Serious research into written children's literature with a South African connection has been conducted since the middle of the twentieth century. To grasp the scope and implications of the research, it is necessary to begin with a brief overview of the literature.

The history of South African children's literature follows broadly that of literature as a whole in the country. The first children's book in English about South Africa was probably an instructional volume that was published in England in 1814, The Traveller in Africa: containing some account of the antiquities, natural curiosities and inhabitants, of such parts of that continent and its islands, as have been most explored by Europeans. The route traced on a map, for the entertainment and instruction of young persons, by Priscilla Wakefield (1814). A few religious works for children were published in South Africa early in the nineteenth century, and the first English novel was The English Boy at the Cape by Edward Kendall (1841). For the rest of the century, scores of novels, short stories, poems, picture books and non-fiction set in South Africa were published in England, mostly by non-South Africans. Some of them, such as Frederick Marryat's The Mission (1845), were also translated into Dutch for local readers. South African-born English and Dutch writers followed as the century advanced, and some found local publication by the turn of the century.

Pioneers in converting the Dutch-based local language spoken in the country into the formal, written language called Afrikaans published small books and later a newspaper for children, beginning in 1873. For much of the twentieth century, many English-speaking writers had to look to Britain and the USA to have their books published, but a flourishing Afrikaans publishing tradition emerged and, increasingly, local publishing in English. By the beginning of the twenty-first century a strong publishing industry was in place.

The Constitution of the modern, democratic Republic of South Africa recognises English, Afrikaans, and nine African languages as official languages. Throughout the twentieth century and up to the present, translations among the various languages of the country have been a significant feature of children's literature, dictated largely by the economics of publishing.