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Each year, for the remaining two decades of her life, Bianco produced numerous books and short stories. Most of them continued her preoccupation with toys coming to life and the ability of inanimate objects and animals to express human emotions and feelings. There was always melancholy, but in the
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When
Margery was seven years old, her father died suddenly, a life-changing event which, in one way or another, would affect all of her future creative activity. The undertone of sadness and the themes of death and loss that flow through her children's books have been criticised by some reviewers,
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and a renowned classical scholar, Robert
Williams and Florence Williams née Harper. She and her sister were encouraged by her father, whom she remembered as a deeply loving and caring parent, to read and use their imaginations. Writing about her childhood many years later, she recalled how vividly
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In her final nine years, Bianco interspersed children's books with novels for young adults. These all featured young people who were in one way or another isolated or alienated from mainstream society and the joy, success, prosperity and social acceptance seemingly enjoyed by their peers. One of
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The author's trademark undercurrents of sentimentality and sadness persist in the tale of a small boy who finds a velveteen rabbit in his
Christmas stocking. In the nursery the rabbit is looked down on by the fancier wind-up toys. He asks the skin horse, "What is Real?" The skin horse tells him,
242:. Pamela was a renowned child artist who had a showing in Turin at the age of eleven. Her fame brought the Bianco family to New York and (with the exception of Cecco) they lived in the Greenwich Village area until the end of their lives. Pamela illustrated some of her mother's books, including
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her father described characters from various books and the infinite world of knowledge and adventure that lay on the printed page. She noted that the desire to read, which soon transformed into a need to write, was a legacy from her father that would be hers for a lifetime.
434:, was an inspirational story of wartime heroism, which included as one of its characters a black soldier. Acknowledging the contribution of African-Americans to the war effort was extremely rare in literary output of the time and that fact was noted in the book's reviews.
163:(22 July 1881 – 4 September 1944) was an English-American author, primarily of popular children's books. A professional writer since the age of nineteen, she achieved lasting fame at forty-one with the 1922 publication of the classic that is her best-known work,
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but
Williams always maintained that hearts acquire greater humanity through pain and adversity. She wrote that life is a process of constant change—there are departures for some and arrivals for others—and the process allows us to grow and persevere.
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While visiting her publisher, Margery
Williams met Francesco Bianco, an Italian living in London, who was employed as the manager of one of the book departments. They were married in 1904 and became the parents of a son, Cecco, and a daughter,
342:"When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real." The boy comes to adore the rabbit, and they are constant companions. This happy existence continues until the boy contracts
362:, about the interactions of children's toys with each other and with the human, animal, and toy members of the world beyond the toy cupboard. A return to more sober themes marks Bianco's other popular works, such as the same year's
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was
Margery Williams Bianco's first American work, and it remains her most famous. It has remained a classic piece of literature through numerous adaptations in children's theatre as well as on radio, television and in the movies.
407:, about two girls, still in their teenage years, who are called upon to assume adult responsibilities in caring for their young siblings, when the parents have to go away suddenly, was a runner-up for the 1937
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Her ambition to make a living as an author propelled her in 1901, at the age of nineteen, to return to her birthplace and submit to a London publisher her first novel,
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had ended, but postwar hunger and deprivation became a problem in Europe. In 1921, Bianco, along with her family, returned to the United States and settled in
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In 1907 the family left
England, heading first to Paris, where Francesco was head of the rare books department at Brentano's. They later settled in
269:. While remaining home with the children, Margery Bianco gained hope and inspiration from the works of the poet she called her "spiritual mentor",
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Poor Cecco: The
Wonderful Story of a Wonderful Wooden Dog Who Was the Jolliest Toy in the House Until He Went Out to Explore the World
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in the
Pennsylvania region. It was later republished in the US in a slightly revised version under the pseudonym Harper Williams.
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325:. Inspired by the innocence and playful imagination of her children, as well as the inspiration she felt from the magic and
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contained in the works of Walter de la Mare, she decided to resume her writing, and gained almost immediate celebrity.
250:. When her children were young, Margery considered motherhood a full-time job, and her writing efforts were curtailed.
