Charles Stuart Pratt (1854–1921), who sometimes wrote under the pen names of C. P. Stewart and C. P. Stuart, was an American writer of

children's literature Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...

, best known for being the art editor of '' Wide Awake'' magazine for 16 years, starting in 1875.Sullivan, Larry, ''19th Century Authors of Warner New Hampshire'', pages 59 & 60, Warner Historical Society & Pillsbury Free Library, 2011 He edited children’s magazines for 30 years, and for most of that time he worked with his wife,

Ella Farman Eliza Anna Farman Pratt (1837–1907) (pen names, Ella Farman and Dorothea Alice Shepherd) was an American writer of children's literature, best known for editing '' Wide Awake'' magazine for 16 years, starting in 1875. Early life Farman was bor ...

Pratt.

Early life

Pratt was born on February 10, 1854, in South

Weymouth, Massachusetts ("To Work Is to Conquer") , image_map = Norfolk County Massachusetts incorporated and unincorporated areas Weymouth highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250px , map_caption = Location in Norfolk County in Massa ...

. He was the son of Loring and Laura (Vining) Pratt.Charles Stuart Pratt (death notice), ''Kearsarge Independent and Times'' (Warner, N.H.), April 8, 1921 Pratt attended South Weymouth High School, and then a Boston art school.

Literary career

In 1875, when Pratt was 21 years old, he became the art editor of '' Wide Awake'', a children’s magazine published by D. Lothrop Company in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

was the magazine’s literary editor.Kelly, R. Gordon, Wide Awake, in ''Children's Periodicals of the United States'', page 460 Greenwood Press, 1984 Pratt and Farman wed in 1877. As art editor Pratt hired many well-known illustrators, including William Parker Bodfish and Frederick

Childe Hassam Frederick Childe Hassam (; October 17, 1859 – August 27, 1935) was an American Impressionist painter, noted for his urban and coastal scenes. Along with Mary Cassatt and John Henry Twachtman, Hassam was instrumental in promulgating Impressioni ...

. He also wrote numerous stories for the magazine, which were published anonymously or under a pen name. He edited ''Wide Awake'' from 1875 until 1891. Pratt and his wife also worked on other D. Lothrop Company children’s magazines. They edited ''Babyland'' from 1877 to 1892 and then from 1894 to 1897. In addition, they edited ''Little Men and Women'' for an unknown period of time. From 1897 until 1909 Pratt edited ''

Little Folks ''Little Folks'' was a monthly United States children's magazine for young readersKelly, R. Gordon, ''Children's Periodicals of the United States'', pages 282 - 285, Greenwood Press, 1984 from three to twelve years-old. It was founded by publi ...

'', a children’s magazine published by S. E. Cassino Company, in

Salem, Massachusetts Salem ( ) is a historic coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, located on the North Shore of Greater Boston. Continuous settlement by Europeans began in 1626 with English colonists. Salem would become one of the most significant seaports tr ...

Pratt was co-editor until shortly before her death in 1907. Until at least 1912 the ''Little Folks'' Contents page stated, “Edited from foundation to May, 1909, by Charles S. and Ella Farman Pratt.” During Pratt’s time as a children’s magazine editor, he was also writing stories for adult magazines. He won a one-thousand-dollar prize for his story ''A Celestial Crime'', which was published in the December 1897 issue of '' The Black Cat'', another S. E. Cassino Company publication. His story ''Napoleon and the Regent Diamond'' was published in the September 1895 issue of ''

Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine ''Lippincott's Monthly Magazine'' was a 19th-century literary magazine published in Philadelphia from 1868 to 1915, when it relocated to New York to become '' McBride's Magazine''. It merged with ''Scribner's Magazine'' in 1916. ''Lippincott's'' ...

''. The story was considered so noteworthy that it was mentioned in an 1895 issue of the ''

Review of Reviews The ''Review of Reviews'' was a noted family of monthly journals founded in 1890–1893 by British reform journalist William Thomas Stead (1849–1912). Established across three continents in London (1891), New York (1892) and Melbourne (1893), t ...

''.

Personal life

Charles Stuart Pratt wed Eliza Anna (Ella) Farman on November 11, 1877. For most of their married life the couple lived in

Warner, New Hampshire Warner is a town in Merrimack County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 2,937 at the 2020 census. The town is home to Magdalen College of the Liberal Arts, Rollins State Park and Mount Kearsarge State Forest. The town's centra ...

. Pratt had a son, Ralph Farman Pratt, born July 7, 1878, who became a landscape painter. For many years Pratt was on the board of trustees of the Pillsbury Free Library and worked to have branch libraries for school children in Davisville and Melvin’s Mills, which are villages included within the boundaries of

Later life

in 1909 Pratt stepped down as editor of ''Little Folks'' due to serious health problems. The obituary published in his hometown newspaper states that he suffered a “paralytic shock,” which caused a lingering illness, but that he “bore his severe burden with fortitude.” For many years he got by on his savings, but the September 1920 issue of ''

The Writer ''The Writer'' is a magazine for writers, published monthly by Madavor Media. History ''The Writer'' was first established by William H. Hills and Robert Luce, two ''Boston Globe'' reporters, as "a monthly magazine to interest and help all lit ...

'' contained this brief notice: “The Boston Transcript publishes an appeal for financial aid for Charles Stuart Pratt of Warner N. H., who with Mrs. Ella Farman Pratt formerly edited the magazine, Wide Awake, and who is now poor and helpless with paralysis in his old age.”''The Writer'', Volume 32, September, 1920, page 128 Pratt died in Warner, New Hampshire, on April 3, 1921. He was buried in South

Published books

*1886 - ''Bye-O-Baby Ballads'', D. Lothrop *1888 - ''Baby’s Lullaby Book'', Prang & Company *1896 - ''Little Peterkin Vandike'', L.C. Page & Company *1896 - ''The Brown Bunny'', (pen name of C.P. Stewart), S.E. Cassino Company *1899 - ''Stick-and-Pea Plays'', D. Lothrop *1899 - ''Buz-Buz & His Twelve Adventures'', D. Lothrop *1905 - ''Riddle-Rhymes'', S.E. Cassino Company *1908 - ''Little Noah’s Ark'', (pen name of C.P. Stuart), S.E. Cassino Company

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pratt, Charles Stuart 1854 births 1921 deaths American children's writers