Josip Pavi？i？ and the Social Realist Children’s Novel

Sa？etak The period immediately following 1945 is rarely mentioned in the anthologies of Croatian children’s literature; this stands in discrepancy with the importance of this period. Immediately after World War II, several authors, who were to become representatives of the canon of Yugoslav children’s literature, stood out. Among Croatian authors, Josip Pavi？i？ was almost regularly mentioned. The reason for this lies not only in the fact that in the period prior to World War II, Pavi？i？ wrote socially engaged literature, but also in the fact that in the period immediately following the war, Pavi？i？ was an exceptionally active and prolific author, who, owing to his literary experience, developed attitudes and personal vitality, and was thus able to publish more extensive works. In this period, there were not many such authors. A certain period of time had to pass before a completely new generation of children’s writers, who started writing after the war, came out of age. In the first years of the aftermath, literary activity in Croatia still relied on pre-war children’s writers. The literary procedures that Pavi？i？ introduced into the children’s novel and children’s story were the ones that exercised a strong influence on the further development of both genres. The objective of this work is to examine in which ways and to which extent Pavi？i？ implemented the social realist literary procedure into children’s literature