Influential Children’s Book Authors: Newbery to Baum
Influential Children’s Book Authors
J. Newbery (1713-1767) was born in Waltham, Berkshire, England, into a farming family. He loved reading and drawing as a child. At 16, he learned printing from William Carnan and assisted with Carnan’s newspaper, the Reading Mercury. He began writing and selling children’s books, recognizing a growing market, especially during the Christmas holidays. His books aimed to amuse and educate. His first success was A Pretty Little Pocket Book (1744). In 1781, his firm published the first collection of nursery rhymes associated with Mother Goose.
Edith Nesbit (1858–1924) was the daughter of John Collis Nesbit, an agricultural chemist who died before her fourth birthday. Her family moved frequently due to her sister’s poor health, living in Brighton, Buckinghamshire, France, Spain, and Germany before settling at Halstead Hall for three years. At 17, they returned to London. Nesbit published approximately 40 books for children, including novels and story collections. She is often considered the first modern writer for children, creating innovative works that combined realistic, contemporary children in real-world settings with magical elements and adventures. She influenced writers like P. L. Travers (Mary Poppins) and J. K. Rowling (Harry Potter).
Beatrix Potter (1866-1943) was an illustrator and author famous for her picture books and illustrated texts. Her innovative philosophy changed children’s literature. She believed children’s books should be for children, small enough to fit comfortably in a child’s hand, with each page of text accompanied by an illustration.
Lewis Carroll (1832–1898) was the pseudonym of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson. He was a writer, mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon, and photographer. From a young age, Dodgson wrote poetry and short stories, published in various magazines with moderate success. Between 1854 and 1856, his work appeared in The Comic Times and The Train, as well as smaller magazines. Most stories were humorous, sometimes satirical. His most famous works are Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass, as well as the poems “The Hunting of the Snark” and “Jabberwocky”, all examples of literary nonsense. He is noted for his wordplay, logic, and fantasy.
Lyman Frank Baum (1856–1919) was an American author, poet, playwright, actor, and filmmaker, best known for The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Baum debuted as a novelist with Mother Goose in Prose (1897), based on stories told to his children. Its last chapter introduced Dorothy. In 1899, Father Goose: His Book became a bestseller. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, a story of Dorothy from Kansas transported to a magical realm, sold 90,000 copies in its first two years. He wrote 13 sequels, nine other fantasy novels, and numerous other works (55 novels, 82 short stories, over 200 poems, scripts, and miscellaneous writings), and adapted his works for stage and screen. A musical stage version, “The Wizard of Oz”, opened in Chicago in 1902 and ran on Broadway in 1903.