Ethel Sibyl Turner

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Ethel Sybil Turner (1872-1958) was an Australian author best known for her work Seven Little Australians.

[edit] Biography

Turner was born in Yorkshire and immigrated to Australia in 1881 at the age of 8. She went to school in Sydney, New South Wales, and later wrote children stories for many magazines and newspapers.

Her debut children's novel Seven Little Australians (1894) was an instant hit both in Australia and overseas. It is the only Australian children's book that has been constantly in print over the last 100 years.

The success of Seven Little Australians led to the popular sequel The Family at Misrule (1895). Other books followed such as Little Mother Meg (1902) and Judy & Punch (1928) which further chronicled the exploits of the Woolcot family.

Turner wrote more than 40 novels. Some were about the mischievous Woolcots. Others were serialized like her books on the Cub and some were stand-alone.

The children she wrote about were all adventurous and independent. They frequently got themselves into sticky situations and got themselves out of them with very little to no adult help.