res of Nils. The interwar period saw a slow-down in output similar to Britain, although "one of the first mysteries written specifically for children", Emil and the Detectives by Erich Kästner, was published in Germany in 1930.[20]:315 The period during and foll

e end of the century due to a difficult economy and competition from television and video games. However, picture books continue to do well.[1]:687
Continental Europe[edit]
The period from 1890 until World War I is considered the Golden Age of Children's Literature in Scandinavia. Erik Werenskiold, Theodor Kittelsen, and Dikken Zwilgmeyer were especially popular, writing folk and fairy tales as well as realistic fiction. The 1859 translation into English by George Webbe Dasent, helped increase the stories' influence.[1]:705 One of the most influential and internationally most successful Scandinavian children's books from this period is Selma Lagerlöfs The Wonderful Adventures of Nils.
The interwar period saw a slow-down in output similar to Britain, although "one of the first mysteries written specifically for children", Emil and the Detectives by Erich Kästner, was published in Germany in 1930.[20]:315
The period during and following World War II became the Classical Age of the picture book in Switzerland, with works by Alois Carigiet, Felix Hoffmann, and Hans Fischer.[1]:683–685, 399, 692, 697, 750 1963 was the first year of the Bologna Children's Book Fair in Italy, which was described as "the most important international event dedicated to the children’s publishing".[33] For four days it brings together writers, illustrators, publishers, and book buyers from around the world.[33]
United States[edit]
One of American children's literature most famous books was L. Frank Baum's fantasy novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, published in 1900. "By combining the English fondness for word play with the American appetite for outdoor adventure", Connie Epstein in International Companion Encyclopedia Of Children's Literature says Baum "developed an original style and form that stands alone".[1]:479 Baum wrote thirteen more Oz novels, and other writes continued the Oz series into the 1960s.
Between the world wars, demand continued to grow in North America helped by the growth of libraries in both Canada and the United States. Children's reading rooms in libraries, staffed by specially trained librarians, helped create demand for classic juvenile books. Reviews of children's releases began appearing regularly in Publishers Weekly and in The Bookman magazine began to regularly publish reviews of children's releases, and the first Children's Book Week was launched in 1919. In that same year, Louise Seaman Bechtel became the first person to head a juvenile book publishing department in the country. She was followed by May Massee in 1922 and Alice Dalgliesh in 1934.[1]:479–480