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The Little Green School
product_description
- GenresSchool StoriesChildrens
320 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1931
About the author
Angela Brazil
129 books35 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
Born in Preston, Lancashire in 1868, Angela Brazil (pronounced "brazzle") was the youngest child of cotton mill manager Clarence Brazil, and his wife, Angelica McKinnel. She was educated at the Turrets - a small private school in Wallasey - and then, when the Brazils were living in Manchester, at the preparatory department of the Manchester High School, and (as a boarder) at Ellerslie, an exclusive girls’ school near Victoria Park. She subsequently attended Heatherley's Art School, in London, with her sister Amy, and sketching remained a life-long interest.
With the death of Clarence Brazil in 1899, the family left the North-West of England for Llanbedr, Wales, where they took up residence in their former summer house. It is believed that, at some point during this period (1899-1911), Brazil worked as a governess, although she does not mention it in her autobiography, My Own Schooldays (1925). In 1911, she moved to Coventry, where she kept house for her doctor brother, living in that city until her death, in 1947.
Brazil's first children's novel, A Terrible Tomboy, was published in 1904, and is believed to have been autobiographical, featuring the adventures of a young Angela (Peggy), and her friend Leila Langdale (Lilian). It was only with the 1907 publication of her second novel, The Fortunes of Philippa, that she turned to the genre in which she would become so influential: the Girls' School Story.
Brazil is often described by readers as "the first author of modern girls' school stories," and her publisher Blackie once claimed, in a bit of promotional hyperbole, that she had originated the genre! While not actually true - the genre predates her by some time, and other authors of modern girls school stories, such as May Baldwin, were publishing before she was - Brazil was certainly immensely influential, in the genre's move away from a didactic, moralistic model, towards one aimed more at entertainment. Her books are told from the perspective of her girl characters themselves, and were immensely popular with young readers, both in her own lifetime, and afterward. All told, she published close to sixty children's novels, most of them girls' school stories.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Born in Preston, Lancashire in 1868, Angela Brazil (pronounced "brazzle") was the youngest child of cotton mill manager Clarence Brazil, and his wife, Angelica McKinnel. She was educated at the Turrets - a small private school in Wallasey - and then, when the Brazils were living in Manchester, at the preparatory department of the Manchester High School, and (as a boarder) at Ellerslie, an exclusive girls’ school near Victoria Park. She subsequently attended Heatherley's Art School, in London, with her sister Amy, and sketching remained a life-long interest.
With the death of Clarence Brazil in 1899, the family left the North-West of England for Llanbedr, Wales, where they took up residence in their former summer house. It is believed that, at some point during this period (1899-1911), Brazil worked as a governess, although she does not mention it in her autobiography, My Own Schooldays (1925). In 1911, she moved to Coventry, where she kept house for her doctor brother, living in that city until her death, in 1947.
Brazil's first children's novel, A Terrible Tomboy, was published in 1904, and is believed to have been autobiographical, featuring the adventures of a young Angela (Peggy), and her friend Leila Langdale (Lilian). It was only with the 1907 publication of her second novel, The Fortunes of Philippa, that she turned to the genre in which she would become so influential: the Girls' School Story.
Brazil is often described by readers as "the first author of modern girls' school stories," and her publisher Blackie once claimed, in a bit of promotional hyperbole, that she had originated the genre! While not actually true - the genre predates her by some time, and other authors of modern girls school stories, such as May Baldwin, were publishing before she was - Brazil was certainly immensely influential, in the genre's move away from a didactic, moralistic model, towards one aimed more at entertainment. Her books are told from the perspective of her girl characters themselves, and were immensely popular with young readers, both in her own lifetime, and afterward. All told, she published close to sixty children's novels, most of them girls' school stories.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
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Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review
June 14, 2013
An odd little book, this; it's a combination school story, family story and holiday story.
It opens with Our Heroine's father inheriting a small island in Cornwall, plus just about enough money to live on. So he throws up his hated office job in the Industrial North and removes the family to the island (which, conveniently, comes with a fully furnished house, two servants, and a couple of boats), where he plans to supplement his income by growing flowers and keeping hens.
The family quickly settles in, finds assorted relations living in the nearby port town, and learns lots of local tales and legends. The boys are sent to a nearby Grammar School; Our Heroine goes to the eponymous little green school, a tiny establishment run on rather informal lines where the girls are encouraged to find things out for themselves rather than learning by rote.
But the book is as much - more, really - about the family, the island, and the Cornish legends as about the school. It's somewhat episodic in structure, but the episodes are gently entertaining and overall it's a pleasant, soothing sort of book in which nothing much really happens but it's told very nicely. Not one of the author's best, but does well enough to while away a few hours.
It opens with Our Heroine's father inheriting a small island in Cornwall, plus just about enough money to live on. So he throws up his hated office job in the Industrial North and removes the family to the island (which, conveniently, comes with a fully furnished house, two servants, and a couple of boats), where he plans to supplement his income by growing flowers and keeping hens.
The family quickly settles in, finds assorted relations living in the nearby port town, and learns lots of local tales and legends. The boys are sent to a nearby Grammar School; Our Heroine goes to the eponymous little green school, a tiny establishment run on rather informal lines where the girls are encouraged to find things out for themselves rather than learning by rote.
But the book is as much - more, really - about the family, the island, and the Cornish legends as about the school. It's somewhat episodic in structure, but the episodes are gently entertaining and overall it's a pleasant, soothing sort of book in which nothing much really happens but it's told very nicely. Not one of the author's best, but does well enough to while away a few hours.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review