George Edward Farrow (17 March 1862 [1] – 1919 [2] [3] ) born in Ipswich in England, was a noted British children's book author of whose life little is known. [4] [5]
George Edward Farrow (17 March 1862 [1] – 1919 [2] [3] ) born in Ipswich in England, was a noted British children's book author of whose life little is known. [4] [5]
The son of George Farrow, a cement manufacturer in Ipswich, and his wife Emily, G.E. Farrow was educated in London and America. In 1891 he was working as a clerk to the Collector of Inland Revenue and was living at No 190 Dalston Lane in Hackney. In 1901 he was living at No 83 Sterndale Road in Hammersmith. By this time his occupation is listed as author. [6] On both these dates his mother was living with him. [7] He also lived for a time in Brook Green, West Kensington.
During his literary career Farrow wrote more than 30 books for children. He encouraged his readers to write to him, answered their letters, and let their tastes and opinions guide his future works (rather like his American contemporary L. Frank Baum). Though he wrote adventure tales and poetry, Farrow was best known for nonsense books written in the tradition of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland , especially his Wallypug series, including:
He wrote 34 volumes in all, his last being The Mysterious Shin Shira (1915). [1]
Surprisingly for a popular and prolific author, little is known of Farrow's life. A few sparse facts can be gleaned from prefaces to his books: that he owned an armchair called Pendennis, had a dog called Gip, and was known to his friends as "Gef". [8] It can be inferred, perhaps, from the prefaces, in which he repeatedly begged for readers' letters, that he was lonely and childless. The frequency with which he changed publishers points to dissatisfaction with the terms they offered. Until recently, even the year of his birth was not known for certain, [note 1] it having been estimated at 1866, partly based on a reference in the Preface to an 1898 book:
What did become of Farrow is also obscure. Author Noel Streatfeild has speculated:
Farrow's other books include The Missing Prince (1896) and The Little Panjandrum's Dodo (1899).
Sir John Tenniel was an English illustrator, graphic humourist and political cartoonist prominent in the second half of the 19th century. An alumnus of the Royal Academy of Arts in London, he was knighted for artistic achievements in 1893, the first such honour ever bestowed on an illustrator or cartoonist.
"Jabberwocky" is a nonsense poem written by Lewis Carroll about the killing of a creature named "the Jabberwock". It was included in his 1871 novel Through the Looking-Glass, the sequel to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865). The book tells of Alice's adventures within the back-to-front world of the Looking-Glass world.
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is an 1865 English children's novel by Lewis Carroll, a mathematics don at Oxford University. It details the story of a girl named Alice who falls through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world of anthropomorphic creatures. It is seen as an example of the literary nonsense genre. The artist John Tenniel provided 42 wood-engraved illustrations for the book.
Alice is a fictional character and the main protagonist of Lewis Carroll's children's novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and its sequel, Through the Looking-Glass (1871). A child in the mid-Victorian era, Alice unintentionally goes on an underground adventure after falling down a rabbit hole into Wonderland; in the sequel, she steps through a mirror into an alternative world.
Henry George Liddell was dean (1855–1891) of Christ Church, Oxford, Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University (1870–1874), headmaster (1846–1855) of Westminster School, author of A History of Rome (1855), and co-author of the monumental work A Greek–English Lexicon, known as "Liddell and Scott", which is still widely used by students of Greek. Lewis Carroll wrote Alice's Adventures in Wonderland for Henry Liddell's daughter Alice.
Edith Nesbit was an English writer and poet, who published her books for children as E. Nesbit. She wrote or collaborated on more than 60 such books. She was also a political activist and co-founder of the Fabian Society, a socialist organisation later affiliated to the Labour Party.
Harry Furniss was a British illustrator. He established his career on the Illustrated London News before moving to Punch. He also illustrated Lewis Carroll's novel Sylvie and Bruno.
Jean Ingelow was an English poet and novelist, who gained sudden fame in 1863. She also wrote several stories for children.
Edward Jeffrey Irving Ardizzone,, who sometimes signed his work "DIZ", was a British painter, printmaker and war artist, and the author and illustrator of books, many of them for children. For Tim All Alone, which he wrote and illustrated, Ardizzone won the inaugural Kate Greenaway Medal from the Library Association for the year's best children's book illustration by a British subject. For the 50th anniversary of the Medal in 2005, the book was named one of the top ten winning titles, selected by a panel to compose the ballot for public election of an all-time favourite.
Mary Noel Streatfeild OBE was an English author, best known for children's books including the "Shoes" books, which were not a series. Random House, the U.S. publisher of the 1936 novel Ballet Shoes (1936), published some of Streatfeild's subsequent children's books using the word "Shoes" in their titles, to capitalize on the popularity of Ballet Shoes; thus Circus Shoes, Party Shoes, Skating Shoes and many more. She won the third annual Carnegie Medal for The Circus Is Coming. She was a member of the historic Streatfeild family.
Literary nonsense is a broad categorization of literature that balances elements that make sense with some that do not, with the effect of subverting language conventions or logical reasoning. Even though the most well-known form of literary nonsense is nonsense verse, the genre is present in many forms of literature.
Edward Harold Begbie, also known as Harold Begbie, was an English journalist and the author of nearly 50 books and poems. Besides studies of the Christian religion, he wrote numerous other books, including political satire, comedy, fiction, science fiction, plays and poetry. He died in London on 8 October 1929.
Alice Bolingbroke Woodward (1862–1951) was an English artist and illustrator. She was one of the most prolific illustrators at the turn of the 20th century and is known mainly for her work in children's literature, and secondarily for her scientific illustrations.
"'Tis the Voice of the Lobster" is a poem by Lewis Carroll that appears in Chapter 10 of his 1865 novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. It is recited by Alice to the Mock Turtle and the Gryphon.
Ballet Shoes: A Story of Three Children on the Stage is a children's novel by Noel Streatfeild, published by Dent in 1936. Her first book for children, it was illustrated by the author's sister, Ruth Gervis.
Helen Gillian Oxenbury is an English illustrator and writer of children's picture books. She lives in North London. She has twice won the annual Kate Greenaway Medal, the British librarians' award for illustration and been runner-up four times. For the 50th anniversary of that Medal (1955–2005) her 1999 illustrated edition of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was named one of the top ten winning works.
Marion Catherine "Kitty" Barne was a British screenwriter and author of children's books, especially on music and musical themes. She won the 1940 Carnegie Medal for British children's books.
The Wallypug of Why is an 1895 children's novel by G. E. Farrow. The book is an exercise in humorous nonsense, rich in wordplay and absurd situations, in the tradition of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. A popular success, it inaugurated a series of Wallypug sequels.
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet, mathematician and photographer. His most notable works are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass (1871). He was noted for his facility with word play, logic, and fantasy. His poems Jabberwocky (1871) and The Hunting of the Snark (1876) are classified in the genre of literary nonsense.
William Trego Webb was a British educationist and author who taught English Literature in various colleges in Bengal in India in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A prolific writer, he also produced a number of English language grammar books for Indian students with fellow-academic F. J. Rowe.
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