G-K Twentieth Century Children's Literature

Arthur Conan Doyle, Rudyard Kipling, James Herriot and More Authors

Jun 27, 2009 M.L. Costa

Adventure and misadventure, fantasy and fairy tale, monsters and mystery...growing up isn't easy, but some story from this guide suits the sympathies of any child.

It is often said that children have active imaginations, and nothing appeals to the imagination more than reading fiction.

Continuing from A-E Twentieth Century Children’s Literature, ranging from the ordinary to the extreme this diverse collection of twentieth century novels, stories, and poems offers something for all literary appetites.

G – Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1934) by James Hilton

This classic and popular novel is said to have been written in only four days, and it was originally titles Good-bye, Mr. Chips.

The book recounts the life of the beloved classics teacher, Mr. Chipping, affectionately nicknamed “Chips.” The person joys and sorrows of Mr. Chipping and anecdotes about his succession of students are set against the background of world events of the late Victorian era until the beginnings of the rise of Adolph Hitler.

The character of the traditional Mr. Chipping represents a beneficial marriage between past form and wise flexibility.

H – The Hound of the Baskervilles (1902) by Arthur Conan Doyle

Sherlock Holmes is perhaps the epitome of the perfect sleuth, and he is certainly the most famous character creation of his author. Holmes became so greatly associated with Arthur Conan Doyle that the author decided to kill the character off in order to remove all possibility of writing any further mysteries for Holmes.

However, the public still clamored for more, finally causing Doyle to relent by reviving Holmes in The Hound of the Baskervilles, which has become Holmes’ most often mentioned case.

I – If Only They Could Talk (1970) by James Herriot

James Alfred Wight, under the pen name of James Herriot, wrote a collection stories recounting some of the mainly amusing and strange experiences he had as a veterinary surgeon in the English Yorkshire Dales.

If Only They Could Talk was his first volume of stories. Because the volume was considered short as a book, it was later combined with his second volume entitled It Shouldn’t Happen to a Vet and published as All Creatures Great and Small.

J – Johnny Tremain (1943) by Esther Forbes

This children’s novel tells of the adolescent adventures of the title character, as he grows up during the events which lead to the American Revolution.

Filled with excitement, it also elaborates opposing philosophies and experiences for its readers, and it causes the colonial era to become alive and able to be empathetically understood.

K – Kim (1901) by Rudyard Kipling

This novel is often remembered for its detailed descriptions of the Indian people during the timeframe of the Second Afghan War.

The title character, Kimball O’Hara is the orphaned son of an Irish soldier, and now survives as a beggar and errand boy, until he befriends an aging Lama on a quest.

C.S. Lewis, Agatha Christie, Dr. Seuss, and More

Continuing with L-P Twentieth Century Children’s Literature, the stories of the following books vary from fantasy to rhyme and from murder mystery to innocent optimism. From The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe to Pollyanna, the novels recount adolescent adventure and the mystery of growing up, while detective mysteries from the Nancy Drew Mystery Series to Murder on the Orient Express distract and stimulate the “little grey cells” of the reader.

The copyright of the article G-K Twentieth Century Children's Literature in Children’s Books is owned by M.L. Costa. Permission to republish G-K Twentieth Century Children's Literature in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Sherlock Holmes and The Hound of the Baskervilles

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