Charles E. Carryl facts for kids
Charles Edward Carryl (born December 30, 1841 – died July 3, 1920) was an American author who wrote books and poems for children. He is best known for his fantasy stories and fun, silly poems.
About Charles Edward Carryl
Charles Edward Carryl was born in New York. He followed in his family's footsteps and became a successful businessman. For many years, starting in 1874, he worked as a stockbroker on the New York Stock Exchange. A stockbroker helps people buy and sell parts of companies, called stocks.
In 1869, Charles Carryl married Mary Wetmore. They had a son named Guy Wetmore Carryl, who also grew up to be a writer and a poet. Charles Carryl's first book, Stock Exchange Primer, was published in 1882. This book was about business, not for kids.
His Children's Books
In 1884, Charles Carryl published his first children's fantasy book. It was called Davy and the Goblin; or, What Followed Reading "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland". This story was first published in parts, or "serialized," in a popular magazine called St Nicholas.
He also wrote a famous nonsense poem for children called “The Walloping Window Blind.” It was published in 1885. The poem has a fun, rhyming style, much like the poems by Lewis Carroll, who wrote Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Here is a small part of the poem: A capital ship for an ocean trip/Was the Walloping Window-Blind;/No wind that blew dismayed her crew/Or troubled the captain’s mind.
Charles Carryl wrote another children's novel, The Admiral's Caravan. This book also appeared in St Nicholas magazine starting in December 1891. He wrote this story especially for his daughter, Constance.
His Works in Music
Charles Carryl's poem "The Walloping Window Blind" became very popular. People found that it could be sung to the same tune as an old song called Ten Thousand Miles Away. The poem has been given different names over time, like "Capital Ship" and "Blow, Ye Winds, Heigh-Ho."
In 2005, a music group called Bounding Main included "Capital Ship" on their album Lost at Sea. Later, in 2010, the singer Natalie Merchant featured two of his poems, "The Sleepy Giant" and "The Walloping Window Blind," on her album Leave Your Sleep.
