Strict Moral Instruction for Children

James Janeway
A Token for Children.
Boston: 1728
Rare Book & Special Collection Division (102.4)

Early American children's literature tells us much more about what parents and church leaders wanted to impress upon young minds than what children of the day were actually thinking. A Token for Children was the most popular book of moral instruction for children in the eighteenth century. It contains twenty-two examples of pious and obedient children who were well prepared for the prospect of early death and judgement. Little Ann Greenough who died at the age of five, "had an unspeakable delight in catechising," and "was very frequent and constant in secret prayer," with "thoughts of death wherein she took such pleasure."