October 27: This Day in Children’s Book History

🎂 October 27, 1914 — Born: Dylan Thomas

Welsh poet and writerDylan ThomasDylan Thomas (1914–1953) was born. He is the great­est 20th cen­tu­ry Eng­lish lit­er­a­ture writer.Lyric poetOne of his worksGor­geous lan­guage, vivid imagery and rhythmHe is famous for his poet­ry, “Do Not Go Gen­tle into That Good Night”, which is pop­u­lar all over the world.

• Impor­tant works and con­tri­bu­tions:
  • His most famous chil­dren’s book is the prose poem “A Child’s Christ­mas in Wales-A Child’s Christ­mas in Wales), which was orig­i­nal­ly record­ed as a radio pro­gram in 1952.
• Far-reach­ing impact: The sto­ry begins withPoet­ic lan­guage and full of nos­tal­gia and humorThe work was pub­lished as a book after Thomas’s death (1954) and was praised asOne of the most influ­en­tial prose poems in Eng­lishLat­er illus­trat­ed ver­sions (such as those byEdward Adi­zoneThe illus­trat­ed ver­sion fur­ther trans­forms the humor and nos­tal­gia in the text into a warm pic­to­r­i­al clas­sic.

| born Dylan Thomas A Child’s Christ­mas in Wales (Wikipedia) |

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🎂 October 27, 1970 — Born: Jonathan Stroud

British writerJonathan StroudJonathan Stroud was born. He is an out­stand­ing rep­re­sen­ta­tive of con­tem­po­rary youth fan­ta­sy lit­er­a­ture, espe­cial­ly for hisCom­plex world­view, wit­ty humorand pairTra­di­tion­al fan­ta­sy ele­mentsKnown for its sub­ver­sive use.

• Impor­tant works and con­tri­bu­tions: Stroud’s most famous work is the **“Bar­ti­maeus” series** (also known as the “Djinn Tril­o­gy”).
• Rep­re­sen­ta­tive works: The first in the seriesAncient Cap­i­tal Amulet-The Amulet of Samarkand, pub­lished in 2003) is set in a world ruled by magi­cians.Mod­ern Lon­donThrough the sto­ries of two pro­tag­o­nists — an arro­gant wiz­ard appren­tice and a 5,000-year-old giant who loves to com­plain -Dual per­spec­tive nar­ra­tive, tells a sto­ry full of polit­i­cal intrigue and mag­i­cal adven­ture.
• Influ­ence: The tril­o­gy relies on itsIrre­place­able humor, sharp polit­i­cal satire and rich foot­notes(writ­ten by the dwarf Bati­maeus), which is unique in young adult fan­ta­sy nov­els, was praised by a crit­ic of Time mag­a­zine as **“Since Gul­liv­er’s Trav­els, few chil­dren’s writ­ers have been able to com­bine thrilling adven­ture sto­ries with such clever com­e­dy”**.

| born Jonathan Stroud The Amulet of Samarkand (Wikipedia) |

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🎂 October 27, 1889 — Born: Enid Bagnold

British writer and play­wrightEnid Bag­noldEnid Bag­nold (1889–1981) was born in Kent, Eng­land.Humor, insight­ful obser­va­tions about human nature and ani­malsis famous.

• Impor­tant works and con­tri­bu­tions: Her most famous work is the nov­elJade Lady Horse-Nation­al Vel­vet, pub­lished in 1935. The book tells the sto­ry of a dreamy 14-year-old girl, Vel­vet Brown, who wins a horse and rides it dis­guised as a man to win the pres­ti­giousGrand Nation­al Steeple­chase(Grand Nation­al Steeple­chase) sto­ry.
• Influ­ence and Hon­ors: This nov­el is famous for itsGirls’ empow­er­ment, ambi­tion and inde­pen­denceIt is wide­ly pop­u­lar due to its praise.The most famous eques­tri­an nov­el in the his­to­ry of British and Amer­i­can chil­dren’s lit­er­a­tureThe book was adapt­ed into a clas­sic 1944 film star­ring Eliz­a­beth Tay­lor (who was 12 at the time). Its Chi­nese title is The Jade Maid­en.

| born Enid Bag­nold Nation­al Vel­vet (Wikipedia) |

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🎂 October 27, 1892 — Born: Graciano Ramos

Brazil­ian writer, jour­nal­ist and politi­cianGra­ciano Ramos(Gra­cil­iano Ramos, 1892–1953) was born. He is con­sid­eredBrazil­ian Mod­ernist Lit­er­a­tureOne of the four pil­lars ofSharp social real­ismFamous for style.

• Impor­tant works and con­tri­bu­tions: Although his main works are adult nov­els (such as “Dry Life“Vidas Secas), but his chil­dren’s lit­er­a­ture is of great sig­nif­i­cance in Latin Amer­i­ca.
• Rep­re­sen­ta­tive works and hon­ors: His chil­dren’s nov­elLand of Bald Boys-A Ter­ra dos Meni­nos Pela­dos, pub­lished in 1939, tells the sto­ry of a bald boy who is ridiculed and cre­ates aImag­i­nary World, a sto­ry where all life is dif­fer­ent and accept­ed. The book won theBrazil­ian Min­istry of Edu­ca­tion Chil­dren’s Lit­er­a­ture Award.
• Influ­ence: His chil­dren’s worksFan­ta­sy and real­i­tyThe inter­weav­ing of Latin Amer­i­can chil­dren’s lit­er­a­ture has pro­mot­ed theDis­crim­i­na­tion, lone­li­ness and men­tal healthDis­cus­sions on social themes such as .

| born Gra­cil­iano Ramos Gra­cil­iano Ramos (Wikipedia) |