Eleanor (Eleanor Farjeon, 1881-1965) - children's writer and poet. She wrote poems, short stories and stories, parables and miracles, song lyrics for opera performances for children, but the main thing in her work were fairy tales. She is also the author of satirical stories for adults. Eleanor Fargen was the winner of many literary awards; in our time, the Eleanor Fargen Prize is awarded annually by the Children's Book Circle.
Eleanor Fargen was born in London on February 13, 1881. The daughter of popular writer Benjamin Fargen and Maggie Fargen, Eleanor comes from a literary family. Her younger brothers Joseph and Herbert also became writers, and her eldest, Harry, became a composer.
Eleanor, known to her family as Nellie, grew up as a timid child with poor eyesight and poor health. She was educated at home. She spent a lot of time in the attic, surrounded by books. Her father encouraged her to write from the age of five. She described her family and childhood in her autobiographical story "A Nursery in the Nineties" (1935).
Although she spent most of her life in London's literary and theatrical circles, Eleanor received much of her inspiration from her childhood and family holidays. A holiday in France in 1907 inspired her to write a history of the troubadours. One of her early publications was a volume of poems, "Pan Worship", published in 1908, and "Nursery Rhymes of London Town", 1916. During the First World War the family moved to Sussex, whose countryside scenery and local traditions were a major influence on her later work. It is in Sussex that the plot of her stories about Martin Pippin takes place.
At the age of 18, Eleanor wrote the libretto for the operetta Floretta to the music of her older brother Harry, who later became a composer and music teacher. She also collaborated with her younger brother Herbert, a Shakespeare scholar and theater critic.
Eleanor had a wide circle of literary friends - David Lawrence, Walter de la Mare and Robert Frost. For several years she was friends with the poet Edward Thomas and his wife. After Thomas's death in April 1917 during the Battle of Arras, she remained close to his wife Helen. She later published much of their correspondence and wrote the book Edward Thomas: The Last Four Years (1958).
After the First World War, Eleanor made a living as a poet, journalist and television presenter. Often published under a pseudonym, Eleanor's poems have appeared in The Herald, Punch, Time, and Tide (Chimera), The New Leader (Merry Andrew), Reynolds News (Tomfool), and several others.
Eleanor never married, but for 30 years she was friends with George Earle, an English teacher. After his death in 1949, she became close to the actor Denys Blakelock, who described their friendship in the book Eleanor: A Portrait of Fargen (1966).
Today, Eleanor Fargen's most famous work is the popular children's hymn "Morning Has Broken", written in 1931 for an old Gaelic trumpet associated with the Scottish village of Bunessan. Another popular Eleanor hymn is the Christmas carol "People, Look East!", which is usually sung to an old French tune - a favorite hymn in children's choirs.
One of Fargen's poetic talents was to make the story light and memorable. Fargen's poetry presents saints, kings, tyrants, and famous events in a way that is imprinted in the memory of young readers.
Fargen's plays for children were popular in school theaters in the 1950s and 60s because they were easy for children and teachers to perform. Some of her plays consist of many parts - such plays are good for performing in a school class; others feature only 3-4 characters - such plays are suitable for family productions.
One of Eleanor Fargen's most notable books is Martin Pippin in the Apple Orchard (1921) and its sequel, Martin Pippin in Daisy's Field (1937). Although Fargen conceived these books in France, when she became interested in troubadour stories, they describe Sussex, its real villages and local features.
In The Apple Orchard, the wandering minstrel Martin Pippin finds an amorous plowman who asks him to visit the garden with the house in which his beloved is locked up and guarded by six girls. Martin Pippin comes to the rescue: he earns the trust of young maidens by telling them love stories. Although at first glance this book is for children, the six love stories it tells are similar to Perrault's fairy tales, such as Beauty and the Beast and Cinderella, and demonstrate quite adult depth and emotion. They were indeed written not for a child, but for a young soldier, Victor Haslam, who, like Fargen, was a close friend of Edward Thomas. The themes of the stories in this book include the loss of a loved one, betrayal, and the longing of a woman who feels that love will never come to her.
The continuation of the book - "Martin Pippin in Daisy's Field" - is about six little girls whom Martin entertains while they weave daisy wreaths. This book also contains six stories, this time written for children.
Fargen's book "The Little Bookroom" was published by Oxford University Press in 1955. This is a collection of stories that are considered the best in her work. For this work, Fargen received the annual Carnegie Medal for Literature from the Library Association, which each year selects the best British books for children.
In 1950, she received three major literary awards: the annual Carnegie Medal for Children's Books, the First International Hans Christian Andersen Prize for significant contributions to children's literature, and the Queen's Medal of the American Catholic Library Association.
Fargen died in Hampstead, London, on June 5, 1965. She is buried in St John's Cemetery, Hampstead.
The events of childhood do not pass, but
repeat themselves like the seasons.
Elinor Farjeon
To be the first is always very honorable and, probably, a little scary. Elinor Farjeon was also the first in a not very long list of writers - laureates of the International H.-C. Prize. Andersen, awarded for the best children's book of the year. When she was awarded a gold medal with an expressive profile of the famous storyteller, the writer was 75 years old and she was one of the most beloved authors of children who read English.
The first laureate of the “small Nobel Prize” could not help but become a writer. The house where, in addition to Nellie (that was Elinor’s name in the family), three more brothers were born, was full of fun, music and boundless worship of the Book. Its residents “thought that living without clothes would be more natural than without books.” “Not reading was as strange as not eating” (E. Farjeon). The tone for everything was set by the parents: the father was a popular novelist and the mother, who adored music.
The sick girl did not go to school; her father became her teacher. Benjamin Farjeon was a self-made man and believed that everyone should pursue their own education. Elinor very early began to compose poetry, fairy tales, and translated biblical stories and ancient Greek myths. Moreover, like a real writer, she typed on a typewriter, and besides, she knew how to proofread.
Together with her brother, who later became a composer, Elinor invented a game so fascinating that at times, plunging into an imaginary world and acting out entire scenes, “disheveled, wearing glasses, they wandered the streets for hours... and talked and talked, not paying any attention to what was happening around." And only the words of their brother: “Well, now we are Harry and Nellie,” returned them to the ordinary world.
When Elinor was 22 years old, misfortune came to the family, her father died, and with his death came financial problems. For Farjeon, literature turned from pure pleasure into an opportunity to earn a living. 
Her first book, a collection of poems, Children's Songs of Old London, was published in 1916. The famous storyteller wrote poetry all her life. And some critics even believe that in England, children's poetry of the 20th century began with the names of E. Farjeon and her friend W. De La Mer.
