Carroll, Lewis (1832-98), English author, mathematician, and logician, best known for his creation of the immortal fantasy Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

Carroll was born Charles Lutwidge Dodgson in Daresbury, Cheshire, on January 27, 1832, and was educated at Rugby and at Christ Church College, University of Oxford. From 1855 to 1881 he was a member of the faculty of mathematics at Oxford. He was the author of several mathematical treatises, including Euclid and His Modern Rivals (1879). In 1865 he published under his pseudonym Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Its sequel, Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, appeared in 1871. These were followed by Phantasmagoria and Other Poems (1869), The Hunting of the Snark (1876), and a novel, Sylvie and Bruno (2 vol., 1889-93). He died at Guildford, Surrey, on January 14, 1898.

Philipp Pullman was born in Norwich, England in 1946, but he spent his childhood in Australia and Zimbabwe. Back to Europe, he went to Oxford University, where he began to write. His fauvourite author was John Cowper Powys, and he has read several times Grimm's Fairy Tales. He is the author of many books for young reader and two novels for adults.

Chronology of their life

Jacob Ludwig Carl Grimm is born January 4, 1785, in Hanau, Germany, son of Philipp Wilhelm Grimm (a lawyer and court official) and his wife Dorothea Grimm, née Zimmer.

Wilhelm Carl Grimm is born February 24, 1786, in Hanau, Germany, son of Philipp Wilhelm Grimm and Dorothea Grimm.

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien
J.R.R. Tolkien was born on 3 January 1892 at Bloemfontein, capital of the Orange Free State in South Africa. His father, Arthur Tolkien, was English and was employed as manager of the local branch ofthe Bank of Africa. When he was three years old, Ronald (as he was known to his family) and his younger brother, Hilary, were brought back to England by their mother, Mabel Tolkien. Before they could return to South Africa, their father died there of rheumatic fever. Mrs Tolkien and the boys remained in England, living for a while in a cottage at Sarehole Mill, near Birmingham, then moving to the city suburb of Moseley in 1900. The same year, Mabel Tolkien experienced a conversion to the Catholic faith; this event had a lasting effect on Ronald and Catholicism became a motivating force in his life and writings.

About the Author

Enid Blyton was probably the most successful British children's writer of the twentieth century, she was born in London on 11th August 1897 and she died in 1968

Enid Blyton's books have received much literary criticism, indeed the attitudes displayed in many of the books can be considered as sexist and outdated. At the end of the fifties many librarians refused to stock books by Enid Blyton on the grounds that children would not read the great works of literature, this had the result that Enid Blyton sold even more books.

English author and illustrator of picture-books for very young, creator of the characters Peter Rabbit, Jeremy Fisher, Jemima Puddle-Duck, Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle, and others. Potter's popularity has shown no sign of diminishing since she created the timeless children's books.

Daughter of a physician, Mary Norton (née Spenser) was born December 10, 1903 in London, England. Raised in a Georgian manor house in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, she later attended St. Margaret's Convent school in East Grimstead, Sussex.

Louisa May Alcott, the second daughter of Amos Bronson Alcott and Abigail "Abba" May was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania on November 29, 1832. At an early age, Louisa and her family moved to Boston, Massachusetts where her father pursued his teaching career by setting up the Temple School. Bronson Alcott was well known for his controversial teaching methods which relied more on student involvement and a belief that children should enjoy learning. In 1840 the family moved to Concord where prominent American author and close friend of the Alcott's, Ralph Waldo Emerson, helped the family to set up residence. Louisa enjoyed the county atmosphere of Concord and found her time divided between acting out plays with her sisters which she had written, and nature walks with Henry David Thoreau. In 1843 the Alcott family took part in an experimental communal village known as the Fruitlands. Here Bronson Alcott wished to further his beliefs in transcendentalism and bring his daughters a greater understanding of nature. Unfortunately the project failed and the family returned to Concord in 1845 taking up residence at Hillside.

Susan Meddaugh (Med-awe) is both a writer and an illustrator. She actually had a dog named Martha who was abandoned as a puppy and adopted by Meddaugh's family. She was inspired to write a story about Martha when her son asked her "If Martha-dog ate alphabet soup, would she be able to talk?" The Martha stories have become favorites with kids everywhere.

J. K. Rowling(Joanne Kathleen Rowling) was born on July 31st, 1965 in Chipping Sodbury, Gloucestershire, England. She can remember telling stories from early on and wrote down her first story when she was 5 or 6 years old. It was about a rabbit so she called her story simply 'Rabbit.' Rabbit got the measles and was visited by friends including a giant bee called 'Miss Bee.'

As a child she moved to Winterbourne -close to Bristol. In Winterbourne she was friends with a brother and sister whose surname was Potter. She says she always liked the name, and preferred it to her own because the children always made annoying jokes about rolling pins!