Children’s Literature – Page 11 – Interesting Literature

The Curious Origins of Tweedledum and Tweedledee

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

Who is being described? Born in the north-west of England near Manchester, he was a literary man who was also noted in his day for his interest in science and mathematics. In terms of physical appearance, he was known for being particularly tall, considerably taller than average. He gave us Tweedledum and Tweedledee, pioneered a system of code-writing, wrote one of his most famous works for a young girl, and appears to have had an interest in the occult.

The above may sound like a description of Charles Dodgson, better known as Lewis Carroll, but in fact

Five Fascinating Facts about Peter Pan

Fun facts about Peter Pan and his creator, J. M. Barrie

1. Peter Pan first appeared in a novel for adults.

The boy who wouldn’t grow up made his debut, ironically, in a book for adults, a little-known 1902 novel called The Little White Bird.

A Summary and Analysis of the Cinderella Fairy Tale

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

‘Cinderella’ is, of course, a classic fairy story, a ‘rags to riches’ tale about a kind-hearted girl who suffers various hardships only to marry the prince of the kingdom. Why is Cinderella called Cinderella? Since she is shunned by the rest of her family (especially the stepsisters), the poor girl sits among the ashes in the chimney corner – hence her cindery name.

25 Great Facts about Children’s Books

Fascinating trivia about classic children’s books and their authors

Below we’ve compiled some of our favourite facts about classic children’s literature. For more fascinating insight into the history of children’s books, we recommend the excellent A History of Children’s Books in 100 Books (British Library).

Hans Christian Andersen once stayed at Dickens’s house for five weeks; when he eventually left, Dickens wrote on the mirror in the guestroom: ‘Hans Andersen slept in this room for five weeks — which seemed to the family AGES!’

Contrary to popular belief, the girls’ name Wendy existed before J. M. Barrie wrote Peter Pan.

In 2006, the writer of the Babar the Elephant books released a book called Babar’s Yoga for Elephants. It has sold 100,000 copies.

Five Fascinating Facts about Black Beauty

Fun facts about Black Beauty and the novel’s author, Anna Sewell

1. Anna Sewell’s novel Black Beauty is one of the biggest-selling novels of all time. Published in 1877, Black Beauty was a huge publishing success story from the start. Although Sewell died five months after the book appeared (the cause of her death has been attributed variously to tuberculosis and hepatitis), she lived long enough to learn that she had written a bestseller. The book has sold over 50 million copies in total, making it one of the bestselling books in English. It was Sewell’s only novel. Sewell died in 1878, but had been an invalid for much of her life; she was confined to her family home for much of her life.