Charles Warrell

Last updated

Charles Warrell (23 April 1889 - 26 November 1995) was an English schoolteacher, and creator of the I-Spy books, a series of spotters' guides written for British children and first published in 1949. [1] In his role as creator and publisher of the books, Warrell was known pseudonymously as Big Chief I-Spy.

Contents

Life and career

Warrell was born in Farmborough, Somerset in 1889. [2] Having trained at Culham College, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, [3] he became the headteacher at Higher Wych School in Cheshire, [2] then later Pleasley Hill School, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, during the 1940s. [1] He first devised the concept for the I-Spy books in 1948, towards the end of his teaching career. [1] [3] He was an advocate of active learning, [2] and originally created the books as a method of keeping children entertained and stimulated on long car journeys, [1] and making children more aware of the world around them. [3]

I-Spy books

Warrell was initially rejected by eight different publishers, so resorted to publishing the books himself, [1] using his acquaintance with a book-buyer at his local branch of Woolworths to secure that store as a distribution outlet. [2] The books were initially entitled Learning from Life, but Warrell changed the name on the advice of his wife Marian. [1] [2] Each book in the I-Spy series covered a different subject, such as I-SPY Cars, I-SPY on the Pavement, I-SPY Churches, I-SPY on a Train Journey, and so on. As children spotted the objects listed, they recorded the event in the book, and gained points, varying according to how unusual the sight. Once the book was complete, it could be sent to Warrell (known as Big Chief I-SPY) at "Wigwam-by-the-Water, EC4", [2] [3] for a feather and entry to the order of merit. The children participating in the game were known as The I-SPY Tribe. [1]

A success on publication, the books were soon picked up to be published in the Daily Mail and then the News Chronicle , where completed entries were mentioned by name in Warrell's column. [2] By 1953 the I-SPY Tribe had half a million members. [1] The I-SPY Tribe was also an activity club, with events held for members, known as "pow-wows" and attended by thousands of children, [3] featuring Warrell in a giant Indian head-dress, and one event in London consisting of 8,000 children taking part in sight-seeing tours on 80 hired double-decker buses. [2] By the time Warrell retired in 1956, 18 million copies had been sold. [3] The books continued their popularity, switching between several different publishers over the years, before being taken on by current publisher Michelin Travel Publications in 1991. The original series of books remained in print until the mid-80s, [3] and eventually sold 25 million copies worldwide. [1]

After retirement Warrell and his wife settled in Budleigh Salterton, Devon. [2] As old as 93, he was still writing articles for publication in national magazines, and at 104 years old he was reportedly still phoning friends to discuss developments in education. [4] Charles Warrell died in a nursing home in Matlock, Derbyshire in 1995, known to the nursing home staff as Big Chief. [1] He was survived by two daughters from his first marriage, to Elizabeth Gill. [2]

Related Research Articles

<i>James Bond</i> Media franchise about a British spy

The James Bond series focuses on the titular character, a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have written authorised Bond novels or novelisations: Kingsley Amis, Christopher Wood, John Gardner, Raymond Benson, Sebastian Faulks, Jeffery Deaver, William Boyd, and Anthony Horowitz. The latest novel is With a Mind to Kill by Anthony Horowitz, published in May 2022. Additionally Charlie Higson wrote a series on a young James Bond, and Kate Westbrook wrote three novels based on the diaries of a recurring series character, Moneypenny.

Marvel Comics is an American comic book publisher and the property of The Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin Goodman as Timely Comics, and by 1951 had generally become known as Atlas Comics. The Marvel era began in August 1961 with the launch of The Fantastic Four and other superhero titles created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, and many others. The Marvel brand, which had been used over the years and decades, was solidified as the company's primary brand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mythologies of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas</span>

The Indigenous peoples of the Americas comprise numerous different cultures. Each has its own mythologies, many of which share certain themes across cultural boundaries. In North American mythologies, common themes include a close relation to nature and animals as well as belief in a Great Spirit that is conceived of in various ways.

Joseph Leo Baxendale was an English cartoonist and publisher. Baxendale wrote and drew several titles. Among his best-known creations are the Beano strips Little Plum, Minnie the Minx, The Bash Street Kids, and The Three Bears.