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went on sale, she became ill and, after three days in the hospital, died at the age of 63 on 4 September 1944 in
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farming community. Over the succeeding years, until 1898, Margery was a student at the
Convent School in
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Bianco wrote numerous other children's books, with her son becoming the namesake of one of them, 1925's
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Dziemianowicz, Stefan. "Curiosities:The Thing in the Woods by Harper Williams (1924)
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showcasing excellence in youth literature. In 1971, upon the establishment of the
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Order Margery Williams – The Velveteen Rabbit at Embracing the Child
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Marriage, children and the influence of Walter de la Mare's writings
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with Dagny Mortensen. Translated from the Norwegian of Hans Aanrud.
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795:"Margery Williams Bianco", Pennsylvania Center for the Book, PSU
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The Ancient Track: The Complete Poetical Works of H. P. Lovecraft
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732:"Margery Williams Bianco (Author of the Velveteen Rabbit)"
292:, and some commentators think it may have influenced his "
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Moore, Anne Carroll, and Bertha Mahony Miller (ed.),
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end the reader emerged spiritually uplifted. 1926's
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394:are among some of her works from that period.
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437:Margery Williams Bianco did not live to see
334:The Velveteen Rabbit or How Toys Become Real
493:(republished in 1924 as by Harper Williams)
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853:"Margery Williams", Penguin Random House
276:In 1914, Williams wrote a horror novel,
194:in 1881, the second daughter of a noted
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1030:Internet Speculative Fiction Database
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296:". He also wrote a poem entitled "On
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350:the velveteen rabbit he once loved.
1035:Bianco, Margery Williams, 1881–1944
996:Works by or about Margery Williams
896:. The Horn Book, Inc. Boston 1951.
811:"Margery Williams", PoemHunter.com
765:Blair, Elizabeth (12 April 2022).
37:Portrait of Margery Williams, 1911
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265:and Francesco Bianco joined the
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709:Translated from the French of
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426:in her works, such as 1941's
1022:at www.embracingthechild.org
950:Resources in other libraries
926:Resources in other libraries
1065:American children's writers
1011:(public domain audiobooks)
828:Fantasy and Science Fiction
563:The House That Grew Smaller
392:The House that Grew Smaller
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571:The Street of Little Shops
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1005:Works by Margery Williams
987:Works by Margery Williams
945:Resources in your library
921:Resources in your library
641:Penny and the White Horse
430:. Her final book, 1944's
212:Sharon Hill, Pennsylvania
188:Margery Winifred Williams
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1070:American fantasy writers
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183:Early life and education
1075:American horror writers
317:At the end of 1918 the
161:Margery Williams Bianco
865:"The Velveteen Rabbit"
603:Green Grows the Garden
539:The Adventures of Andy
515:The Little Wooden Doll
490:The Thing in the Woods
376:The Adventures of Andy
364:The Little Wooden Doll
304:Return to America and
298:The Thing in the Woods
286:The Thing in the Woods
278:The Thing in the Woods
248:The Little Wooden Doll
126:1937
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1080:Newbery Honor winners
619:Other People's Houses
398:Later years and death
388:Other People's Houses
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300:by Harper Williams."
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968:at Wikimedia Commons
688:Little Black Stories
499:The Velveteen Rabbit
313:The Velveteen Rabbit
306:The Velveteen Rabbit
166:The Velveteen Rabbit
106:The Velveteen Rabbit
1039:Library of Congress
934:By Margery Williams
649:Forward, Commandos!
579:The Hurdy-Gurdy Man
169:. She received the
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875:on 9 December 2001
869:theatrebristol.org
595:More About Animals
474:The Price of Youth
466:The Late Returning
443:Forward Commandos!
432:Forward Commandos!
294:The Dunwich Horror
223:The Price of Youth
219:The Late Returning
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390:and 1931's
263:World War I
176:Winterbound
112:Winterbound
83:Citizenship
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982:Wikisource
718:References
680:René Bazin
507:Poor Cecco
280:, about a
75:Occupation
49:1881-07-22
737:Goodreads
386:, 1930's
378:, 1927's
327:mysticism
319:Great War
196:barrister
1009:LibriVox
777:13 April
743:22 March
441:end. As
282:werewolf
140:Children
1028:at the
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711:Samivel
482:The Bar
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909:about
240:Pamela
225:, and
192:London
132:Spouse
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879:6 May
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