The history of children's story-books in both England and America begins with the life of John Newbery, the English publisher, who settled in London in 1744. His life and his work have been told at length by Mr. Charles Welsh in the book entitled _A Book Seller of the Last Century_. Newbery was the first English bookseller who made any extended attempt to publish books especially for children's reading. The text of these books was written by himself, and by various English authors, among them no less a genius than Oliver Goldsmith. His books were promptly exported to America, where they were doubtless as eagerly welcomed as in England. The meagre advertisements of colonial newspapers contain his lists. During Newbery's active career as a publisher--and activity was his distinguishing characteristic--he published over two hundred books for children. One of the earliest was announced in 1744 as "a pretty little pocket book." It contained the story of Jack the Giant Killer. [Illustration: TALE III. [Illustration two men with a cuckoo] On a time the men of Gotham fain would have pinned the cuckoo, that [f.]he might [f.]ing all the year, all in the mid[f.]t of the town they had a hedge made in a round compa[f.]s, and got a cuckoo, and put her into it, and [f.]aid, Sing here and you [f.]hall lack neither meat nor drink all the year. The Cuckoo when [f.]he [f.]ee her[f.]elf encompa[f.][f]ed within the hedge, flew away. A vengeance on her [f.]aid the Wi[f.]e Men, we made not the hedge high enough. Page of _Merry Tales of Wise Men of Gotham_] An amusing, albeit thrifty, intermezzo of all children's books was the publisher's persistent advertisement of his other juvenile literary wares. If a generous godfather is introduced, he is at once importuned to buy another of good Mr. Newbery the printer's books. When Tommy Truelove is to have his reward of virtue and industry, he implores that it may be a little book sold at the Book Shop over against Aldermary Churchyard, Bow Lane. If a kind mamma sets out to "learn Jenny June to read," she does it with one of Marshall's "Universal Battledores, so beloved of young masters and misses." The old-time reader was never permitted to forget for over a page that the good, kind, thoughtful gentleman who printed this book had plenty of others to sell. Newbery was the most ingenious of these advertisers. This is an example of one of his newspaper eye-catchers printed in 1755:--