On the way to the canon

This study aims to observe part of the existing itineraries for the consolidation of the canon of children’s literature in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in Venezuela. The journey begins in the 19th century, with the exploration of some antecedents that undoubtedly laid the foundations for children’s literature in Ibero-America, such as José Martí’s magazine La edad de Oro, however, some of the publications reviewed precede it, being therefore valuable testimonies of 'that something was changing'. Subsequently, pioneering publications in their genre and style in Venezuela stand out. The theory that supports this part of the studies is the hermeneutics and the aesthetics of reception, both contribute to the analysis the most appropriate strategies, since at the moment children’s literature does not have its own theories. Thus, it is enriching for the reader and the researcher to make this tour of the itineraries of the XIX and XX centuries, rarely studied with rigorousness from the appreciation of children’s literature.