Helen Cresswell facts for kids

Helen Cresswell (born July 11, 1934 – died September 26, 2005) was a talented English writer and TV scriptwriter. She wrote over 100 children's books and was well-known for her funny stories and tales about magic and the supernatural. Her most popular book series, Lizzie Dripping and The Bagthorpe Saga, were also made into popular TV shows.

Helen Cresswell also worked on many TV shows. She helped turn her own books into TV series like Lizzie Dripping (1973–75), Jumbo Spencer (1976), The Secret World of Polly Flint (1987), and Moondial (1988). She also adapted books by other authors for TV, including The Haunted School, Five Children and It (1991), The Phoenix and the Carpet (1997), The Famous Five (1995–96), and The Demon Headmaster (1996–98).

Helen Cresswell's Early Life

Helen Cresswell was born in Kirkby-in-Ashfield, a town in Nottinghamshire, England. When she was 12, she spent a year in the hospital due to back problems. During this time, her mother arranged for her to learn Greek.

She went to school at Nottingham High School for Girls. Later, she studied English literature at King's College London. Helen married Brian Rowe in 1962, and they had two children. They later separated. Helen Cresswell passed away at her home in Eakring, Nottinghamshire, on September 26, 2005, at the age of 71. She died from ovarian cancer.

Becoming a Writer for Young Readers

Helen Cresswell had a big impact because she started writing for television in 1960. Her first TV script was for a show called Jack Playhouse, which brought simple stories to BBC children's TV. She tried writing for adults, but she found more success with young readers.

Her first book, Sonya-by-the-Shore, was published in 1960. The Jumbo Spencer series followed soon after. However, she felt she was truly a poet until her book The Piemakers (1967) became very popular with young readers and received good reviews from critics. This book was also a runner-up for the Carnegie Medal, a special award for the best children's book by a British writer.

Helen Cresswell was also a runner-up for the Carnegie Medal three more times. These books were The Night Watchmen (1969), Up the Pier (1971), and The Bongleweed (1973). In 1989, she won the Phoenix Award. This award celebrates the best children's book published 20 years earlier that didn't win a major award at the time. The Night Watchmen (1969) received this honor.

Even though The Demon Headmaster TV series (1996–1998) was a big hit, her popularity changed as the BBC started focusing on different types of characters, like the strong heroines created by Jacqueline Wilson. Helen's daughter, Caroline, believed that Winter of the Birds (1976) was her mother's favorite book. Helen once said, "I write a title, then set out to find where that particular road will take me." Caroline remembered that her mother "never plotted her books, she just wrote."

The BBC aired a six-part TV series called Five Children And It in 1991. This show was based on the 1902 novel by E. Nesbit, and Helen Cresswell adapted it for television. In 1992, Helen published her own sequel to the story, called The Return of the Psammead. This book was then used as the basis for a TV sequel with the same name in 1993. She also adapted Nesbit's second book in the series, The Phoenix and the Carpet (1904), for a TV show that aired in 1997.

Helen Cresswell's Books