ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS: What is considered the first children’s book?

QUESTION: What is considered the first children’s book?

The first educational children’s picture book was Orbis Sensualium Pictus (or The World Of Things Obvious To The Senses Drawn In Pictures), written by the Czech John Amos Comenius and published in 1658. 

This illustrated book was intended to teach children about the natural world and practical subjects through images and text in both Latin and German. 

It contained 150 pictures showing everyday activities such as brewing beer and tending gardens. 

It was a breakthrough in education for the young and proved enormously popular, being translated into many languages.

The Tales Of Mother Goose, by Charles Perrault (1697), was the first collection of fairy tales for children. 

It included eight stories, including Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Puss In Boots and Little Red Riding Hood.

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The Tales of Mother Goose was the first collection of fairytales for children. It included Little Red Riding Hood. Pictured: File photo 

The 1697 book by Charles Perrault also included the tale of Sleeping Beauty (pictured, the Disney film adaptation of the story)

The first children’s novel is often considered to be The History Of Little Goody Two-Shoes, published by John Newbery in London in 1765. It may have been written by Irish author Oliver Goldsmith. 

A poor orphan girl named Margery Meanwell goes through life with only one shoe. When a rich gentleman gives her a complete pair, she is so happy that she tells everyone that she has ‘two shoes’. 

Before the term ‘goody’ was used to describe someone excessively virtuous, it was short for ‘goodwife’ meaning ‘missus’.

Susan Mitchell, Darlington, County Durham

QUESTION: Are tower cranes protected against lightning strikes?

Due to their height and metallic structure, tower cranes are particularly vulnerable to lightning. A strike can cause severe damage and endanger the lives of operators and workers on-site.

British detective fiction author Agatha Christie, pictured at her typewriter 

Most systems typically include lightning rods positioned at the highest points of the crane. These rods are connected to grounding systems. 

Some modern systems deflect the lightning altogether using the ‘charge dissipation principle’, by emitting the charges rapidly through hundreds of points. 

Thomas Wright, Steyning, West Sussex

QUESTION: What are some professions that are no longer practised?

Further to the earlier answer, my uncle used to have a thriving business restoring and repairing typewriters; no longer needed in our electronic age.

Jacky Rhatigan, Prestwich, Greater Manchester