During World War I, Farjeon moved from London to the countryside. She lived in the last cottage on Gryazi Street, dug in the garden, lit the stove, and carried bundles of brushwood. In general, she lived the same way as her neighbors - peasants, with whose children the writer immediately became friends. Farjeon even composed a fairy tale about one of her village friends, “Elsie Piddock Jumps in her Sleep.” After returning to Russia, he published books one after another (over the course of his life, there were about 60 of them). In addition, together with her brother she writes operas for children.
In 1921, the collection “Martin Pippin in the Apple Orchard” was published and it became clear that a “very good” storyteller had been born. Over half a century, so many fairy tales have accumulated that in 1955, the writer, having collected the best, published a collection, which immediately received the most serious literary awards. The name "Little Library" came from childhood. It’s just that in my parents’ house there was such a room, literally “overgrown” with books, from the “gold dust” with which Elinor Farjeon wove her amazing fairy tales.
The simplest and most magical things quietly live side by side in them. Usually in fantasy stories 
fairies and giants are supposed to appear, and there is no place for relapsing fever or the Orphanage. But not in Farjeon's tales. Here even the fairy wears “a large checkered apron with pockets” over her dress woven from moonlight. It was for the collection “The Little Library” that Farjeon was awarded the H.-K. Andersen.
The acclaimed, beloved and award-winning writer remained very down-to-earth and homely. Short, with glasses, who loved to cook, take care of flowers, and also managed to raise 127 kittens - this is how Farjon was seen by a contemporary.
When the royal court drew attention to the writer’s literary merits, and Elizabeth II granted her nobility, Farjeon replied: “I don’t want to be any different from a simple milkman.”
Indeed, why does a sorceress need nobility?
Nadezhda Ilchuk
ELINOR FARGEON
()
Methodological and bibliographic materials
LIBRARY "Elinor Farjeon" is the first work of our library in the "Gold Medal" series.
The famous English writer Elinor Farjeon opened the list of winners of the highest prize in children's literature (1956).
For the first time, E. Farjeon's tale was translated into Russian in 1973. (“I want the Moon!”). And only in 1991 and 1998. Her collections were published: “Fairy Tales” and “The Seventh Princess”. The most complete collection is “The Seventh Princess” (39 fairy tales, short stories, parables from previously published collections abroad: “Old Nanny’s Basket,” “Little Library,” “Martin Pippin in the Meadow,” etc.).
E. Farjeon's works have different translators, so even her first and last name are written differently in different editions: “Donkey from Connimara” and “Donkey from Connemara,” “The Royal Daughter Wants the Moon from the Sky” and “I Want the Moon!” And one fairy tale even has three different names: “Oak Forest”, “Western Forest” and “Foliage”.
But this does not in any way diminish the value of Farjeon’s tales. These fairy tales are real spiritual food for children.
Collections and individual fairy tales by E. Farjeon are addressed by publishers mainly to primary schoolchildren, but they are also interesting to students in grades 5-6, and are also very important for parents and educators.
The remarkable English scientist and writer Clive Lewis (“The Chronicles of Narnia”) wrote: “I am increasingly convinced that children’s books that only children enjoy are bad books. Those books that are read by everyone have a long life.” Farjon is destined for a long life. A person of any age will find their depth in fairy tales.
Elinor Farjeon has been a believer all her life, although she was officially baptized only at the age of 70. She sincerely admitted: “Any child with innocent eyes seems to me to be a Divine Child.”
Her fairy tales shine with faith in the rationality and beauty of the world, in the fact that everyone has a place in the sun, that goodness and justice must prevail, that a kind and skillful person must be rewarded for his goodness. In her fairy tales, the relationships between small people and adults, between people and animals, plants are kind and humane.
Each fairy tale and Farjon story provides rich material for conversations with children.
The collection "Fairy Tales" opens with the beautiful fairy tale "I Rock My Baby." If you read it aloud to children, it would be good to ask them how they understand the author’s words that little Griselda and her old great-grandmother lived not on a pension (there were no pensions then), but “on kindness.” And is Griselda worthy of this kindness? How did the girl treat her grandmother and other people's children? There is so much wisdom in the words of the little heroine of the fairy tale: “It is not right for children to show the sorrows of life... Those who are responsible for children are responsible for ensuring that they are cheerful and happy.” But Griselda is only 10 years old!
The writer expressed her attitude towards human kindness especially clearly in the fairy tale “The Good Farmer,” showing how the evil and extremely greedy farmer Cherdon gradually becomes kind.
Fairy tale "I want the moon!" provides material for adults to think about the origins and consequences of children's whims. E. Farjon brought the little princess’s whim to the point of absurdity (V. Alexandrov writes in detail about this fairy tale - see the list of references).
In the process of reading together, it is interesting to find out how the children will understand the fairy tale “Foliage” (“Dubravia”, “Western Forest”). This tale is available in collections and in separate publications. What kind of country is this that is fenced off and no one is allowed in? Why do only children and lovers see her beauty? What does it mean: “Dreams live here”?
E. Farjeon has long and very short fairy tales, but in both of them there is a philosophical meaning and worldly wisdom “hidden”.
The “Proud Infanta” (collection “The Seventh Princess”) does not immediately understand that one should be proud not of one’s father’s wealth, not of a luxurious dress, but of one’s ability to raise a healthy baby and bake a delicious bun.
“The Golden Eagle” (collection “The Seventh Princess”) is a fairy tale about love that turns an ordinary village girl into a beauty.
“The Tsar and the Bread” (collection “The Seventh Princesses”) is a parable about real values. The king of Egypt is sure that he himself is gold, that he is eternal, and bread turns out to be eternal...
“Parrots” (collection “Fairy Tales”) is about the happiness of poor Susan Brown, who “didn’t buy it - it was given to her”...
And there is such warmth, kindness of feelings, such good humor in fairy tales that you want to re-read the fairy tales again and again, read them to children.
Farjon's fairy tales help adults understand children, and children help them understand adults, themselves, and the world in which they live.
Life itself, E. Farjeon’s childhood give adults something to think about. The preface to the collection of “fairy tales” ends with the words: “The whole fate of Elinor Farjeon is a vivid example of how a happy, joyful childhood can determine the entire long human life, which was entirely devoted to the book.”
In our country there are still no books about the life and work of the writer, there are only a few articles. The most complete information is in the articles by N. Demurova and V. Hopman.
If there is at least one book by a writer in the library, you can organize a literary matinee, a literary hour, or an exhibition of one book. You can dramatize excerpts from her fairy tales. It is possible to organize a series of loud readings of fairy tales, with conversations about what has been read.
But it’s not only on anniversary days that it’s worth talking about E. Farjeon’s books. Her books are for all times.
In that work:
-Conversation about the life and work of E. Farjeon for primary and secondary school students.
FIRST GOLD MEDAL WINNER
HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN
(Conversation about the life and work of Elinor Farjeon)
Guys! Do you know what the world's highest award for the best children's books is?
