The Story of "Little Folks"
Story for Careless Little Folks." Miss Matéaux contributed largely to the various Cassell publications for many years, but she was never so happy as when writing stories for children or discoursing to them in her charming manner on the science of everyday things.
When the magazine first appeared, in 1871, a child was regarded as a creature whose duty it was to be "good," which meant chiefly rendering explicit obedience to its elders and not asking inconvenient questions. And although the new magazine struck a lighter vein than was common in juvenile publications, such titles as "Cousin Willie's Fireworks: A Warning to Boys," "Maggie's Disobedience, and What came of it," and "Only a Penny: One or two pages about a Little Girl's Temptation," suggest that there was nothing revolutionary in its point of view. In the Preface the editor describes it as a "pleasant and instructive companion," and expresses the hope that readers will not only be "amused but improved." It was "intended to make its readers happy and bright, as all good boys and girls should be," and they were mildly exhorted to be "as good, gentle and industrious" as their best friends could wish.
For several years Little Folks appeared as a weekly paper of sixteen small quarto pages, with a full-page wood engraving on the first and last pages, and two full-page wood engravings in the middle. Other pages were illustrated with smaller engravings, so that there was only a limited space for letterpress. Yet the editor managed to get a good deal of variety into its pages. Besides cautionary stories, there were instructive articles on natural history, nonsense stories, true tales of heroism and animal intelligence, verse of various kinds, puzzles, and letters to the editor, together with many prize competitions. One must not compare the illustrations of the 'seventies with those of to-day, or one will fail to realize the inexhaustible delight which the pictures in the early numbers of Little Folks gave to less sophisticated children of fifty years ago.
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