Social movements affecting children’s literature:
- The collapse of totalitarian regimes: the increasing importance of education as the means of overcoming the ignorance and prejudice.
- The rise of “youth culture” influenced by Piaget and Spock, concerning the development of the child as an individual.
- The rise of New Realism, characterized by a franker and more open approach to subjects once thought taboo in children’s books: sexuality, violence, drugs, war, and so on.
- The Civil Rights Movement in America: the heroes came in all colors. A variety of world cultures have been presented in children's books.
- The feminist movement: the heroes came in both genders. Children’s books began to examine the roles of females and to us heroines with forceful and imaginative personalities, in contrast to the delicate, retiring female characters of earlier generations.
- Political Correctness: eliminating all language and practices that might be politically offensive, usually related to racial, gender, ethnic, or religious matters.
- The study of children’s literature began in the last quarter of the 20the century, which helped to raise the status of children's literature and promoted the publishing of children's books.