Abstract: Approaching children’s literature through the novel, which is only one component of it, leads us first of all to identify subgenres (the adventure novel, the historical novel, and so on), then to explore the relationship between the romanesque and realism, or the romanesque and didacticism. Children’s literature proves to be the place of refuge for a sometimes disparaged romanesque, which is used in order to consider the world and its crises. Playing with old romanesque schemes, children’s literature also targets a wider audience.
