FRANCES HODGSON BURNETT was born in 1849 in Manchester, England, Her fater, who operated a furniture store, died when she was only four years old. In 1865, Burnett's mother moved Frances and her four brothers and sisters to America. While life in Tennessee was not easy, Frances loved its open expanses and blue skies.

Burnett started writing and publishing stories when she was a teenager. She began to write children's stories when she had two children of her own, Lionel and Vivian. One of the best of these short stories is "Editha's Burglar",about a girl who discovers and intruder and brings him her belongings so he won't wake up her parents.

Little Lord Fauntleroy, written in 1886, was Burnett's first huge success. The Seccret Garden (1911) has also become a well-loved classic.

A Little Princess, published in 1905, is a reworking of an earlier story, Sara Crewe: or, What Happened at Miss Minchin's (1888). In the years since it first appeared, Sara Crewe has become one of the most popular characters in children's literature, overcoming her father's death and life's unfairness by harnessing her imgination and inner strength. In that way, she is very much like her creator-the imaginative and strong Frances Hodgson Burnett.