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A Token for Children, or A Token for Children: Being an Exact Account of the Conversion, Holy and Exemplary Lives, and Joyful Deaths of Several Young Children, is a collection of stories detailing the conversions, lives, and deaths of various children by Puritan minister and author James Janeway. Originally published in 1671, it is considered a classic in children's literature and one of the earliest known examples of an English book written directly for children.
Contents
The book is separated into two volumes and one addendum, containing a total of 20 "examples". The addendum, titled A Token for the Children of New England, contains only examples that specifically involve New England and features an additional 6 scriptural hymns. Each example is a short story involving one child, their worship, and eventual death. Each scriptural hymn is a short poem elaborating on a certain verse of the Bible. Despite the stories being likely fictional, they are often written as if Janeway was present during them or had been told them by someone who was.
The first volume is preceded by an introduction directed towards educators and a preface directed towards children. The introduction discusses the Puritan belief that children are born wicked due to natural sin, warning parents and educators of a child's ability to go to hell if they do not repent at an early enough age. The preface conveys a similar message to children, warning them of how their "miserable state by Nature" can lead them to go to eternal damnation. It reminds children that because they can perish at any moment, they must be dutiful to their parents and live a pious life to avoid suffering a death without Christ. It further provides 11 spiritual questions for children to consider and 12 rules to live by to avoid "everlasting fire".
The second volume contains a preface to the reader, where he acknowledges that one of his stories in volume one was being accused of being false. He defends his source for the example, a woman who is highly respected by the Church of Christ.