The Little Bookroom

The title

One room in the house of her childhood was called "the little bookroom", Farjeon explains in the Author's Note. Although there were many books all over the house, this dusty room was like an untended garden, full to the ceiling of stray, left-over books, opening "magic casements" on to other times and places for the young Eleanor, filling her mind with a silver-cobwebby mixture of fact, fancy and romance which influenced all her later writing. "Seven maids with seven brooms, sweeping for half-a-hundred years, have never managed to clear my mind of its dust of vanished temples and flowers and kings, the curls of ladies, the sighing of poets, the laughter of lads and girls."

The stories

The four longest of 27 stories (‡) constitute one-third of the collection by length. "Table of contents for The little bookroom" (2003 edition, provided by the publisher). LCC. Retrieved 2012-09-17.

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• The King and the Corn
• The King's Daughter Cries for the Moon ‡
• Young Kate
• The Flower Without a Name
• The Goldfish
• The Clumber Pup ‡
• The Miracle of the Poor Island
• The Girl Who Kissed the Peach-Tree
• Westwoods
• The Barrel-Organ
• The Giant and the Mite
• The Little Dressmaker
• The Lady's Room
• The Seventh Princess
• Leaving Paradise ‡
• The Little Lady's Roses
• In Those Days
• The Connemara Donkey
• The Tims
• Pennyworth
• And I Dance Mine Own Child ‡
• The Lovebirds
• San Fairy Ann
• The Glass Peacock
• The Kind Farmer
• Old Surly and the Boy
• Pannychis

The illustrations

The black-and-white illustrations by Edward Ardizzone have been described as evoking "the magical atmosphere of the stories". Although the librarians judged no 1955 book suitable for the newly established Kate Greenaway Medal for children's book illustration, a year later Ardizzone won the first-awarded Greenaway Medal for Tim All Alone (1956) which he also wrote.

Literary significance and reception

In England the best work of the years after the First World War was mainly in poetry, or fantasy, or poetic fantasy; in particular there was a spate of original stories in the folk-tale manner. Eleanor Farjeon was above all a poet, but from the 1920s onward she effectively used poetic language and fancy in creating literary but homely fairy tales for children, as did her fellow poet, Walter de la Mare. The "literary fairy tale" recreates traditional fairy tales and folktales in several respects, such as clear distinctions between good and evil, and their inevitable reward and punishment. Writing in this genre, Farjeon was one of the foremost 20th century followers of Hans Christian Andersen, which makes it fitting that she was the first recipient of the Hans Christian Andersen Award in 1956. Although the award recognises an author's or illustrator's whole body of work, the publication of The Little Bookroom provided an impetus for the award. Similarly, the 1955 Carnegie Medal was considered a recognition of Eleanor Farjeon's contribution to children's literature as a whole, echoing the 1947 award to Walter de la Mare for Collected Stories for Children.

Melbourne bookshop

In 1960, Albert Ullin opened a specialty children's bookshop in Melbourne, Australia named The Little Bookroom as a tribute to Farjeon's book. Ullin received Farjeon's permission to use the name, as well as from Ardizzone to use one of the book's illustrations as the logo. The shop moved premises several times over the following decades, and at various stages operated multiple locations. Ullin died in 2018, having become a highly influential person in the field of Australian children's literature. Today, The Little Bookroom is still in operation and is considered the oldest children's bookshop in the world.

Publication history

"She won many literary awards and the Eleanor Farjeon Award for children's literature is presented annually in her memory by the Children's Book Circle, a society of publishers.

Puffin Books (1977) retained the original cover and interior illustrations by Edward Ardizzone (see image).

New York Review Books published an edition in 2003 with afterword by Rumer Godden (), retaining the original illustrations. also http://lccn.loc.gov/2003019328

The 2004 Oxford edition used a new cover illustration. we really want to know whether the 2004 New Ed retained interior illustration by Ardizzone

References

1. Farjeon, "Author's Note", ''The Little Bookroom''.
2. [https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Little_Bookroom.html?id=FFoNKQEACAAJ ''The Little Bookroom'' at Google Books]
3. [http://www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/greenaway/full_list_of_winners.php Greenaway Medal: Full List of Winners"] {{Webarchive. link. (2010-08-06 , CILIP. Retrieved 2012-07-23.)
4. [[Marcus Crouch]], ''Treasure Seekers and Borrowers'', The Library Association, 1962, p. 46.
5. [[John Rowe Townsend]], ''Written for Children: An Outline of English-Language Children's Literature'', Third revised edition, Penguin 1987, p. 144.
6. [http://www.cliffsnotes.com/study_guide/literature/joy-luck-club/critical-essays/fairy-tale.html "The Fairy Tale"]. Critical Essays. ''The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan''. [[Cliffs Notes]]. Retrieved 2012-11-18.
7. link. (22 March 2012 . Hans Christian Andersen Awards. International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY). Retrieved 2012-09-17.)
8. Keith Barker, ''In the Realms of Gold: The Story of the Carnegie Medal'', Julia MacRae Books, 1986.
9. "Albert Ullin OAM (1930-2018)".
10. (25 August 2025). "A new chapter for The Little Bookroom in Melbourne". Artshub.