Stuart Little

This children's novel, published in 1945, is set in New York City. The central character is the son of ordinary human parents but has the appearance and stature of a mouse. He proves to be “a great help to his parents, and to his older brother George, because of his small size and because he could do things that a mouse can do and was agreeable about doing them”. His father thinks it important that Stuart should in his childhood be shielded from references to violence against mice, insisting that his wife tear from the nursery songbook the page about blind mice. He felt strongly that he didn't want Stuart to “grow up fearing that a farmer’s wife was going to cut off his tail with a carving knife”.

The author, E.B. White (born 11 July 1899) grew up in New York City. He studied at Cornell University and served as editor of the student newspaper. In October 1918, he joined the university's training corps in preparation for service overseas but the armistice meant he was quickly discharged before seeing any action. After university, he started work as a journalist. When The New Yorker was founded in 1925, he submitted articles and was later taken on by the magazine as a staff writer. He married the magazine's literary editor, Katharine Angell (née Sergeant), in 1929. In the same year, his first collection of poems was published. Although he went on to write a wide variety of books, he is best remembered for his three novels for children, one of which, Charlotte's Web, was a Newbury Medal finalist. In 1970, he won the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award, a lifetime-achievement award for contribution to children's literature.

The adventures of the plucky central character include a naval contest on a pond in Central Park. Dressed in a sailor suit, he volunteers to go ‘to sea’, telling the owner of a model boat “I'm looking for a berth in a good ship and I thought perhaps you might sign me on. I'm strong and I'm quick”. The owner asks him to race against another boat and Stuart details how he intends to defeat the other boat:
“I'll catch the sloop broad on and rake her with fire from my forward gun”. The owner argues that he wants it to be “a boat race, not a naval engagement”. Stuart, therefore, promises to “sail [the boat] straight and true”.

Against a Darkening Sky

This novel, published in 1942, is set in a semi-rural community south of San Francisco in the 1930s. The central character, Mary Perrault, is a Scottish immigrant married to a Swiss gardener. The focus of the novel is on her parenthood and her role as friend and leader in the local community. It's an account of survival in the Great Depression and is shaped by the author's own experience and that of her friends living in the same context.

The author, Janet Lewis (born 17 August 1899), the daughter of a professor of English literature, grew up in Chicago. Her brother, Herbert, served in the army during the First World War. Her first appearances in print were contributions to a high-school literary magazine alongside those of Ernest Hemingway. She studied at the University of Chicago and as a student was an active member of the city's poetry club. Chiefly a poet, her first collection of poems was published in 1922. She had married a fellow poet, Yvor Winters, in 1926 and they moved to California when he was appointed to a position at Stanford. The two ran a literary magazine, which they had founded, from 1929 to 1931. Her first novel appeared in 1932 and she went on to write a further four novels, the most acclaimed of which is the historical novel The Wife of Martin Guerre, published in 1941.

When a friend of the family is killed, the Perraults, even though they have endured hardship, feel unaccustomed to this kind of event:
“Tragedy such as this was unreal to the Perraults, and doubly unreal since it was in the paper. The newsprint gave it, for them, the quality of fiction — something read of, not experienced. They were not able to believe that something so dreaded had actually happened to someone whom they knew. So they watched the papers through the ensuing days...”

All Alone

This children's novel, published in 1953, is set in a small mountain community in the French region of Savoie. The central character, Marcel Mabout, as a ten-year-old boy is sent from the village to the highland pasture to stay with his family's three cattle during the months of summer. The tradition in the village is each man for himself and his father warns him against having anything to do with the other boys looking after cattle in nearby mountain pastures. In his own gently courageous way he brings about a socialist revolution for the village.

The author, Claire Bishop (née Huchet, born 30 December 1898), was born in Geneva. She studied at the Sorbonne in Paris but dropped out of university to pursue hr interest in storytelling. In 1924, she opened France’s first library for children. After she married Frank Bishop, an American pianist, she moved to New York City. There she oversaw the children’s reading room of the city’s public library. Her first book for children was published in 1938 and more than 20 further books were published. Two of her books were shortlisted for the Newbery Medal: Pancake-Paris (1948) and this book.

Marcel, the young hero of the story, tells his fellow herdboy Pierre that he wants to change the behaviour of the people of the village:
“When I'm a man, I'll say to everybody in Monestier, ‘Let's do everything all together!’  He opened his arms wide in a large gesture.”
His actions convince the people:
“We began to see that there is a better way of life than each man for himself and the state for all. We began to see that if we would get together of our own accord, life might be better in Monestier.”