Science became a subject of popular and national interest during the eighteenth century. This interest registered in education debates of the period. Scientific study—especially natural history subjects such as botany, conchology, entomology, ornithology, and geology—became firmly incorporated into pedagogical programs with lessons sustained by science books that frequently blended empirical subjects with narrative and poetry. From the mid-eighteenth century onward, the market for children’s literature flourished, catering to an emergent middle-class consumer base and, moreover, responding also to calls for educational reform along class and gender lines that were a defining feature of the Romantic period. Women writers and female students were especially associated with the study of natural history, especially botany. Female authors of natural history books diligently blended theory based on Linnaean classification with inviting narrative form, poetry, and practical application, encouraging “rambles,” flower walks, and sample collection. Notable Romantic-era women writers active in this subgenre include Priscilla Wakefield (1751–1832), Ellenor Fenn (1743–1813), Lucy Hardcastle (1771–1834), and Sarah Hoare (1777–1856).