Books in Antelope Bks. series

Mary Treadgold (16 April 1910 - 14 May 2005) was a British author of books for children and adults, a literary editor and a BBC producer. She won the Carnegie Medal for British children's books in 1941.[1] Treadgold was born on 16 April 1910 at 51 Woodberry Crescent, Muswell Hill, Essex.[2] Her father, John, was a stockbroker and a Member of the London Stock Exchange, and the family was comfortably off. Treadgold attended Ginner-Mawer School of Dance and Drama (1916-22), Challoner's School (1921-3), and St Paul's Girls' School, London (1923-8),[2] before going on to Bedford College, London from 1930 to 1936 where she graduated with an MA in English Literature.[2] After leaving university, Treadgold entered publishing, working first for Raphael Tuck & Sons and later at Heinemann's as their first Children's Editor.[1] In her position Treadgold frequently read stories about ponies and pony clubs. She was generally dismayed by their quality and decided to resign in order to write her own pony story. She began We Couldn't Leave Dinah while confined to an air raid shelter during the Battle of Britain between September and December 1940. At the end of 1940 she moved to work at the BBC as a literary editor and producer in various sections of the General Overseas Service, sharing an office with Eric Blair (George Orwell) and forming a strong friendship with Una Marson, the Jamaican writer, editor and feminist. Of the twenty years she spent at the BBC, eleven were as literary editor of Books to Read, before she eventually left to concentrate on her writing. The Winter Princess concerns the visit of a young African princess to Hampton Court where she meets four English children. It has been described as "perhaps the most delightful book by a most talented writer", and as making "an effective contribution to the race question because there is no mention of it".[4] source: Wikipedia