This award is already 40 years old. It was invented by the International Council for Children's Literature. This is a Gold Medal with the profile of the great storyteller Hans Christian Andersen. The gold medal is also called the “Small Nobel Prize”. It is awarded once every two years to one children's writer and one children's book artist for the best works.
The Queen of Denmark, where she was born, took this award under her protection.
Quite recently, the full list of laureates of the most important prize in children's literature became known in our country.
This list opens with the wonderful English writer Elinor Farjeon. Her fairy tales and stories have long been known and loved by children in all countries. She was considered a star of the first magnitude in European children's literature. Farjeon has received many English and international awards.
And in our country, the children became acquainted with the fairy tales of Elinor Farjeon not so long ago. About twenty years ago, one of her fairy tales, “I Want the Moon!”, was published, and only a few years ago collections of her fairy tales and short stories appeared. Now we can enjoy meeting her books.
So who is this writer? What was she like? How was her childhood? What did she write?
Elinor Farjeon was born in London. Little Nellie (as she was called in childhood) was incredibly lucky with her family. The house where she grew up was very kind, interesting, and cheerful.
Nellie's father, Benjamin Farjeon, was a famous writer, and her mother was an actress and singer.
My father grew up in a very poor family, could not study at school and achieved everything on his own. He loved children, music, books, and holidays. He had many good habits, for example, one of them: he gave his children a new book every Sunday. I read to them a lot. The house was full of books. And there was one special favorite room, which was called the “little library.” It was littered with books, it was not allowed to be cleaned, so there was always golden book dust there. There was nowhere to sit, but you could read all day long. Farjeon later recalled that this room was like “a pond of joy from which you could fish out whatever your heart desired.” Everyone in the Farjeon family read. Then Elinor recalled: “Not reading was like not eating.”
Mom and Dad's friends, writers, actors, and musicians often visited the house. Children (and Nellie had three brothers) from early childhood heard good music, poetry, and literary debates. It is no coincidence that the children of the Farjeon family all became writers and musicians.
Nellie learned early not only to read, but also to type and compose. And this at 7 years old! She slipped everything she wrote under the door of her father’s office and, worried, waited for her assessment. Her father was her first and only teacher. She didn't go to school. As a child, Nellie was an ugly, sickly girl with poor vision. But she knew how to write poetry and fairy tales. She loved the fairy tales of Andersen, who died just 6 years before her birth.
Nellie always hummed something, and later she herself wrote music for her poems. Her tales are very musical, and the poems in her tales are like songs.
Nellie had a special friendship with her older brother Harry. They came up with the game "Tar" and played it for many years, brother and sister transformed into different heroes and came up with extraordinary adventures for themselves. They could play for weeks, and only when Harry said: “Well, now we are Harry and Nellie,” they returned to normal life.
This game really helped Elinor to easily compose fairy tales, even the most fantastic ones. But at the same time, any fantasy was understandable and close. What she experienced as a child remained in her soul and memory for the rest of her life. Maybe that’s why she understood children so well later.
And Harry's childhood games helped him become a famous composer.
When Nelly was 22 years old, her father died. It was a very difficult blow for her and her family. The carefree life is over. I had to earn my own money. Working on books saved her from grief and helped her survive.
Fairy tales and stories did not immediately bring her fame and glory. The first book was published when the writer was already 35 years old. It was "Children's Rhymes of Old London". Before that, she experienced another grief - a loved one died in the war. For Elinor, as she herself wrote, “the light went out.” She left London for a remote village. She settled in a house covered with reeds. Farjon lived like a simple peasant woman, digging soil for beds, growing vegetables and flowers. Maybe that’s why there are so many trees and flowers in her fairy tales, and the heroes and heroines of her fairy tales are so friendly with them, talking to trees and flowers as if they were friends.
She herself carried brushwood from the forest on a cart to light the stove, and carried water from the well.
Elinor Farjeon never had her own family, but she had many friends among adults, children, and animals. She especially loved cats and in her old age recalled that she “raised 127 kittens.”
In the village, Elinor often watched the girls jumping over the rope. Then one of her most famous fairy tales, “Elsie Piddock Jumps in her Sleep,” was born - about the most dexterous girl, whose actual name was Elsie Puttick.
Elinor took her friends and their children on hikes, organized games and holidays for them. One boy then wrote in his diary: “Miss Farjeon is so wonderful... she makes everyone around her happy. Her stories are serious and fascinating.”
Next, a collection of fairy tales for adults, “Martin Pippin in the Apple Orchard,” was published on behalf of the wandering singer Martin, who helps lovers meet. Children also read these tales. The book made her famous.
Elinor Farjeon returned to London, settled in a quiet suburb, and now she had her own home. And just like in childhood, it was soon filled with books and friends.
She devoted her entire life to literature and wrote about 60 books for children and adults.
One of the most famous was her collection of fairy tales, "Old Nanny's Basket." The nanny lived so long, how many children she nursed: a Persian and Chinese princess, cannibals, little brothers Grimm... Can you imagine how many fairy tales she knew?! But her tales depended on the size of the hole in a child's stocking or sock: a small hole, quickly darned, a short tale, a large hole - a long tale.
You guys can now read some of the tales from “The Basket” in the collection “The Seventh Princess.” It also included fairy tales from the collections “Martin Pippin in the Meadow” and “The Little Library”. Elinor named the last collection in honor of that dear childhood room filled with books. The Little Library includes the best works from almost 50 years of work. This book was recognized as the best book of 1955.
It was for this that Elinor Farjeon received the Gold Medal. .
Now we can read these fairy tales, wise, funny and very kind: about kings and princesses, woodcutters and little seamstresses, about adults and children, about animals and birds. In Farjeon's fairy tales there are no evil characters, and if there are, they are rather funny. And yet, all her fairy tales end well. The writer loves kind and fair people, and therefore the heroes of her fairy tales are ready to undergo difficult trials for the happiness of their loved ones, parents, and friends.
Poll from the fairy tale "Silver" (collection "The Seventh Princess") risks her life to save her sister and her child.
Elsie Piddock jumps all night on the top of Mount Cabn to prevent a greedy lord from taking the land away from her fellow villagers.
Little Griselda (fairy tale “I rock my baby”) does everything to prevent her great-grandmother from being taken to a nursing home.
Joe's father fell ill (fairy tale "The Spaniel Puppy"), "Joe followed him like a nanny for a small child,"
In his fairy tales, Farjeon loves those children and adults who not only have a kind heart, but also golden hands: the little seamstress (“Little Dressmaker”), who managed to sew three amazing outfits in three days and three nights; working guy Dick (“The Wonderful Knight”), who could do everything in the world, and the knight Sir “John in Dreams” only talked about exploits and polished his shield until it shined. And, of course, the author rewards Dick with happiness, not the knight.
