Toy book

Toy books were illustrated children's books that became popular in England's Victorian era. The earliest toy books were typically paperbound, with six illustrated pages and sold for sixpence; larger and more elaborate editions became popular later in the century. In the mid-19th century picture books began to be made for children, with illustrations dominating the text rather than supplementing the text.

The earliest toy books were hand painted, but in the mid-19th century London publishing house Dean & Son began printing toy books using chromolithography to colour the illustrations. Edmund Evans was the premier engraver and printer of toy books in London from the mid-19th century to the early-20th century, producing books for Routledge, Warne & Routledge using the wood block printing technique of chromoxylography. He was instrumental in popularizing children's books through the production of toy books during this period. To illustrate the books he hired and collaborated with Walter Crane, Randolph Caldecott and Kate Greenaway—known as the triumvirate of children's toy book illustrators.

The term toy book originated in the 18th century when John Newbery began printing 'gift books'—such as A Little Pretty Pocket-Book (1744)—with small toys such as pincushions for girls included in the packaging. The earliest toy books were picture books bound in paper, of six to eight pages, often left blank on the back, with a small amount of text, and coloured illustrations rarely attributed to illustrators. The books were usually bound in heavy paper; some that were guaranteed to be indestructible were bound in linen and sold for a shilling. Toy books were often released as a series, and the most common subjects were popular rhymes and tales.

John Harris took over Newbery's publishing firm at the beginning of the 19th century, and within a few years was producing small (4 inches by 5 inches) books, colorfully illustrated, that were meant to amuse children.

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