Toby Tyler; or, Ten Weeks with a Circus
Encyclopedia
Pen name
A pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a pseudonym adopted by an author. A pen name may be used to make the author's name more distinctive, to disguise his or her gender, to distance an author from some or all of his or her works, to protect the author from retribution for his or her...
of James Otis Kaler
James Otis Kaler
James Otis Kaler was an American journalist and author of children’s literature. He used the pen name James Otis.-Life and career:...
, initially serialized in Harper's Young People
Harper's Young People
Harper's Young People was an American children's magazine between 1879 and 1899. It was published by Harper & Brothers. It was Harper's fourth magazine to be established, after Harper's Magazine , Harper's Weekly , and Harper's Bazaar...
in 1877, then published as a book in 1881
1881 in literature
The year 1881 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:* March 4 - A Study in Scarlet, the first Sherlock Holmes story, begins.* The first of the three-volume History of Woman Suffrage, was published by Susan B...
. It became something of a classic among American boys and girls who dreamed of running away to join the circus and remained popular for generations. Disney
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
honored it with a film version, Toby Tyler
Toby Tyler
Toby Tyler is a Disney film released on January 21, 1960 by Buena Vista Distribution Company, based on the 1880 children's book Toby Tyler, or Ten Weeks with a Circus by James Otis Kaler....
, starring Kevin Corcoran
Kevin Corcoran
Kevin Anthony "Moochie" Corcoran is an American director, producer, and former child actor. He appeared in numerous Disney projects between 1957 and 1963, frequently as an irrepressible character with the nickname Moochie...
in 1960. It was James Otis Kaler's first book and also his best known and most successful.
Toby Tyler tells the story of a ten year-old orphan who runs away from a foster home to join the traveling circus
Traveling Circus
Traveling Circus is the fifth studio album by American country music singer Phil Vassar. It was released on December 15, 2009 as his second album for the Universal South Records label. The album contains the singles "Bobbi with an I" and "Everywhere I Go," both of which have charted on the U.S....
only to discover his new employer is a cruel taskmaster. The difference between the romance of the circus from the outside and the reality as seen from the inside is graphically depicted. Toby's friend, Mr. Stubbs the chimpanzee, reinforces the consequences of what happens when one follows one's natural instincts rather than one's intellect and conscience, a central theme of the novel.
Toby Tyler is a "bad boy" novel, meant to teach a lesson what happens to boys who do bad things; other examples include George W. Peck
George Wilbur Peck
George Wilbur Peck was an American writer and politician who served as the 17th Governor of Wisconsin.Peck was born in 1840 in Henderson, New York, the oldest of three children of David B. and Alzina P. Peck. In 1843, the family moved to Cold Spring, Wisconsin...
's Peck's Bad Boy
Peck's Bad Boy
Peck's Bad Boy is a 1934 American drama film directed by Edward F. Cline. It was based on the series of books by George W. Peck.- Cast :*Jackie Cooper as Bill Peck*Thomas Meighan as Henry Peck*Jackie Searl as Horace Clay...
(1883), Thomas Bailey Aldrich
Thomas Bailey Aldrich
Thomas Bailey Aldrich was an American poet, novelist, travel writer and editor.-Early life and education:...
's The Story of a Bad Boy (1870), and Mark Twain
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
's Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876). As with Mark Twain
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a novel by Mark Twain, first published in England in December 1884 and in the United States in February 1885. Commonly named among the Great American Novels, the work is among the first in major American literature to be written in the vernacular, characterized by...
(1884), also about a conscience-stricken escaped and wandering orphan boy (written following the success of Toby Tyler), most readers don't remember Toby Tyler for its wholesome message, but as a romantic story of running away to the circus and adventures on the road.
The book was influential with some famous "bad boys". A young Carl Sandburg
Carl Sandburg
Carl Sandburg was an American writer and editor, best known for his poetry. He won three Pulitzer Prizes, two for his poetry and another for a biography of Abraham Lincoln. H. L. Mencken called Carl Sandburg "indubitably an American in every pulse-beat."-Biography:Sandburg was born in Galesburg,...
thought Toby Tyler one of his favorite books (even better than Adventures of Huckleberry Finn). Harlan Ellison
Harlan Ellison
Harlan Jay Ellison is an American writer. His principal genre is speculative fiction.His published works include over 1,700 short stories, novellas, screenplays, teleplays, essays, a wide range of criticism covering literature, film, television, and print media...
credits it as influencing his decision to run off with the circus. William S. Burroughs
William S. Burroughs
William Seward Burroughs II was an American novelist, poet, essayist and spoken word performer. A primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodernist author, he is considered to be "one of the most politically trenchant, culturally influential, and innovative artists of the 20th...
wrote of it in his journals.
The original book contains 30 pen and ink drawings by W. A. Rogers
William Allen Rogers
William Allen Rogers was an American political cartoonist born in Springfield, Ohio in 1854. He studied at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Wittenberg College, but never graduated. Rogers taught himself to draw and began submitting political cartoons to Midwestern newspapers in his teens...
(1854-1931). A sequel, Mr. Stubb’s Brother, was published in 1883.
External links
- Toby Tyler available at Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
(scanned books original editions illustrated color) - Toby Tyler at LibriVoxLibriVoxLibriVox is an online digital library of free public domain audiobooks, read by volunteers and is probably, since 2007, the world's most prolific audiobook publisher...
(audiobook)