By Sue Walker

This book considers the factors that have influenced the design of books for teaching young children to read, including educational directives and reports, views about legibility, methods of teaching reading, the availability of typographic resources and the economic constraints faced by publishers. The typography of children's books is treated at length, with attention paid to widely-used typefaces, the use of space and typographic variation, and the use of colored text. 

Teachers and educationalists have played a considerable part in influencing the look and feel of this kind of book. This, in combination with craft tradition in the form of the intervention of the compositor and printer, has resulted in the development of a generic form, recognized by typical visual attributes at a particular time that relate closely to (perceptions of) usage. 

The book has numerous illustrations including an annotated timeline showing examples of reading books published in each decade from the 1890s to the end of the twentieth century.

Includes bibliography and index

Designed by Sara Chapman, Sandina Miller, and Sue Walker

Published by St. Bride Foundation, 2013

Softcover, 208 pages, over 400 color images, 7.5 × 10.25 inches

ISBN: 978-0-95-041613-7