Lyman Frank Baum, born May 15 1856, was an American author of children's books, best known for writing The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. He wrote thirteen novel sequels, nine other fantasy novels, and a host of other works (55 novels in total, plus four "lost" novels, 83 short stories, over 200 poems, an unknown number of scripts, and many miscellaneous writings), and made numerous attempts to bring his works to the stage and screen.

His works anticipated such century-later commonplaces as television, augmented reality, laptop computers (The Master Key), wireless telephones (Tik-Tok of Oz), women in high risk, action-heavy occupations (Mary Louise in the Country), and the ubiquity of advertising on clothing (Aunt Jane's Nieces at Work).

On May 5, 1919, Baum suffered from a stroke. He died quietly the next day, nine days short of his 63rd birthday.His final Oz book, Glinda of Oz, was published on July 10, 1920, a year after his death. The Oz series was continued long after his death by other authors, notably Ruth Plumly Thompson, who wrote an additional nineteen Oz books.

Kenneth Grahame was born in 1859 and wrote fiction and fantasy for children.

He is most famous for The Wind in the Willows (1908), which is considered to be one of the greatest classics of children's literature.

He also wrote The Reluctant Dragon which was later adapted to a Disney movie.

Anna Sewell was born in 1820 and lived with her family in Norfolk and then in a village on the outskirts of London. At the age of fourteen Anna injured her ankles in a fall, and was severely disabled for the rest of her life.

She had to travel everywhere in horse-drawn carriages, and so Anna was always concerned with the treatment of the animals she so relied upon.

She wrote Black Beauty in order to convince a wide audience of the importance of the humane treatment of animals. It is her only novel, and Anna Sewell died shortly after it's publication, little guessing how well-known and widely loved her story would become.

Margery Williams was born in London in 1881. She moved with her family to the USA in 1890 and there started a career as a writer at the age of nineteen.

She wrote many stories for children, of which The Velveteen Rabbit is the most famous. William Nicholson was born in 1872 and was one of England's most prestigious still-life and portrait painters.

He also wrote and illustrated many children's books, including Clever Bill, which is now also available in this new hardback edition from Egmont.

Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann (1776–1822) replaced his third name, Wilhelm, with Amadeus in homage to Mozart. A towering figure of German Romanticism, Hoffmann was a composer, music critic, theater director, draftsman, and caricaturist as well as a writer. Although his stories challenged readers to free their minds from the conventions of reality, Hoffmann accepted the practical constraints of everyday life, training as a lawyer and serving as a judge.

Hugh Lofting was born in Maidenhead in 1886. He studied engineering in London and America and his work as a civil engineer took him all over the world. He interrupted his career to enlist in the army and fight in the First World War.

Wanting to shield his children from the horrors of combat, including the fate of horses on the battlefield, he wrote to them instead about a kindly doctor who could talk to animals.

After the war he settled with his family in Connecticut and it was from there that he published his Doctor Dolittle books. The Story of Doctor Dolittle was published in 1920, followed by twelve more in the series. The highly acclaimed author died in 1947.

Charles Dickens was born in 1812 and became the most popular novelist of the Victorian era.

A prolific writer, he published more than a dozen novels in his lifetime, including Oliver Twist, Great Expectations and Hard Times, most of which have been adapted many times over for radio, stage and screen.