Having as general scope the study of children's literature and reading during the period of Getúlio Vargas, this article studies the work done by the Children's Literature National Committee (CNLI) and its understanding of this kind of reading. The analysis shows how much the perspective of those intellectuals was determined by the tensions between the playful and the pedagogical. After that, the paper discusses the pedagogical innovation proposed by the movement called Escola Nova and its affinities with the concept of literary reading proposed by the Committee. Finally, the text analyses the book Rute e Alberto resolveram ser turistas (1938), by Cecília Meireles. We observed that, in this eminently pedagogical book, the author evidenced her links with the values promoted by Escola Nova and tried to use some literary devices, such as character creation, setting, dialogues, and narratives, but was unable to solve the complex dynamics of teaching and playfulness. The result is a work which, in comparison with other works by Meireles, is below her literary achievements.
children's literature; CNLI; Estado Novo