Farjeon loves those of his fairy-tale characters who take care of animals and plants. And you believe that Marietta (“The Girl Who Kissed the Peach Tree”) saved the tree from seemingly inevitable disaster with her kiss...
The writer loves cheerful people, in her fairy tales and stories there is a lot of good humor: the old nanny can make the king himself stand in the corner and count to a thousand. Lazy Doll from the fairy tale “Serebryanka” “constantly nurtured one breakfast-lunch-midday-dinner dream” and could immediately eat 12 whitefish.
It is not for nothing that in these fairy tales the fairies gave small children a “Kind heart” and a “cheerful disposition.”
The writer could not live without beauty, and this was reflected in her fairy tales. The fisherman in the fairy tale “The Miracle of the Poor Island” says: “Life, I think, is not easy everywhere. But it becomes easier if there is joy in it - beauty.” And she cannot disappear, as they say in the fairy tale about the beautiful princess “The Veil of Irazada.”
A person cannot live without hope, the writer asserts with her fairy tales.
There was a moment in “Serebryanka” when it seemed all was over, but “No! The world works differently! Hope must wake up with the sun!”
In the fairy tale "The Seventh Princess" the Queen asks the King to "Give me Spring!" But the king, no matter how hard he tried, could not give his wife spring.
But Elinor Farjeon gives spring to all her readers for all time.
Until the end of her long life, and she lived for 84 years, Elinor Farjeon remained a very kind person, easy to deal with, with a clear mind and an excellent memory.
What did she look like externally? She is short, wears glasses, is very homely, loves to cook and plant flowers. It was hard to imagine that this was a famous writer.
When Queen Elizabeth II of England wanted to ennoble Elinor Farjeon for her services to England, the writer refused: “I don’t want to be any different from a simple milkman.”
more than fifty years ago. But her kind and cheerful tales are alive and will live long.
I would really like you guys to read and love them too.
Compiled by: N. Kapitonova
Rep. for the issue: L. Barysheva
Elinor Farjeon
“Seven maids with seven brooms, even if they had worked for fifty years, would never have been able to sweep away from my memory the dust of memories of disappeared castles, flowers, kings, curls of beautiful ladies, the sighs of poets and the laughter of boys and girls.” These words belong to the famous English writer Elinor Farjeon (1881-1965). The writer found precious fairy dust in the books she read as a child. Farjeon was a writer. The house where the girl grew up was full of books: “Books covered the walls of the dining room, overflowed into the mother’s living room and into the bedrooms upstairs. It seemed to us that living without clothes would be more natural than without books. Not reading was as strange as not eating.”
Nellie (that was Elinor's name in the family) grew up in a friendly, talented family. She had three brothers. The father himself was involved in the upbringing and education of the children, making sure that they visited theaters and exhibitions, and home performances were a favorite entertainment in the family. But the main gift for Nell and her brothers were books: their father willingly read to them aloud and gave the children new books every Sunday. Benjamin Farjeon was the first to support his daughter’s literary experiments, willingly reading her first poems, fairy tales, retellings of ancient Greek myths and biblical parables. The girl really appreciated her father's advice.
Nell was a sickly child, and also myopic, and this determined her character and lifestyle - she grew up as a dreamy girl. Books became her main friends. However, she was also friends with her brothers, especially Harry. Brother and sister came up with a game - TAR, which they played with gusto. They transformed into fictional characters - Tessie and Ralph - and went into the world of their own fantasies for a long time. Subsequently, this game served Elinor well: it taught the future writer to transform into various characters, create bright and reliable characters, and come up with unexpected plot moves.
Years passed, Elinor Farjeon grew up, but she was never able to forget the old books. She called the collection of her best fairy tales The Little Library - that was the name of the room in her parents’ house, where she spent many wonderful hours as a girl. Only now the fairy tales read in childhood were transformed under the writer’s pen, as if a magical dressmaker (perhaps the same one about whom Farjeon wrote the fairy tale) took and transformed them, putting bright, fancy patches on the old dress.
The fairy-tale world of Farjeon is unusual and amazing... with authenticity. No, no, of course, here, as it should be, there are princes and royal daughters (and even very willful ones!), and sorcerers and good wizards. And yet the heroes perform the most important miracles without resorting to magic. The writer is convinced that a miracle is the result of a selfless good deed. And loyalty, love, a brave heart and a kind soul are more valuable than anything in the world. So little Marietta, the heroine of the fairy tale The Girl Who Kissed the Peach Tree, refused to give up her beloved tree in difficult times, and the girl’s selfless courage saved from destruction a beautiful flowering land that was doomed to perish during a volcanic eruption.
Elinor Farjeon has an amazing gift as a storyteller; fairy tales are born as if by themselves, arising from very ordinary circumstances. It seems that it is the writer herself, and not the old nanny, who tells amazing stories to the children to pass the time darning children's stockings: about Bertha Goldlegs, about how the arrogant Castilian infanta was cured of pride, and how the disobedient boys were punished by the Brothers Grimm.
Farjeon's style amazes with its simplicity and grace; it creates an amazing feeling of lightness, allowing you to soar high, high on the wings of fantasy. And at the same time, the fairy tales are surprisingly earthly, and no, no, and outright mischief breaks through in them. Apparently the writer, like the heroes of her fairy tale “The Donkey of Connimara,” “knows how to tell a truth that is purer than any lie.”
How does Farjeon manage to connect the seemingly incompatible? Undoubtedly, her amazing sense of humor helped her in this. Subtle irony and soft lyricism that distinguish the writer’s style “humanize” the narrative. With a soft smile, Elionor Farjeon talks about the most important things - about love and fidelity, about friendship and separation, about cherished desires and unfulfilled dreams. And the reader understands that a real declaration of love does not necessarily have to be pompous and ornate, and that a simple note written by the woodcutter Joe:
My lovely! I love you because you are like my puppy, -
reveals no less deep feelings than the most beautiful poem.
Everyone knows that fairy tales have a happy ending. Elinor Farjeon does not change this rule. Only she understands “happiness” in her own way. In her fairy tales and “queens have their own sorrows, sometimes no less than those of the poor people,” and luck does not lie in inheriting a beautiful kingdom, but, on the contrary, in remaining free. “After all, in this world there is a place for everyone - both the one who sits in the palace, locked up, and the one who wanders in the open spaces, a free bird...”
Elinor Farjeon wrote about 60 books for children and adults: fairy tales, parables, poems, plays. She did not strive for fame, and, as befits a sorceress, she avoided vanity. But in 1955, when the most important international prize in the field of children's literature, the Hans Christian Andersen Medal, was established, she became the first recipient of the honorary award. One could say that Elinor Farjeon's fairy tale life also had a happy ending. Has it just ended? Or maybe the main miracle is precisely that Elinor Farjeon’s books live, do not age and continue to surprise and delight readers all over the world - small and large?
