Portal:Children's literature

Proserpine is a verse drama written for children by the English Romantic writers Mary Shelley and Percy Bysshe Shelley. Composed in 1820 while the Shelleys were living in Italy, it is often considered a partner to the Shelleys' play Midas. Proserpine was first published in the London periodical The Winter's Wreath in 1832. The drama is based on Ovid's tale of the abduction of Proserpine by Pluto. Mary Shelley's version focuses on the female characters. In a largely feminist retelling from Ceres's point of view, Shelley emphasises the separation of mother and daughter and the strength offered by a community of women. Ceres represents life and love, and Pluto represents death and violence. The genres of the text also reflect gender debates of the time. Percy contributed in the lyric verse form traditionally dominated by men; Mary created a drama with elements common to early 19th-century women's writing: details of everyday life and empathetic dialogue. Proserpine is part of a female literary tradition which, as feminist literary critic Susan Gubar describes it, has used the story of Ceres and Proserpine to "re-define, to re-affirm and to celebrate female consciousness itself". However, the play has been both neglected and marginalised by critics.

Edward Lear, A Book of Nonsense (1846)

• October 1924 – First issue of The Horn Book Magazine published in Boston, a periodical about children's literature
• 1 October 1942 – First twelve Little Golden Books are published
• 3 October 1955 – Debut of Captain Kangaroo, one of the longest-running children's television programs
• 14 October 1926 – First publication of A. A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh (pictured), a later Latin translation of which became the only Latin book ever to appear on The New York Times bestseller list
• 30 October 1887 – Birth of Sukumar Ray, one of the most famous Indian literary nonsense writers

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