Literary works that are prepared according to children's interests, reading skills, and expectations play an essential role in their personal development. While the child tries to perceive the world subjectively in which he/she lives, he/she also tends to establish a connection between the world presented to him/her through books and the real world. Books that will prepare the child for the adulthood stage, in which he/she will be in the future, and that cannot yet fully distinguish between fiction and reality play an essential role. The values and norms woven into the texts in books prepared for children lay the groundwork for how they will become individuals. By reading books, embarking on new adventures, and discovering new lives, the child realizes that the world is not limited to his/her surroundings and that there can be different models that he/she can emulate. Most importantly, he/she begins to recognize his/her skills, tendencies, and self. Therefore, it is crucial for literary texts written for children to take these issues into account. However, although the missions imposed on the child by society have constantly changed in different periods of history, the concern of creating the "ideal child" has always been pursued in each period according to its conditions and opportunities. When we examine the subject through the example of Turkey, it is clearly seen that among the main missions imposed on the ideal child figure of the Republican period are the qualities of working for his/her country and ideals, being honest, not lying, and being hardworking. These qualities expected from the ideal child figure are frequently encountered in textbooks and literary works written for children in the period. Therefore, this study will first briefly overview the child and childhood image in children's literature works in the pre- Republic period. Then, the traces of literary texts that aim to shape and guide children in a specific ideal direction, especially in the Early Republican Period, will be followed. At the end of the study, it was observed that children were tried to be guided and shaped in line with the ideals and expectations of the period through literary works written for children in the Early Republican Period.

Keywords: Early Republican Period, Children's Literature, Ideal Child Figure, Literature, Childhood.