bk_jcrow_garden bk_johnn

Older readers may remember Brooke’s stories of Johnny Crow and the illustrations for books by Robert Charles, Mrs. Molesworth, Andrew Lang, and Edward Lear. Born in Great Britain on September 24, 1862, Leonard Leslie Brooke trained at the Royal Academy and then succeeded Walter Crane as illustrator for Victorian stories for children, Brooke’s work is detailed and humorous, showing an understanding of human nature and the animal world. Brooke’s son grew up to become British Home Secretary. Twenty years after Brooke’s death in 1940, he was awarded the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award for the first book he wrote and illustrated: Johnny Crow’s Garden (1903).

— Leslie Greaves Radloff

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