Mary Webb was born at Leighton, Shropshire on March 25, 1881. Her family name was Meredith and in 1912 she married a school-master, Henry Bertram Webb. In 1914 Mr and Mrs Webb began work as market gardeners and sold their fruit and vegetables on a stall in the market place of Shrewsbury Town. Marry Webb started journalistic work at an …

Attaboy is an alteration of ‘That’s the boy!’ It is used to cheer somebody on and to express enthusiastic encouragement or approval to a man or boy. It is an act of congratulating somebody on an achievement. Example: he received several attaboys from the top management after the presentation.

Helen Beatrix Potter, born July 6, 1866, paid for only 250 copies of Peter Rabbit to be printed in December 1901. Two months later, a second edition of 250 copies were printed. Later, in 1902, Beatrix Potter (the name she wrote under) published, again at her own cost, The Tailor of Gloucester. 500 copies were published. In the year 1903, …

This was Hector Hugh Munro, born in Burma on November 12, 1870. His fame as a writer rests on his brilliant short stories which have been collected in several volumes such as Reginald, Reginald in Russia and The Chronicles of Clovis. He was only a child when his mother died and, in Devonshire, England, he was brought up by two …

It was whilst he was still working as a Bank of England official that Kenneth Grahame published his first work, and it was when he was fifty-nine years old that his masterpiece appeared. He originally wrote The Wind in the Willows, a charming animal fantasy, for his young son, but it soon became a best seller, and has remained so …

William Wilkie Collins who was the son of William Collins, the painter. Born in London January 8, 1824, he studied law and was called to the Bar in 1851. He was already writing and in 1850 his novel Antonina had appeared but his high rank in literature stands on his two well-known mystery novels. Wilkie Collins was a close friend …

A certain professor of philosophy at the Swiss University of Berne. His name was Johann Rudolph Wyss and he was the son of a pastor, born at Berne, March 13, 1781. The Swiss Family Robinson was based on a tale told to Johann Wyss by his father.

Dorothy Gladys Smith, better known as Dodie Smith and in theatrical circles by her pen-name CL Anthony. She was born May 3, 1896 at Whitefield, Lancashire and educated at Manchester and at St Paul’s Girls’ School in London. After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, she first appeared on stage in musical comedy in 1915. After several years …

This story is considered one of the greatest fairy tales. Indeed, most critics would undoubtedly accord it the accolade of being the greatest. The idea of a poor young girl being ill-treated by her step-mother, and then with fairy help, receiving beautiful clothes, complete with rich shoes which lead to a Royal marriage, dates as far back as far back …

His pen-name was Sapper, his real name being Cyril McNeile, born 28 September, 1888. He was the son of a naval captain and entered the Royal Engineers, (whose nick-name is The Sappers) in 1907. He served through the First World War, retiring from the army with the rank of lieutenant colonel in 1919. He began his writing carees with Sergeant …