Readings in Fiction : History of Children's Literature to 1837 - ENG 360 Resource Guide

from The Cambridge Guide to Children's Books in English
Catechism by John Cotton (1584—1652). Cotton, the teacher of Boston’s First Church, probably wrote the catechism in response to a request from the Massachusetts General Court in 1641. The intent was to create a standard work of sound Puritan doctrine for young children at a time of religious controversy in New England.

from The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English
Born in Derbyshire, Cotton entered Trinity College, Cambridge, at the age of 13. Subsequently awarded a fellowship at Emmanuel College for his proficiency in Hebrew, he served as a lecturer, dean and catechist (1608-12), and in 1612 was appointed vicar of St Botolph's Church in Boston, Lincolnshire, a post which he resigned 20 years later when the Court of High Commission summoned him for instituting Puritan reforms in his parish.

from The Cambridge Guide to Children's Books in English
Popular devotional text for children, written by James Janeway and published by Dorman Newman in two volumes. Janeway had been a nonconformist preacher, and the full title of his book - being an Exact Account of the Conversion, Holy and Exemplary Lives, and Joyful Deaths of several young Children - gives some idea of its contents and of its Puritan, exhortatory purpose in saving children from Hell.

from The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English
Born in the year of the Restoration, the son of James Foe, a butcher of Stoke Newington, Daniel altered his surname to the more fashionable Defoe in 1703, the year he began depending on writing for his living.

1800 edition

Abridged school edition

Bunyan was born at Elstow, near Bedford, the eldest of three children of Thomas Bunyan, a brasier or tinker, and his second wife Margaret Bentley. He was sent to a local school where he learned to read and write before taking up his fathers trade. ballads and chapbook versions of chivalric romances were his favourite reading.

From CREDO Reference: Children’s primers, including alphabets, word lists, a picture alphabet, biblical extracts, prayers, pious poetry, and dialogues, usually printed with John Cotton’s Spiritual Milk for American Babes and the Westminster Assembly’s ‘Shorter Catechism’.