Marion St John Adcock Webb (5 December 1888 – 2 May 1930) was an English writer of novels and poetry for children that presaged

A. A. Milne Alan Alexander Milne (; 18 January 1882 – 31 January 1956) was an English writer best known for his books about the teddy bear Winnie-the-Pooh, as well as for children's poetry. Milne was primarily a playwright before the huge success of Winni ...

, with her character "The Littlest One".

Life

She was born in

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...

on 5 December 1888, the daughter of the poet Arthur St John Adcock and Marlon Louise Taylor. She grew up at 42

Paddington Street Paddington Street is a street in the City of Westminster in London that runs from the junction of Crawford Street and Baker Street in the east to Marylebone High Street in the west. Sherlock Mews, Chiltern Street, Luxborough Street, and Notting ...

and was admitted to

St Marylebone School St Marylebone C of E School is a secondary school for girls in Marylebone, London. It specialises in Performing Arts, Maths & Computing. In the sixth form, boys can also attend. On 1 September 2011 the school became a converter academy havin ...

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary. An Civil parish#Ancient parishes, ancient parish and latterly a ...

in January 1894, having just turned 5 years old. Webb wrote poems for a series of fairy books illustrated by

Margaret Tarrant Margaret Winifred Tarrant (19 August 1888 – 29 July 1959) was an English illustrator, and children's author, specializing in depictions of fairy-like children and religious subjects. She began her career at the age of 20, and painted and ...

, with whom she worked on around 20 books. The treatment of childhood by Tarrant and Webb is now regarded as sentimentalised, typical of its time. She had no children of her own,Memorial notice
'The Queenslander'', Thursday 2 October 1930. p. 56. She died 2 May 1930 in London. Her work is also considered ahead of its time with entries into fantasy parallel worlds, depictions of strong female leads, and includes intense characterisations of people considered on the margins of society. Good copies of ''Little Round House'' change hands for £100s of pounds in the specialist book trade.

Partial bibliography

* ''Mr Papingay's Flying Shop'' * ''Mr Papingay's Ship'' * ''Mr Papingay's Caravan'' * ''Mr Papingay and the Little Round House'' * ''The Little Round House'' * ''The Little One In Between'' * ''Eliz'beth, Phil and Me'' * ''The Littlest One'' * ''The Littlest One Again'' * ''The Littlest One: His Book'' * ''The Littlest One: Third Book'' * ''John, Me and the Dickery Dog'' * ''The Magic Lamplighter'' * ''The House with the Twisting Passage'' * ''Knock Three Times!'' (1917, fantasy novel, illustrated by Tarrant, repub. 1994 by

Wordsworth Editions Wordsworth Editions is a British publisher known for their low-cost editions of classic literature and non-fiction works. The firm was founded by Michael Trayler in 1987. The firm began to sell paperbacks at £1 in 1992. The firm has approximat ...

Ltd, reprint. 2007) * ''A Pocketful of Posies'' * ''The Littlest Fairy'' * ''The Girls of Chequertrees'' * ''Adventures at Chequertrees'' * ''Jonathan Mends the Mats'' * ''The 'Normous Sunday Story Book''

Fairies series

* ''The Pond Fairies'' * ''Heath Fairies'' * ''Seashore Fairies'' * ''Weather Fairies'' * ''Wild Fruit Fairies'' * ''Twilight Fairies'' * ''Orchard Fairies'' * ''Forest Fairies'' * ''Flower Fairies'' * ''Insect Fairies'' * ''Seed Fairies'' * ''House Fairies'' * ''Water Fairies''

References

External links

* * * * 1888 births 1930 deaths English women poets English children's writers 20th-century English poets 20th-century English women writers Children's poets Writers from Marylebone {{UK-writer-stub