Image Comics is an American comic book publisher and is the third largest direct market comic book and graphic novel publisher in the industry by market share.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scholastic Corporation</span> American publishing company

Scholastic Corporation is an American multinational publishing, education, and media company that publishes and distributes books, comics, and educational materials for schools, teachers, parents, children, and other educational institutions. Products are distributed via retail and online sales and through schools via reading clubs and book fairs. Clifford the Big Red Dog, a character created by Norman Bridwell in 1963, is the mascot of the company.

Joe Conason is an American journalist, author and liberal political commentator. He is the founder and editor-in-chief of The National Memo, a daily political newsletter and website that features breaking news and commentary. Since 2006, he has served as editor of The Investigative Fund, a nonprofit journalism center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Budleigh Salterton</span> Town in Devon, England

Budleigh Salterton is a seaside town on the coast in East Devon, England, 15 miles (24 km) south-east of Exeter. It lies within the East Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and forms much of the electoral ward of Budleigh, whose ward population at the 2021 census was 7,671.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timely Comics</span> American comic book publisher

Timely Comics is the common name for the group of corporations that was the earliest comic book arm of American publisher Martin Goodman, and the entity that would evolve by the 1960s to become Marvel Comics.

The I-SPY books are spotters' guides written for British children, particularly successful in the 1950s and 1960s in their original form and again when relaunched by Michelin in 2009 after a seven-year gap in publishing. A search engine set to look for images, with the words - "i-spy" News Chronicle Daily Mail Michelin, can illustrate that a range of styles was used.

<i>Publishers Weekly</i> American weekly trade news magazine

Publishers Weekly (PW) is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of Book Publishing and Bookselling". With 51 issues a year, the emphasis today is on book reviews.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Scribner's Sons</span> American publisher

Charles Scribner's Sons, or simply Scribner's or Scribner, is an American publisher based in New York City, known for publishing American authors including Henry James, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Kurt Vonnegut, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, Stephen King, Robert A. Heinlein, Thomas Wolfe, George Santayana, John Clellon Holmes, Don DeLillo, and Edith Wharton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lis Wiehl</span> American legal scholar

Lis Wiehl is a New York Times bestselling American author of fiction and nonfiction books, and a legal analyst. She is the author of twenty books, including, most recently, A Spy in Plain Sight: The Inside Story of the FBI and Robert Hanssen―America's Most Damaging Russian Spy, published by Pegasus Books.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fawcett Publications</span> American publishing company founded in 1919

Fawcett Publications was an American publishing company founded in 1919 in Robbinsdale, Minnesota by Wilford Hamilton "Captain Billy" Fawcett (1885–1940).

A & C Black is a British book publishing company, owned since 2002 by Bloomsbury Publishing. The company is noted for publishing Who's Who since 1849 and the Encyclopædia Britannica between 1827 and 1903. It offers a wide variety of books in fiction and nonfiction, and has published popular travel guides, novels, and science books.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lane Smith (illustrator)</span> American illustrator and writer of childrens books

Lane Smith is an American illustrator and writer of children's books. He is the Kate Greenaway medalist (2017) known for his eclectic visuals and subject matter, both humorous and earnest, such as the contemplative Grandpa Green, which received a Caldecott Honor in 2012, and the outlandish Stinky Cheese Man, which received a Caldecott Honor in 1992.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Farmborough</span> Human settlement in England

Farmborough is a small village and civil parish, 6 miles (9.7 km) south west of Bath in Somerset, England. It straddles both the A39 and A368 roads. The parish has a population of 1,035.

Charles Scribner IV, also known as Charles Scribner Jr., was the head of the Charles Scribner's Sons publishing company. He was a resident of Manhattan for most of his adult life, establishing a residence in the Upper East Side after 1945, when he was twenty-four.

Sasha Alyson is an American writer and businessman who started Alyson Publications in 1979. He later founded the Boston gay and lesbian newspaper Bay Windows (1983), the travel company Alyson Adventures (1995) and Big Brother Mouse, a literacy project in Laos.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Big Chief I-Spy's Legacy in 2010". BBC News Online. 19 January 2010. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Tucker, Nicholas (30 November 1995). "Obituary: Charles Warrell". The Independent. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Walford, Rex (2001). Geography in British Schools, 1850-2000: Making a World of Difference. Psychology Press. p. 154. ISBN   9780713002072 . Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  4. ↑ Wragg, Ted (1 November 2002). The Cubic Curriculum. Routledge. ISBN   9781134763733 . Retrieved 27 November 2016.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.