Margery williams bianco biography channel 6

Margery Williams Bianco (22 July – 4 September ) was an English-American author, primarily of popular children's books.

English novelist, translator, and author of books for children, including The Velveteen Rabbit. Born Margery Williams on July 22, , in London, England; died on September 4, , in New York , New York ; youngest of two daughters of Robert a barrister, distinguished classical scholar, and journalist and Florence Harper Williams; limited formal education: attended the Convent School in Sharon Hill, Pennsylvania, for two years; married Francesco Bianco a dealer in rare books and manuscripts , in ; children: son Cecco; Pamela Bianco artist and illustrator of children's books.

Although Margery Bianco wrote successfully in many genres, she is best remembered for her children's classic The Velveteen Rabbit , which, written in , still finds its way into children's hearts. This fantasy of a stuffed toy that is transformed into a live bunny through the power of love, was, according to Bianco, an "accident" and became the inspiration for many toy stories that followed.

Bianco, who respected children, believed that literature nourished the imagination. Bianco's early years in London were influenced by her father's philosophy that children should be taught to read at a young age but should not attend school until age ten. Her favorite books from her father's library included the three volumes of Wood's Natural History , which contributed to her early study of animals that is reflected in so much of her work.

Childhood reading also included Hans Christian Andersen , to whom she was later compared. Following her father's death when she was seven, the family moved to New York, then to a farm in Pennsylvania. Bianco's limited formal education—day school in Philadelphia and two happy years at the Convent School in Sharon Hill—seemed quite enough to set her career in motion.

Her first book, The Late Returning , an adult novel written when she was 17, was published in England in A second and third novel followed, as did her marriage to Francesco Bianco, a graduate of the University of Turin and also a lover of books. After the birth of their son in and a daughter in , the Biancos lived in Paris and London until , when World War I took them to Turin, where Francesco served in the Italian army.

In , they returned to London. Most of Bianco's stories were written after her own children were beginning to grow up.