Dorothy Edwards
Encyclopedia
Dorothy Edwards was a British
children's writer
.
Born as Dorothy Violet Ellen Brown into a working-class family, her father taught her to read at an early age, enabling her to write her first story at four years of age. Her stories, poems and articles were published throughout her twenties, and at this time she married her husband Frank Edwards and had two children, Jane and Frank.
Edwards' most famous stories are of My Naughty Little Sister, which she conceived to keep her daughter, Jane, quiet whilst on a family holiday in 1950. She wrote five books of these stories.
She also published several anthologies of short stories, folklore and poetry for children, chiefly on the subjects of magic, witchcraft and ghosts. Two of these are Ghosts and Shadows 1980 and Mists and Magic 1983.
She was shortlisted for the Whitbread Award for children's literature
for The Witches and the Grinnygog
1981, a novel for children about the survival of benign pagan witchcraft in modern Britain. This novel was later adapted for television.
Edwards was part of the 1950s radio
show Listen with Mother, and she also wrote for Playschool and Jackanory
.
Edwards commited suicide in 1982, when her body was found in Dover, she was buried next to her sister Phyliss.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
children's writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
.
Born as Dorothy Violet Ellen Brown into a working-class family, her father taught her to read at an early age, enabling her to write her first story at four years of age. Her stories, poems and articles were published throughout her twenties, and at this time she married her husband Frank Edwards and had two children, Jane and Frank.
Edwards' most famous stories are of My Naughty Little Sister, which she conceived to keep her daughter, Jane, quiet whilst on a family holiday in 1950. She wrote five books of these stories.
She also published several anthologies of short stories, folklore and poetry for children, chiefly on the subjects of magic, witchcraft and ghosts. Two of these are Ghosts and Shadows 1980 and Mists and Magic 1983.
She was shortlisted for the Whitbread Award for children's literature
Children's literature
Children's literature is for readers and listeners up to about age twelve; it is often defined in four different ways: books written by children, books written for children, books chosen by children, or books chosen for children. It is often illustrated. The term is used in senses which sometimes...
for The Witches and the Grinnygog
The Witches and the Grinnygog
The Witches and the Grinnygog is a children's novel by the writer Dorothy Edwards, published in 1981 and shortlisted for that year's Whitbread Prize for a children's book....
1981, a novel for children about the survival of benign pagan witchcraft in modern Britain. This novel was later adapted for television.
Edwards was part of the 1950s radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
show Listen with Mother, and she also wrote for Playschool and Jackanory
Jackanory
Jackanory is a long-running BBC children's television series that was designed to stimulate an interest in reading. The show was first transmitted on 13 December 1965, the first story being the fairy-tale Cap o' Rushes read by Lee Montague. Jackanory continued to be broadcast until 24 March 1996,...
.
Edwards commited suicide in 1982, when her body was found in Dover, she was buried next to her sister Phyliss.