We invite readers to answer this question themselves.
© Olga Mäeots
About the writer: Writers of our childhood. 100 names: Biogr. dictionary: At 3 o'clock. Part 3. - M.: Liberia, 1998.
Literary journey "When reading is joyful"
Subject:When reading is joyful.
Place of the lesson in the program: creative reading lesson for 2nd grade as part of the "Fundamentals of Information Culture" program.
Goals and objectives: to develop creative reading skills of students: to teach them to reflect on what they read, to encourage an emotional perception of the text, to generate interest in creative search (find the meaning of new words and concepts, refer to reference literature), to develop imagination, and to reveal the creative potential of students. To broaden children's horizons and introduce them to the work of Elinor Farjeon.
Lesson form, structure: a literary journey, including a loud reading of a work of art, followed by discussion, meeting the author, and performing creative tasks. Based on the goals of the event, the age characteristics of second-graders, when children love to play, they more easily perceive a dynamic, interesting plot, elements of a travel game and a search game were included in the lesson; the text chosen is not large in volume - fascinating, accessible to second-graders Elinor Farjeon's fairy tale "The Girl Who Kissed the Peach Tree"
Host: Hello, guys! I'm sure you all love to read, but is it always interesting to you? Do you remember the book you read, do you think about it, do you miss its characters?
Children's answers: ...
Host: Today I want to tell you that you can travel with a book, you can think and fantasize with a book, you can make friends and play with it; With the help of a book you can make discoveries and get great joy from reading.
I invite you on a journey with a fairy tale. It's called "The Girl Who Kissed the Peach Tree." The road ahead is long, so we will need helpers. These will also be books, they are waiting for us at the exhibition. (The exhibition includes books:
1. World Atlas for schoolchildren.
2. Geographical atlas of the world.
3. Planet Earth: encyclopedia.
4. Geography: encyclopedia.
5. Earth Records. Inanimate nature.
7. . Orthodox dictionary
8. Large encyclopedic dictionary for schoolchildren.
9. Great Russian Encyclopedia.
10. Explanatory dictionaries
11. The seventh princess.
(The presenter reads a fairy tale)
Guys, let's check how carefully you listened to the fairy tale. The picture shows a branch of a peach tree. There are no leaves on it at all, they were torn off by a strong wind. We can return them if you answer the questions.
(Each question is written on the back of a piece of paper. The student answers the question, the piece of paper is attached to the drawn branch). Test questions.
1. What is the name of the main character of the fairy tale?
2. Where does Marietta live?
3. What kind of family does Marietta have?
4. What do the peasants do in Linvaglossa?
5. What danger constantly threatens the village residents?
6. Describe Marietta’s friend.
7. What did the peasants do when the King of the Mountain became angry?
8. What custom did those who grew fruit trees have when they had to leave their homes?
9. What did Marietta do when her grandmother told her about this custom?
10. Did you like the fairy tale? What can you say about her?
11. How do you imagine the person who composed this wonderful fairy tale?
Presenter: The English writer Elinor Farjeon, whose fairy tale we listened to, was a wonderful and amazing person, kind and cheerful.
She was born in 1881 into an unusual home and an unusual family. Her parents were very fond of reading and music, and often invited famous writers, musicians, and artists to their house. Every Sunday, my father gave Nellie, that was the writer’s name in childhood, and her three brothers a book. Since then, Elinor Farjeon could not imagine her life without books. And for everyone living in their cheerful and hospitable home, it was just as strange not to read as not to eat. And all the free space was littered with books. In addition, there was a separate room called a small library. It was filled from floor to ceiling with books, it was uncomfortable to stand there, there was nowhere to sit - there were books all around and even dust, which Elinor Farjeon called golden. It was from this that wonderful fairy-tale fantasies were born. These very fantasies forced Nellie and her beloved brother Harry to constantly be in an imaginary magical world, inhabited by amazing heroes and full of adventures.
When Elinor grew up, she began to write down everything she wrote: poems, stories, parables. By the time the writer became an adult, there were more than sixty books she had written. The best collection of her fairy tales is called "The Little Library".
Elinor Farjeon loved her young readers very much, so she tried to make them interesting and comfortable in her fairy-tale world. The heroes of her fairy tales know how to be strong friends, love touchingly and believe in the best, just as she herself knew how to do.
Once, Queen Elizabeth II of England wanted to ennoble Elinor Farjeon for her literary merits, but she refused because she was a very modest person.
84 years old and passed away in 1965, just 37 years ago.
Host: Guys, you listened to a fairy tale, my story about the English writer Elinor Farjeon. Tell me, did you understand all the words? Children's answers:
Host: We can make our peach tree branch even more beautiful if we place its wonderful fruits on it - peaches. To do this, you need to work hard - find the meaning of words that are new to you.
(Vocabulary work is being carried out. The presenter shows the students a model of an explanatory dictionary, which contains the meanings of words unfamiliar to the children. He tells in which explanatory and encyclopedic dictionaries they can search for words. The children, with the help of the presenter, work with dictionaries, attach a drawn peach with the disassembled word written on it in a word.)
Presenter: Well done guys, you did a good job! Tell me, would you like to go to visit Marietta? I told you that with books you can make exciting journeys to any corner of the Earth. But to go visit Marietta, we need to know where she lives. The fairy tale says this. Children's answers: In Sicily.
Host: Do you know what Sicily is? Where is it? How do we know this?
Children's answers: You can look it up in the dictionary.
(The presenter finds an article about Sicily in the student’s encyclopedic dictionary).
Host: This is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located next to Italy. The climate there is warm and humid, and the sun almost always shines. Let's find it on the map. Imagine that we go there by plane, what countries will we fly through?
(Children look at the “World Atlas for Schoolchildren”, “Geographical Atlas of the World”, name the countries.)
Host: Guys, if you want to know more about a certain country, you can refer to the schoolchild’s encyclopedic dictionary and other reference books that the librarian will recommend to you.
Finally, we set foot on the soil of Sicily. We see a lot of fruit trees: peaches, persimmons, apricots. We also see a mountain with fire at its core. What is the name of this mountain?
Children's answers: Volcano!
Host: We have several books in our library that will tell you about volcanoes. Sicily actually has an active volcano, Mount Etna. This is the highest volcano in Europe, its height is 3340 meters. The duration of its eruptions ranges from several days to several months. It ejects ash and volcanic bombs, gases and water vapor from its crater. Lava flows cause great devastation there. The last eruption of Mount Etna was in 1986.
Near Etna there really is the village of Liguaglossa, which we read about in a fairy tale, and where for a long time peasants have been growing fruit trees on land fertilized by lava. What could they do with the formidable King of the Fire-Breathing Mountain to save their gardens? Remember, guys, who they called for help?
