From Bodies to Minds in Childcare Literature: Advice to parents in inter-war Britain

In this chapter we examine childcare literature as one source of information on how specialized knowledge was imparted to parents in the first decades of the twentieth century. We have concentrated on advice available in Britain between the two World Wars and have deliberately selected literature which was sufficiently popular to justify several reprintings. 'The child' in this literature is generally, but not exclusively, of pre-school age, reflecting a focus which remains in most books sold under the generic category 'childcare literature'. However, it was not until the end of the period under discussion here that the infant emerged as having particular psychological as well as physical needs, dictating parental priorities.