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Miss Smith had set up a program by which trainees learned from a senior staff member. So learning the library routine was easier than Betty had thought. Betty read voraciously. Still, she worried about storytelling. She feared she just wouldn’t be able to do it. She didn’t have too much time to worry because a little girl was tugging at her skirt. ” Betty was already used to being called teacher, and she knew which book to recommend. She pulled down the well-worn copy of Household Stories. THE GREAT DEPRESSION The Great Depression began in 1929 when the stock market crashed.

Many of the homes in Toronto didn’t have proper heating or plumbing. Rich or poor, new immigrant or great-grandchild of a duke, Miss Smith welcomed them all. Every child, she believed, deserved a good book. CHILDHOOD “Childhood is the formative period—the time when children are taking in impressions which affect their tastes, their standards and their outlook on life. ” -Lillion Smith CHILD LABOUR The idea that children must have time to learn and enjoy entertainment was new for many struggling families.

She was a storyteller after all. ’” An illustration from “The Ugly Duckling” by Hans Christian Andersen, 1899, illustrated by Helen Stratton JOYOUS Miss Smith believed that “children’s literature is not a pedantic or an academic study. ” -Lillian Smith THE FIRST CANADIAN CHILDREN’S BOOK Catherine Parr Traill wrote Canadian Crusoes in 1852. Printed in England, the book tells the story of children lost in the forest for three years. EARLY CANADIAN BOOKS Titles of some of Canada’s early children’s books: —How the Carter Boys Lifted the Mortgage (1894) —How Rank Did it, That Worthless Lad (1898) —The Watchers of the Campfire (1904) —The Backwoodsmen (1909) —Jim, the Story of a Backwoods’ Police Dog (1919) Most early books about Canada written for children were published in England or the United States and were animal stories, tales about the north and other regions of Canada, or about children having adventures.