Children's answers: They prayed to Saint Anthony. Host: Guys, who are the saints? Children's answers:
Host: These are people who have dedicated themselves to loving God and doing good deeds for others. So was Anthony. He lived almost 800 years ago and became one of those saints to whom people turn with prayers, expecting help and protection from them in their affairs.
The villagers expected a miracle from Saint Anthony, but it so happened that it was not the saint who performed it. In your opinion, thanks to whom did the miracle happen? Children's answers: Marietta.
Host: Correct. Why did she manage to do this?
Children's answers: Because she knew how to love with all her heart and be strong friends.
Host: Was it only thanks to Marietta that the King of the Mountain stopped the destructive lava flow? Who else helped this?
Children's answers: Peach tree. It agreed to go to the King of the Mountain. Narrator: The peach tree loved Marietta just as much, so it sacrificed itself to save the girl and her loved ones. True love and strong friendship can work wonders.
People have been growing peach trees for a long time and even created a legend about peaches. Listen to what is said about this in Stanislav Martynov’s book “Vegetables + fruits + berries = health”: (The presenter reads the legend about the peach)
(The presenter summarizes, the children answer questions.)
1. What fairy tale did you come across?
2. Who wrote it?
3. Name all the characters in this fairy tale. Describe them.
4. What new did you learn in this lesson?
Presenter: Guys, in the next lesson we will continue the conversation about the fairy tale “The Girl Who Kissed the Peach Tree.” You will need to complete a creative task.
Assignment for the next lesson:
Prepare a retelling of a fairy tale from the perspective of any character. Give a gift to your favorite hero. It could be a drawing, a craft, a postcard, a review.
Come up with riddles about a volcano, about the sea, about a fruit tree, about a fairy tale. Draw an illustration for a fairy tale. Think about what miracle is said in the fairy tale. You can draw your dream.
Host: Guys, I’m glad to meet you again. Let's remember what we read in the last lesson, what new things you learned. To do this, we will conduct a short quiz. You will need to choose the correct answer.
Quiz questions.
1. Who came up with the fairy tale “The Girl Who Kissed the Peach Tree”?
a) Charles Perrault,
b) Alexander Volkov,
c) Elinor Farjeon, *
d) James Barry.
Part 2. Where does the fairy tale take place?
a) on the island*
b) in the mountains,
c) in the jungle,
d) in the ocean.
Sicily is an island
a) near Antarctica,
b) Australia,
c) Italy,*,
d) America.,
4. Which tree does not grow in Sicily?,
c) apricot,
d) baobab*,
5. In the village where Marietta lived, it happened
a) flood
b) earthquake,
c) volcanic eruption,*,
d) hurricane.,
7. What fruit did the kings of Persia want to poison the Egyptians with?
a) plums,
b) oranges,
c) peaches,
8. Whom did the villagers pray to for salvation?
a) Jesus Christ,
b) Saint Nicholas,
c) Saint Anthony,*,
d) Virgin Mary.,
Host: Now we’ll check how you completed the creative task. (There is a discussion of the work and student responses. The best are awarded prizes. When the children remember the characters in the fairy tale and talk about them, the presenter places character figures made of cardboard on the drawn map).
Host: Tell me, guys, can the events that Elinor Farjeon told us about happen in everyday life?
Children's answers: They can
Host: Yes, of course. I think what made this story magical was the kind, brave heart of a little girl, Marietta. She was not afraid of either lava or destructive fire, and a miracle happened.
Host: What does reading give to a person?
Children's answers:
Host: Reading is a serious and exciting activity. The reader experiences a lot of feelings, immersing himself in the world described by the author, receives aesthetic pleasure, expands his horizons, and learns to create himself.
Equipment.
Book exhibition, Large poster imitating a geographical map, where the island of Sicily is drawn; fairy tale characters cut out of cardboard, a drawn branch of a peach tree, peaches cut out of cardboard, leaves of a peach tree.
Bibliography:
1. Large encyclopedic dictionary for schoolchildren. M.: Great Russian Encyclopedia, 1999.
2. Geographical atlas of the world.-M.: Rosman, 1998.
3. Any child is a divine baby // Children's literature.-2000.- No.
4. Martynov + fruits + berries = health: Conversations of a pediatrician about children’s nutrition: Book. For parents. M.: Education, 1993.
5. Ozhegov of the Russian language.-M.: Russian language, 1990.
6. Planet Earth: encyclopedia. - M.: Rosman, 2000.
7. Earth Records. Inanimate nature. - Smolensk - Rusich, 1998.
8. Atlas of the world for schoolchildren. - M.: "Olma-Press", 2000.
9. Explanatory dictionary of the Russian language / Ed. V. Butromeeva.-M.: Sovremennik, 1998.-(Schoolchildren’s Dictionaries).
10. The Seventh Princess: Fairy tales, stories, parables - Ekaterinburg: Middle-Ural. book Publishing house, 1993.
11. Shipov Dictionary.-M.: Sovremennik, 2000.-(Schoolchildren’s Dictionaries).
The event was awarded 1st place in the competition of teaching materials of the Central Children's School of Children's School "Creating with children and for children" 2002.
Compiled by: librarian of the D&M library
Thanks to this game, Elinor, in her words, acquired the ability to “set in motion, when she wanted, certain characters in certain circumstances, and see what came of it.” It was an invaluable school for the future author. Perhaps it is thanks to the game of TAR that any plot twists, any actions of the characters, no matter how strange they may seem, become so natural and understandable in Farjeon’s books that they do not raise any doubts. Wonderful skill! After all, in a fairy tale, even a miracle should be taken for granted and simple!
In 1903, when Elinor was twenty-two years old, she suffered a heavy blow - the death of her father, whom she loved endlessly. It took her a long time to recover from this loss. In the end, friendship with her brothers, the need to seriously earn money (her father left the family in straitened circumstances), and intense literary work helped her get on her feet.
During these difficult years, Elinor's friends, in addition to family members, became her great support. Among them were, of course, many children, as well as those who soon wrote golden pages in English-language literary literature: the English storyteller and poet Walter de La Mare, famous for his books for children, the wonderful poet and novelist David Herbert Lawrence, who came from a simple mining family , American poet Robert Frost, English poet Edward Thomas. The latter especially meant a lot to Elinor. Unrequited feelings for Thomas, his poetic influence and friendship with his wife and children imparted a special depth to her poetry and contributed to her development as a person.
Together they loved to go on long walks. With backpacks on their backs, they walked for many miles. One of Elinor's young friends, the son of the publisher James Guthrie, met her during such a hike through the hills of Sussex - a backpack on her back, a stick in her hands, a green leather cap on her head, and flowers stuck into the strap, according to the custom of the ancient pilgrims. The boy wrote in his diary: “Miss Farjeon is so wonderful! He walks with a backpack over his shoulders and a stick in his hand - a real pilgrim in the eyes of the whole world. Everyone around her is having fun. Such wonderful people are rare. Her stories are serious and exciting."
