ury.[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]

nd.[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 themselves.[30]
Rousseau's ideas also had great influence in Germany, especially on German Philanthropism, a movement concerned with reforming both education and literature for children. Its' founder, Johann Bernhard Basedow, authored "Elementarwerk" as a popular textbook for children that included many illustrations by Daniel Chodowiecki. Another follower, Joachim Heinrich Campe's adaptation of Robinson Crusoe went into over 100 printings. He became Germany's "outstanding and most modern"[1]:736 writer for children. According to Hans-Heino Ewers in The International Companion Encyclopedia of Children's Literature, "It can be argued that from this time, the history of European children's literature was largely written in Germany".[1]:737


Brothers Grimm, Wilhelm (left) and Jakob Grimm (right) from an 1855 painting by Elisabeth Jerichau-Baumann
In the early 19th century, Danish author and poet Hans Christian Andersen traveled through Europe and gathered many well-known fairy tales.[31] He was followed by the Brothers Grimm who preserved the traditional tales told in Germany.[20]:184 They were so popular in their home country that modern, realistic children's literature began to be looked down on there. This dislike of non-traditional stories