [28]:36[29] the latter may have wrote The History of Little Goody Two-Shoes, Newbery's most popular book.
Another philosopher influential on the development of children's literature, was Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who argued that children should be allowed to develop naturally and joyously. His idea of appealing to a children's natural interests took hold among writers for children.[7]:41 Popular examples included Thomas Day's The History of Sandford and Merton, four volumes that embody Rousseau theories. Furthermore, Maria and Richard Lovell Edgeworth's Practical Education: The History of Harry and Lucy (1780) urged children to teach