Leonard Leslie Brooke

Illustration by Leonard Leslie Brooke of the story "Three Little Pigs".

Leonard Leslie Brooke (24 September 1862 – 2 May 1940) was a British artist and writer.^[1]

Early life and education[]

Brooke was born in Birkenhead, England, the second son of Leonard D. Brooke.^[2] He was educated at Birkenhead School and the Royal Academy Schools. While travelling in Italy, Brooke suffered a serious illness. He survived, but was left permanently deaf.^[1]

Career[]

Though he did some oil paintings, Brooke was best known as a book illustrator. WorldCat library records show that he illustrated several works by Mrs. Molesworth in the mid-1890s, perhaps from 1892; one was The Carved Lions (1895) in its first edition. His skillful and witty illustrations in Andrew Lang's Nursery Rhyme Book (1897) established his reputation as a leading children's book illustrator of pen-and-ink line drawings and watercolors. His acclaimed works include (1903), "Ring O' Roses", "The Golden Goose Book", Johnny Crow's Party (1907), Johnny Crow's New Garden (1935), "The Nursery Rhyme Book", and "Oranges and Lemons" published by Frederick Warne & Co.^[1]

Personal life[]

Brooke married Sybil Diana Brooke, daughter of his cousin, Rev. Stopford Brooke. They had two sons:

• 2nd Lt. Leonard Stopford Brooke (1895–1918), killed in Germany during the First World War.
• Henry Brooke, Baron Brooke of Cumnor (1903–1984), Conservative politician who served as Home Secretary from 1962 to 1964

Brooke died at his home in Hampstead, age 77.^[1]

Legacy[]

Brooke has two paintings in British National Collections.^[3] In Children's Reading, Lewis M. Terman and Margaret Lima recommended some of his picture books (such as "The Golden Goose Book", the two that feature Johnny Crow, and others), commenting that Brooke "catches the spirit of childhood with rare skill".^[4]

References[]

External links[]

Wikisource has original text related to this article: Brooke's The Story of the Three Bears

• Works by Leonard Leslie Brooke at Project Gutenberg
• Works by Leonard Leslie Brooke at Faded Page (Canada)
• Works by or about Leonard Leslie Brooke at Internet Archive
• Works by Leonard Leslie Brooke at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
• The Story of the Three Little Pigs with Drawings by L. Leslie Brooke From the Collections at the Library of Congress
• The Golden Goose Book