Children's Stories in American Literature, 1660-1860

A vivid portrait of early American storytelling unfolds in this anthology, beginning with a Sunday gathering in 1661 where Indigenous children sit spellbound as a missionary reads a translated Gospel in the Mohegan tongue. The reader learns how John Eliot’s dedication to printing the first Bible in a native language sparked the first Sunday‑schools, offering young listeners a glimpse of faith, language, and literacy that were foreign yet warmly embraced.

From those humble beginnings the collection sweeps forward, presenting a range of tales that reflect the evolving spirit of a young nation—frontier adventures, moral fables, and simple verses that once filled schoolrooms and family hearths. Each story is reproduced with its original spelling and quirks, inviting listeners to hear the cadence of centuries‑old voices while appreciating the cultural bridges they forged. The volume captures the imagination of children who first encountered printed words in a new land, and it offers modern ears a charming window onto America’s literary childhood.