About the Author
Joseph Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936) was born in Bombay and educated in England. He returned to India to begin a career in journalism and would go on to become one of the most popular and acclaimed writers of his day. Among his best-loved works is The Jungle Book, a collection of stories about a boy raised by wolves in the Indian jungle, which was adapted into the classic Disney film of the same name. In 1907, Kipling became the first English-language writer to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Anna Sewell (1820–1878) was an English novelist best known as the author of the children’s classic Black Beauty. A childhood injury left Sewell unable to walk or stand for long periods of time without a crutch, and she got around by horse-drawn carriage for most of her life. Written during her final years, Black Beauty is Sewell’s only published work. She lived just long enough to see it become a bestseller.
Born in San Francisco, Jack London (1876–1916) shoveled coal, pirated oysters, sailed with a sealing schooner, and worked in a cannery as a youth. In 1897, London traveled to the Yukon to join the Klondike gold rush, an experience that inspired many of his later works. Best known for The Call of the Wild (1903), he wrote and published more than fifty volumes of essays, novels, and short stories, and was one of the most popular authors of his era.
Kenneth Grahame (1859–1932) was a Scottish writer best known as the author of The Wind in the Willows. He spent much of his childhood along the water, first on Loch Fyne in Scotland and then along the River Thames in a small village in southern England. It was here that his love for boating grew—a passion reflected in one of the most famous passages of The Wind in the Willows: “Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing—absolutely nothing—half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.”
Hugh Lofting (1886-1947) was a British children’s author, best known for his Doctor Dolittle series. Lofting began his career as a civil engineer before enlisting in the British Army to serve in the First World War. While at war, he began writing letters to his children, which soon became the stories of Doctor Dolittle. After being seriously wounded in the war and returning home, Lofting published his first book, The Story of Doctor Dolittle in 1920. Its sequel, The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle won the Newbery Medal. The series spawned an additional eight sequels and has been adapted into numerous film and stage adaptations. In addition to children’s books, Lofting also wrote Victory for the Slain, a long poem that described the futility of the First World War.
