Dorothy Edwards

Dorothy Violet Ellen Edwards (née Brown; 6 November 1914 – 8 August 1982) was a children's writer from England best known for her My Naughty Little Sister book series and novel The Witches and the Grinnygog.

Background She was born into a working-class family in Teddington, Richmond Upon Thames.

Her father taught her to read at an early age, enabling her to write her first story at four years of age. Her stories, poems and articles were published throughout her twenties, and at this time she married her husband Francis P. "Frank" Edwards in 1942, and had two children, Jane and Frank. She died in 1982 and was buried alongside her younger sister Phyllis Mary F. Brown, known as "Pip", (1920–1977), to whom her Naughty Little Sister books were dedicated. She was survived by her husband, who died two years later.

Works Publications Edwards' most famous stories are of My Naughty Little Sister, which she conceived to keep her daughter, Jane, quiet whilst on a family holiday in 1950. She wrote five books of these stories, which were illustrated by Shirley Hughes. and she also wrote for Playschool and Jackanory.

Selected books

My Naughty Little Sister My Naughty Little Sister (1952) My Naughty Little Sister's Friends (1962) When My Naughty Little Sister Was Good (1968) All About My Naughty Little Sister (1969) More Naughty Little Sister Stories (1971) My Naughty Little Sister & Bad Harry (1974)

Others Tales of Joe and Timothy (1969) Joe and Timothy Together (1971) The Magician Who Kept a Pub and Other Stories (1975) A Strong and Willing Girl (1980) The Witches and the Grinnygog (1981) The Old Man Who Sneezed (1983) Mark the Drummer-Boy (1983)