Best of Children's Classics

About the Author

"Lyman Frank Baum began writing at a young age. After working as a journalist and businessman, Baum began writing stories for children. Mother Goose in Prose, a collection of twenty-two children's stories, was published in 1897. In 1899, he published Father Goose: His Book. This collection of nonsense poetry for children was a great success. The next year, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was published by the George M. Hill Company. Following its success, Baum wrote thirteen more novels in the series. A storyteller par excellence, Baum continues to be remembered for his timeless children's stories.
In 1868, Frances Hodgson Burnett's first story was published in Godey's Lady's Book. She had begun writing for a livelihood and wrote non-stop. That Lass o' Lowrie' s, her first full-length novel, was published in 1877. She started writing children's fiction after meeting Louisa May Alcott and Mary Mapes Dodge-- the editor of St. Nicholas, a children's magazine. In the winter of 1887, she published Sara Crewe or What Happened at Miss Minchin's in the United States. A Little Princess, an expanded version of Sara Crewe or What Happened at Miss Minchin' s, was published in book form in September 1905. A huge success, it is still considered among children's all-time favourite novels. Burnett published The Secret Garden in 1911. A classic of children's literature, it became one of her most popular novels.
J. M. Barrie published his first work of fiction, Better Dead, in 1887. This was followed by When a Man's Single (1888) and My Lady Nicotine (1890). Excessively sentimental, these novels failed to sell. With the beginning of the twentieth century, Barrie concentrated on theatre. The Little White Bird, a fantasy fairy tale, was first published in 1902. It introduced the character of Peter Pan, a naughty young boy who can fly and never grows up. Peter Pan; or, the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up was first staged in 1904. It was published in novel form with the title Peter and Wendy in October 1911 by Hodder & Stoughton in the UK and Charles Scribner's Sons in the USA. It is Barrie's most famous work, and continues to remain widely popular. "