The abundance of children's magazines allows you to choose a publication for every taste and budget. However, children's periodicals appeared only three centuries ago, and its modern canons were established even later.
The advent of children's literature
Until the 17th century, children's literature, as a direction, did not exist. In society, it was believed that children had enough oral traditions of grandmothers and nannies, and in more adult years they did not need additional entertainment. In fact, the first children's book was the textbook “The World of Sensual Things in Pictures, ” written by a teacher Jan Amos Komensky. Unlike other educational publications, this work was written in a lively, figurative language and richly illustrated. If we talk about fairy tales, then one of the pioneers in this area was the French writer Charles Perrault. He collected many folk traditions and turned them into children's fairy tales, removing frightening details and making the language more colorful.
The first children's magazine
The first children's periodical was published in Germany in 1772. It was called the Leipzig Weekly Leaflet and was published by philologist and enlightener I. K. Adelung. The publication was intended to educate young readers and strengthen their civic identity. Soon after, other children's magazines appeared - the American Boy Friend, the British Boy’s Own Leaflet, and others. Also, there were many religious magazines designed to educate the moral of children - "German Friend of Children", "Journal of Catholic Youth" and others.
