Annette Elizabeth Clark was born in 1875. She realized at a young age that she had a gift for storytelling, and with pioneering courage left home, determined to make story telling her life s work. She built a reputation, narrating her stories at gatherings of children, and became an admired lecturer on her craft at the Teacher Training Colleges. Beguiled by her performances, the press of the day gave her glowing reviews, including in the U.S., where she traveled and told stories as a guest of the National Girl Scouts of America Executive. In writing her stories, she chose only those stories that she had told to hundreds of children, whose responses had helped to shape and render the stories perfect for children everywhere."