''Thursday's Child'' is a children's historical novel by

Noel Streatfeild Mary Noel Streatfeild OBE (24 December 1895 – 11 September 1986) was an English author, best known for children's books including the "Shoes" books, which were not a series (though some books made references to others). Random House, the U.S. ...

, set in

turn-of-the-century The turn of the century is the transition from one century to another, or the time period before or after that change in centuries. Usage The phrase "turn of the century" is generally understood to mean the change (whether upcoming or past) clo ...

England. It was first published in Great Britain by

William Collins, Sons William Collins, Sons & Co., often referred to as Collins, was a Scotland, Scottish printing and publishing company founded by a Presbyterianism, Presbyterian schoolmaster, William Collins (publisher), William Collins, in Glasgow in 1819, in par ...

in 1970 and was followed by a sequel, ''Far to Go'', in 1976. Its most recent release was a Collins paperback in 1999.Noel Streatfeild - Thursday's Child
/ref> The novel was adapted for television as a six-part series broadcast 1972–1973.

Title

The title of the novel and its sequel are taken from the traditional rhyme "

Monday's Child "Monday's Child" is one of many fortune-telling songs, popular as nursery rhymes for children. It is supposed to tell a child's character or future from their day of birth and to help young children remember the seven days of the week. As with ma ...

Plot summary

The book is about a foundling, Margaret Thursday, who was named after the day she was discovered. As she tells the orphanage children, "I'm not properly an orphan. I was found on a Thursday on the church steps, with three of everything, all of the very best quality." A confident and spirited child, she is determined to make her way in the world and become famous. Margaret soon becomes the archenemy of the cruel matron at St. Luke's, where she is sent by well-meaning people when she is ten. Things reach such a dreadful state that she decides to run away from the orphanage, taking along her friends Peter and Horatio and her "three of everything". So the children flee in the night to become the unlikeliest

legger Legging is a method of moving a boat through a canal tunnel or adit containing water. This method of navigating through canal tunnels and adits was commonly used in canal tunnels during the 18th and early 19th centuries. Legging in canal tunne ...

s ever seen on a canal boat and performers in a travelling theatrical troupe.

Television adaptation

The

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

broadcast a six-part adaptation of ''Thursday's Child'' on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

between 27 December 1972 and 31 January 1973. The German company Pidax released a dual-language DVD of the series in 2013."Simon Gipps-Kent's First BBC Series Available on DVD"
/ref>

Sources

1970 British novels British children's novels Children's historical novels Novels about orphans 1970 children's books William Collins, Sons books Children's books set in England Children's books set in orphanages Novels by Noel Streatfeild {{1970s-child-hist-novel-stub