Dorothy Violet Ellen Edwards (née Brown; 6 November 1914 – 8 August 1982) was a

children's A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger ...

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, pla ...

from England best known for her ''My Naughty Little Sister'' book series and novel ''

The Witches and the Grinnygog ''The Witches and the Grinnygog'' is a children's novel by the writer Dorothy Edwards, published in 1981 and shortlisted for that year's Whitbread Prize for a children's book. ''The Witches and the Grinnygog'' is a story of pre-Christian tra ...

'' (1981).

Background

She was born into a

working-class The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colo ...

family in

Teddington Teddington is a suburb in south-west London in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. In 2021, Teddington was named as the best place to live in London by ''The Sunday Times''. Historically in Middlesex, Teddington is situated on a long m ...

Richmond Upon Thames The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames () in southwest London forms part of Outer London and is the only London borough on both sides of the River Thames. It was created in 1965 when three smaller council areas amalgamated under the London ...

. Her mother's maiden name was Saunders. Her father taught her to read at an early age, enabling her to write her first story at four years of age. Her stories, poems and articles were published throughout her twenties, and at this time she married her husband Francis P. "Frank" Edwards in 1942, and had two children, Jane and Frank. She died in 1982 and was buried alongside her younger sister Phyllis Mary F. Brown, known as "Pip", (1920–1977), to whom her ''Naughty Little Sister'' books were dedicated.Egmont: Dorothy Edwards biography
/ref>The Wee Web biography
/ref> She was survived by her husband, who died two years later.

Works

Publications

Edwards' most famous stories are of ''My Naughty Little Sister'', which she conceived to keep her daughter, Jane, quiet whilst on a family holiday in 1950. She wrote five books of these stories, which were illustrated by

Shirley Hughes Winifred Shirley Hughes (16 July 1927 – 25 February 2022) was an English author and illustrator. She wrote more than fifty books, which have sold more than 11.5 million copies, and illustrated more than two hundred. As of 2007, she lived i ...

. She wrote several other children's story books and picture books. She also edited several anthologies of short stories, folklore and poetry for children, chiefly on the subjects of magic, witchcraft and ghosts. Two of these are ''Ghosts and Shadows'' 1980 and ''Mists and Magic'' 1983.

Radio

Edwards helped to devise the

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transm ...

show ''

Listen with Mother ''Listen with Mother'' was a BBC radio programme for children which ran between 16 January 1950 to 10 September 1982. It was originally produced by Freda Lingstrom and was presented over the years by Daphne Oxenford, Julia Lang, Eileen Browne, ...

'' on which her ''Naughty Little Sister'' books were broadcast from 1950, and she also wrote for '' Playschool'' and ''

Jackanory ''Jackanory'' is a BBC children's television series which was originally broadcast between 1965 and 1996. It was designed to stimulate an interest in reading. The show was first transmitted on 13 December 1965, and the first story was the fair ...

''.

Awards

She was shortlisted for the

Whitbread Award The Costa Book Awards were a set of annual literary awards recognising English-language books by writers based in UK and Ireland. Originally named the Whitbread Book Awards from 1971 to 2005 after its first sponsor, the Whitbread company, then ...

for

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 ...

for ''

'' 1981, a novel for children about the survival of benign pagan witchcraft in modern Britain. This novel was later adapted for television.The Chestnut: Little Gems, ''The Witches and the Grinnygog''
/ref>

Selected books

My Naughty Little Sister

* ''My Naughty Little Sister'' (1952) * ''My Naughty Little Sister's Friends'' (1962) * ''When My Naughty Little Sister Was Good'' (1968) * ''All About My Naughty Little Sister'' (1969) * ''More Naughty Little Sister Stories'' (1971) * ''My Naughty Little Sister & Bad Harry'' (1974)

Others

* ''Tales of Joe and Timothy'' (1969) * ''Joe and Timothy Together'' (1971) * ''The Magician Who Kept a Pub and Other Stories'' (1975) * ''A Strong and Willing Girl'' (1980) * ''The Witches and the Grinnygog'' (1981) * ''The Old Man Who Sneezed'' (1983) * ''Mark the Drummer-Boy'' (1983)

References

Bibliography

Ed. Jack Zipes, ''The Oxford Encyclopedia of Children's Literature'' (2006), Oxford University Press. "Edwards, Dorothy"

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Dorothy British children's writers 1914 births 1982 deaths 20th-century British women writers