Potential for Children's Steampunk Literature

As I mentioned earlier, even though I work at a book store and have access to a plethora of children’s literature, it discouraged me how little I could find for children in the steampunk genre. Even searching online for different books, googling “steampunk books for kids” or even “for babies” only brought me to 9-12 and teen fiction, with books like A Series of Unfortunate Events, and The Golden Compass showing up again and again for kids, and The Infernal Devices series showing repeatedly for teens. In my research though, it turns out that I’m not the only one that finds this lack of kids steampunk discouraging. In my searching, I found a kickstarter page by Ryan Dunlap and his friend who, acknowledging this mostly untouched audience, have taken it upon themselves to write a steampunk story book for kids called “The Littlest Clockwork”. It is “an illustrated tale of a boy who wants to fly the family airship and the clockwork girl who helps him find his way home.”

On the kickstarter page, Dunlop says, “looking around at stories I could read to my daughter, I didn't find much in the way of steampunk or airship adventure when it came to illustrated books. It would be many years before she could read my current books, so I wanted to craft a story that would satisfy my geek heritage and share it with other steampunk and sci-fi/fantasy enthusiasts. I wanted a book that would spark my child's imagination with airship adventures from an early age.”

This passionate approach to the young audience from the steampunk genre is what I feel really exemplifies the steampunk culture. The enthusiastic desire to share the intricate elements of the genre with an impressionable audience, I think, is an important and admirable quality of the steampunk genre as a whole. It shows that the genre is based on imagination, innovation, and discovery, and those qualities are even more admirable when imparted to children. So with that in mind, feel free to explore the page for The Littlest Clockwork Kickstarter. 

When I started my research project, this kickstarter page was still a dream for Dunlop, but as of five days ago (December 11th, 2013), his efforts paid off and the project is now fully funded and in development, having over accomplished their goal of $6000, by reaching $7769. Two hundred and eight people are backing this project, which shows that there is a real audience for children's steampunk literature and there is great potential for the audience to grow. 

If authors can steer clear of the problems that Iwata ran into with his Alphabet book, by 'steampunking' relatively unimportant/useless things, then there can be real promise for the genre expanding into the children's market. What I believe makes Dunlop's project so importantly steampunk is not only his focus on the exploratory, imaginative, inventive aspects of the genre, but his real efforts to fight against what is deemed acceptable or appropriate for literature. Why can't children participate in the steampunk revolution? If children can be encouraged at early ages to think for themselves, imagine great possibilities, and question the world we live in, the efforts of the early/hardcore steampunkers will have paid off, because those children will grow into individuals who will have the base to continue the rebellion against modern technology.