The Circumstances of the Origin and the First Years of My Little Newspaper (1902-1905)
The Circumstances of the Origin and the First Years of My Little Newspaper (1902-1905)

Summary/Abstract: The subject of the article is the origin and development of the periodical My Little Newspaper when Aniela Szycówna held the duties of the editor-in-chief. Despite the numerous references to this title in publications devoted to juvenile periodicals, there is no genuine and in-depth study of its origin and functioning in the initial years. The research conducted in this field involves answering the following questions: How did the newspaper come about? Whose texts were published in there? What message did it convey to its readers? What was its formal side like? What distinguished it from other contemporary papers? An analysis of four years of that weekly and the literature on the subject allows to conclude that an inspirer of the periodical was M. Arct, a Warsaw-born bookseller. Prominent poets, writers, journalists and pedagogues published their articles in My Little Newspaper. Among the discussed subjects there were moral, social, religious, historical, geographical, environmental and tourist-oriented issues as well as some topics referring to traditions and customs. Black and white graphic design with texts illustrated with drawings and pictures was characterised by editorial diligence. Its articles were tailored to the abilities of young readers. They were all based on the most recent knowledge on child development with appropriate care for its substantive level, which guaranteed its educational value and distinguished it on the publishing market.

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