When he was sixteen years old, John Newbery went to live with a printer named William Ayers. He was William Ayers's apprentice. William Ayers taught John Newbery how to be a printer. After some time, William Ayers sold his printing shop to William Carnan. William Carnan also taught John Newbery how to be a printer. In 1737 William Carnan died. When he died, he gave the printing shop to his brother Charles Carnan and also to John Newbery. They shared the shop and worked together.
Two years after William Carnan died, John Newbery married a woman named Jordan Mary. Jordan Mary was William Carnan's wife before William died. Jordan Mary and William Carnan had three children before William Carnan died. Their names were John, Thomas, and Anna-Maria. When John Newbery married Jordan Mary, he adopted her three children to be his own children. John Newbery and Jordan Mary had three new children. Their names were Mary, John, and Francis. Mary was born in 1740. John was born in 1741. He died when he was 11 years old. Francis was born in 1743.
In 1740, John Newbery worked as a printer in Reading, England. One of the first books he printed was called "The Whole Duty of Man". It was written by Richard Allestree. In 1743, John Newbery went to London to work as a printer there. He gave his printing shop in Reading to John Carnan. John Carnan was the oldest son of Jordan Mary and William Carnan.
John Newbery's first printing shop in London was at the Bible and Crown near Devereux Court. First he printed books for grown-ups. Soon he started to print books for children. The first children's book he printed was called "A Little Pretty Pocket-Book". He started printing it on July 18, 1744. It cost six pence, or English pennies. A person who bought "A Little Pretty Pocket-Book" from John Newbery could also buy a red and black toy ball from him for two more pennies. The toy ball was made of cloth and stuffed with sawdust. Children who read the book could stick pins into the ball. They stuck a pin into the red side of the ball when they were good at reading the selection. They stuck a pin into the black side of the ball when they were bad at it. This made them think about whether they were being good or bad. John Newbery thought this game with the ball would encourage the children to be more fluent when reading.
Many people liked "A Little Pretty Pocket-Book". It had a bright colored cover. It was small enough for children to carry in their pockets. It had poems and wise sayings and an alphabet song printed in it. John Newbery sold a lot of copies of "A Little Pretty Pocket Book". He printed more books for children. He sold more children's books than any other book printer who sold children's books at that time.
In 1745, John Newbery got a better printing shop. This shop was at 65 St. Paul's Churchyard. John Newbery called it the Bible and Sun. He printed books for children and grown-ups at this shop. He made so much money at this shop that he sold his old printing shop in Reading. He also made so much money that he sent his youngest son, Francis, to Oxford and to Cambridge to study there.
John Newbery printed about five hundred different books in his life. He printed about one hundred different books for children. He printed ABC books, story books, and magazines for children. He printed some books that he wrote. He also printed books that other people wrote. His most popular book was called "The History of Little Goody Two-Shoes". It told about a little girl who was always good.
John Newbery did not just sell books. He sold many things. One thing he sold was a patent medicine. It may not have been a good medicine, but John Newbery wrote about it in the books that he sold, and so people knew its name and bought it when they were sick.
When he was old, John Newbery was very rich. He used his money to help writers who did not have enough money to live on. Two of the writers that he helped were Samuel Johnson and Oliver Goldsmith. Both of these writers wrote stories about how good John Newbery was.
John Newbery died on December 22, 1767, in Islington. He is buried in Waltham St Lawrence, the same town where he was born.
The Story of Mankind
The Story of Mankind is a nonfiction book that was first published in 1921. It was the first book that ever won the Newbery Medal. It won the Newbery Medal in 1922.
"The Story of Mankind" was written by Hendrik Willem van Loon. He was an American writer and teacher. He wrote "The Story of Mankind" for his grandchildren. He thought that all children need to know about history.
"The Story of Mankind" tells how people have lived and what things people have done that made a big change in the world. It starts with cave men. It tells about many different people. The last people it tells about are the people that lived when Hendrik Willem van Loon was writing the book. That was just after World War I. At that time, lots of people wanted to make it so that there would never be another war. Hendrik Willem van Loon thought that if he taught children about history, they would not want to fight wars when they grew up.
In 1957 the Marx Brothers made a movie of "The Story of Mankind". It starred Ronald Colman. Lots of other movie stars were also in the movie. The movie is also called "The Story of Mankind".
Hendrik Willem van Loon
He was born in Rotterdam in the Netherlands. His father was also named Hendrik Willem van Loon. His mother was named Elisabeth Johanna Hankin. In 1902, he went to the United States to study at Cornell University. He graduated from Cornell in 1905. In 1906 he married Eliza Ingersoll Bowditch. Her father was a teacher at Harvard. They had two sons, Henry Bowditch van Loon and Gerard Willem van Loon. After they got married, Hendrik and Eliza moved to Munich, Germany. Hendrik studied at the University of Munich. In 1911 he got his Ph.D. He had to write a long paper to show that he was a good enough student to get the Ph.D. The paper he wrote was called "The Fall of the Dutch Republic". In 1913 he published it as a book. During the Russian Revolution of 1905 and again at the start of World War I he worked for the Associated Press. He went to the places where soldiers were fighting each other and wrote about what the battles were like. From 1915 to 1917 he taught at Cornell University. In 1919 he was made a citizen of the United States. In 1920 he married Eliza Helen (Jimmie) Criswell. In 1927 he married Frances Goodrich Ames, a woman who wrote plays. Later he stopped being married to Frances Ames. He went back to Eliza Criswell. No one knows if they got married again. When he died in 1944, he gave his things to Eliza Criswell.
Hendrik Willem van Loon wrote lots of books. His most well-known book is "The Story of Mankind". He wrote it and also drew many pictures and maps for it. It is a history of the world written for children. "The Story of Mankind" won the first Newbery Medal in 1922. People have read "The Story of Mankind" ever since it was first printed. Hendrik's son Gerard wrote more chapters for the book after more history had happened. Later, other people wrote even more chapters. The book now has about 500 pages. Hendrik also wrote lots of other books for children and young adults.
Hendrik Willem van Loon visited Germany lots of times in the 1920s. In 1933, when the Nazis ruled Germany, they told him he could not visit Germany any more. In 1938, Hendrik wrote a book that he called "Our Battle: Being One Man's Answer to "My Battle" by Adolf Hitler". This book said why Hendrik did not like Adolf Hitler's book "Mein Kampf". ("Mein Kampf" means "My Battle" in the German language.) Franklin Delano Roosevelt liked Hendrik's book "Our Battle" very much. In 1940, Hendrik helped Roosevelt try to get to be President of the United States.