Document Type
Poster
Publication Date
2-11-2026
Department 1
First Year Seminar
Department 2
English
Abstract
Estimated to have been published between 1860 and 1866, The Adventures of Little Tiny and the White Mouse was one of many works for children published by Thomas W. Strong in New York during the American Civil War. The eight-page picture book examines morality and consequences through the misfortunate adventures of a young, yet moral, abnormally small boy named Little Tiny. The youngest of a Broom Maker’s three sons, Tiny’s jealous older brothers sell him to a circus, where he performs alongside a myriad of animals. Missing his father, the animals jump through a series of hoops to help Tiny get back to the Green Broom Hut, where his family reconciles. The Adventures of Little Tiny and the White Mouse is a carefully constructed moral tool shaped by Civil War anxieties, religious conviction, and evolving ideas about children’s emotional and spiritual development that participates in a broader culture: preparing nineteenth-century children to navigate an America marked by uncertainty, loss, and moral responsibility. Tiny’s trials teach courage, his prayers model piety, and his forgiveness enacts a vision of social harmony that the nation itself desperately sought. Even a tiny character can carry the weight of an entire society’s hopes for who its children might become.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Hagopian, Abigail, "Tiny but Moral: How "The Adventures of Little Tiny and the White Mouse" Portrays Children’s Moral and Social Responsibilities in the Civil War Era" (2026). CAFE Symposium 2026. 1.
https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/cafe2026/1
Comments
This work was created based on work for FYS-W 124-A: Curious and Curiouser: Children’s Literature and the Invention of the Modern Child and presented as a part of the eleventh annual CAFE Symposium on February 11, 2026.