In the year that the First World War began, Elinor Farjeon published a series of poems dedicated to the very heart of London - the Town of London, its ancient churches and bells that she knew and loved so well. In 1916, these poems, published in the famous English magazine “Punch” (something like our Petrushka), were collected in a separate book and published under the title “Children’s stairs of old London”. This was her first book for children - it is still being republished.
In the spring of 1917, shortly before the end of the First World War, news reached England of the death of Edward Thomas, who had volunteered for the front. “On April 9, 1917, the light went out for some of us...” Farjeon later wrote. “Many years later, someone who loved him said to me, ‘I still wake up at night thinking about Edward.’”
Elinor left London and moved to a small village in Sussex. Friends wrote to her at the address: Houghton village, Mud Street, End Cottage. Her small reed-covered house with two windows at the bottom and at the top really stood last on the narrow, broken street, an overgrown path led to it, a climbing rose grew near the porch, and there was a well in the yard. Elinor lived as peasants lived in those years - she dug the ground, grew vegetables in the garden, lit the stove, harnessed herself to a cart and, straining with all her might, dragged bundles of brushwood from the forest, picked mushrooms and berries. She watched how autumn gave way to summer, and winter to autumn, peered into the sky and earth, listened to how in the spring, when the sun began to warm up, the village girls jumped over a rope under her window. Perhaps the most famous fairy tale by Farjeon - “Elsie Piddock Jumps in her Sleep” - was written about the most dexterous of them (in fact, her name was Elsie Puttick).
Many years later, Elinor's friend, actor Denis Blakelock, will go in search of the historical Elsie and write a book about it, which he will dedicate to the writer. He will call the book “In Search of Elsie Piddock” and give it to Elinor Farjeon as a sign of gratitude for her generous gift of love and friendship...
Living in the village, Elinor wore a simple linen Russian dress with red embroidery on the chest - a memory of the recent “Russian Season” in London, when the British first became acquainted with Russian art, opera and ballet. She made friends with local peasants who taught her to cook simple village dishes, bake bread, and brew beer. She observed their habits, listened to their rich speech. Among her friends was a village shoemaker and, of course, children, children... Children of peasants, children of London friends who visited her.
“I remember,” one of them said on the centenary of her birth, when Elinor herself was no longer alive, “in 1919 she invited us to her place for a picnic. When the minds had eaten everything that had been prepared, Elinor suggested they go wander barefoot along the river. We went down to the water - and suddenly among the mice on the shore we saw a bottle. Elinor grabbed it. "Bottle! - she cried. “I wonder what’s in it?” Opening the bottle, we found a letter from the “old sailor.” In it he wrote that a treasure guarded by a dragon was hidden in a cave nearby; Elinor was delighted with the find, and we followed the indicated signs until we found a cave in the chalk rocks that border the River Arun in this place, and there was a jar of lollipops, guarded by a toy snake! We were delighted! Elinor always knew how to add something of her own to any event, add something interesting and creative that would remain in the memory forever!”
Returning to London two years later, Elinor Farjeon settled in an old house in Hampstead - once there were stables, but the house was later rebuilt - and began serious writing. Her books come out one after another - collections of poems written with her brother Herbert (Bertie) and on her own, “The Crystal Slipper” and other operas for children created together with Harry, and fairy tales, fairy tales that she writes with amazing ease and speed.
During her long writing life, Elinor Farjeon published about 60 books for children and adults. Of course, not all of them are equal in their artistic merit - this rarely happens when a writer writes so much. Still, several volumes could easily be compiled from her best works. These are “The Old Nanny’s Basket”, “Martin Pippin in the Apple Orchard” and “Martin Pippin in the Meadow”, “Little Library”, parables and miracles (i.e. stories about miracles), retellings of biblical and ancient stories and much more.
Under Farjeon's pen, the most incredible events become simple and reliable, and the most outlandish characters become understandable and close, like neighbor's children. Like Old Nanny who tells her tales in just the time it takes to mend a hole in a stocking, Farjeon commands the complete attention of his readers. And it already seems to us that it was she who nursed Bertha Goldpaw in medieval Germany and saw with her own eyes how her right heel minted and minted gold coins. It was with her that two boys swam in the transparent Loire - the son of a count and the son of a ragpicker; she was present at the strange decision of the Persian Shah and knows how the arrogant Castilian infanta was cured of pride; and in order to punish the naughty boys of the Brothers Grimm, she hid one fairy tale from them, which she now decided to tell us.
Her voice is pure and clear, her intonation is trusting and simple. “There was a fence around the park, and the Queen was not allowed further. She loved her husband very much, did not want to upset him, so she did not cry to him, did not tell him how much she wanted freedom: freedom. I just spent hours sitting on the palace roof and looking to the east, where the meadows lay, to the south, where the river flowed, to the west, where the mountains were piled, and to the north, where the market traders were noisy in the cities.” This is how the fairy tale about the Seventh Princess begins - and our hearts are already with the Queen, we are ready to grieve over her sadness and sympathize and help her in everything. We are not at all bothered by the idea that Farjeon uses an old folk song in this tale (just as in “Serebryanka” she retells a fairy tale common among many peoples) - in her mouth the plots take on a new sound and are enriched with convincing details.
Elinor Farjeon is an English children's writer, born on February 13, 1881. The house where, in addition to Nellie (that was Elinor's name in the family), her three brothers also grew up, was full of fun and music. And there was also boundless love for the Book. In the Farjeon family, according to the writer herself, not reading was as strange as not eating. The tone for everything was set by the parents: the father was a popular novelist and the mother, who adored music. The sick girl did not go to school; her father became her teacher. Benjamin Farjeon believed that everyone should pursue their own education. Elinor very early began to compose poetry, fairy tales, and translated biblical stories and ancient Greek myths. Moreover, like a real writer, she typed on a typewriter, and besides, she knew how to proofread. When Elinor was 22 years old, misfortune came to the family - her father died, and financial problems quickly arose. Literature turned from pure pleasure into an opportunity for her to earn a living. Her first book, a collection of poems “Children's Songs of Old London,” was published in 1916. The famous storyteller wrote poems all her life. Some critics believe that in England, children's poetry of the 20th century began with the names of E. Farjeon and her friend W. De La Mer. During the First World War, Farjeon moved from London to the countryside. She lived in the last cottage on Gryazi Street, dug in the garden, lit the stove, and carried bundles of brushwood. In general, she lived the same way as her peasant neighbors, with whose children she immediately became friends, and she even composed a fairy tale about one of her village friends: “Elsie Piddock jumps in her sleep.” After returning to London, Elinor Farjeon published several books one after another (there were about 60 of them throughout her life). In addition, together with her brother, she began writing operas for children. In 1921, the collection “Martin Pippin in the Apple Orchard” was published and it became clear that a wonderful storyteller had been born. Over half a century, so many fairy tales have accumulated that in 1955 the writer, having selected the best of them, published a collection, which immediately received the most serious literary awards. Its name - "Little Library" - came from childhood. This was the name of a room in her parents’ house, literally overgrown with books, from the precious golden dust of which Elinor Farjeon wove her amazing fairy tales. The simplest and most magical things quietly live side by side in them. She talks about the beauty and intelligence of the world, about simple and humane relationships between people, young and old, and also about the fact that goodness and justice should always win. It was for the collection “The Little Library” that Farjeon was awarded the H.-C. Andersen Prize. When the writer was awarded a gold medal with an expressive profile of the famous storyteller, she was 75 years old and was one of the most beloved authors of children who read English.
Elinor Farjeon died in her homeland on June 5, 1965, at the age of 85. The acclaimed, beloved and award-winning writer has always remained very down-to-earth and homely. Short, wearing glasses, who loved to cook, take care of flowers, and also managed to raise 127 kittens - this is what Farjeon was like for her contemporaries. She didn't strive for fame. When the royal court drew attention to the writer’s literary merits and Elizabeth II granted her nobility, she replied: I don’t want to be any different from a simple milkman. Elinor Farjeon's books do not age; they continue to surprise and delight readers all over the world - perhaps this is the main miracle of her fabulous life.
Elinor Farjeon is an English storyteller and children's poetess, who at one time became known to Russian readers thanks to Nina Demurova and Olga Varshaver. They translated two of her fairy tales: “I Want the Moon” and “The Seventh Princess.” Thus, Soviet editions of Elinor's works appeared. Despite the fact that this true Englishwoman was recognized as a children's writer, her works often become very interesting for adults to read.
Elinor Farjeon, whose fairy tales were not only loved by her compatriots, but also managed to find their devoted readers all over the world, also wrote children's poems. In many ways, the secret of her success was that she filled all her works with a special author’s philosophy.
Elinor Farjeon: biography and family
This woman was English by nationality. She was born in February 1881. Most likely, she was destined to become a great writer, because in her family the cult of the book existed from the very beginning.
All of her closest relatives were creative people. Father, Benjamin Farjeon, was a popular English novelist. Margaret Farjeon, the daughter of the famous American actor Joseph Jefferson, was the mother of a girl.
Parents instilled good taste and a love for books and music in their children from childhood. Music was constantly played in the house, readings and literary evenings were held. In addition to Elinor Farjeon, there were three more sons in the family. At home, it was customary to call the daughter Nellie, and everyone loved her very much, since she was one girl among boys.
Education received
Elinor Farjeon was a weak child as a child and was sick quite often. Since her father believed that every person should engage in their own self-development and education, it was decided that the girl would study at home.
The creative atmosphere that surrounded little Elinor everywhere definitely contributed to the fact that she began writing her first works very early.
The beginning of creativity
Elinor Farjeon's first works were poetry and fairy tales. The girl also loved to retell ancient Greek myths and various biblical stories. Elinor always typed all her works on a typewriter, since she knew how to do this since childhood, and she also proofread her works herself.
Literature and writing always brought her sincere pleasure, but soon her talent also became an opportunity to obtain material resources for life, which were needed after the death of her father. Benjamin Farjeon died when his daughter was only 22 years old, and at that moment Elinor realized that her works could not only lie at home and delight family and friends, but also be published in various publications.
For the first time, children's poems written by a girl were published in 1912 in the famous English magazine Punch. Her first book, Children's Songs of Old London, was published in 1916. These were poems for children who very quickly found their fans.
Years of the First World War
When the war began, the writer was forced to leave London. Farjeon moved to a simple small village and lived there like an ordinary peasant woman. She was a sincere person and managed to very quickly win over all the neighboring children, with many of whom Elinor became truly friends.
These years were quite difficult, and the writer had a hard time: she lit the stove on her own, collected and brought brushwood, and tended to the garden. But despite all the difficulties, Elinor Farjeon did not stop writing. After the end of the war, she returned to London and began publishing her books one by one.
Fairy tales and poems for children
Many critics believe that the poems written by Elinor represent the foundation of 20th-century children's poetry in England. But while admiring her innate talent for excellent rhyming, we should not forget that Farjeon also coped very well with prose. She is deservedly recognized as one of the best storytellers of the last century.
Her works are indeed very unusual: on the one hand, they are childishly kind, warm and homely, but on the other hand, they sometimes defy the laws of logic and can evoke a feeling of slight fear even in adult readers. Her works can hardly be called banal and typical, because in them the happy ending usual for most children's fairy tales may not come at all, and the positive hero in the process of developing the plot may turn out to be a notorious scoundrel. The works written by Farjeon do not fall into any pattern, which makes reading them even more interesting and entertaining, since even an adult reader cannot guess how a seemingly simple children's fairy tale will end.
Bibliography
Elinor Farjeon, whose poems and fairy tales have been printed and published countless times, has written more than 60 books throughout her life. Among them there are several that are particularly popular:
- "Nameless Flower"
- "I want the moon."
- "Parrots."
- "Young Kate"
- "I'm rocking my baby."
- "The Seventh Princess"
- "Martin Pippin in the Apple Orchard."
- "Once, on a wonderful day".
- "Miracles. Herodotus."
- "Ariadne and the Bull."
- "Crystal Slipper"
- "Nuts and May."
- "Kings and Queens."
- “The Soul of Kol Nikon.”
World recognition and awards for the writer
Farjeon received her first official award in 1955. For her children's works, Elinor was awarded the Carnegie Medal. Literally a year later, in 1956, the International Council of UNESCO, which dealt with issues of youth and children's literature, decided to make the writer the first laureate of the Literary Prize. G. K. Andersen.
She received it for a collection of her delightful fairy tales called “Little Library”. It is very difficult to overestimate the significance of the award received, because among writers it is equated to the Nobel Prize. At the same time, Farjeon remained a very simple and modest woman until the end of her days.
Over time, rumors about Elinor's writing talent reached the royal family. Queen Elizabeth II decided to honor the writer with a special privilege - she was given a title of nobility. But this did not radically change anything in Elinor’s life.
Until the end of her days, she was very fond of animals, especially cats, and during her life she managed to raise more than 120 kittens. Despite her incredible popularity and recognition all over the world, the author of fairy tales loved by thousands of children lived very modestly. She loved to do housework, cook delicious food and grow flowers.
This sweet and talented woman passed away in 1965. She died in England at the age of 84.
