author
Catherine Ann Turner Dorset
1749–1816
A lively writer of poems and stories for children, she is best remembered for the playful animal verse of The Peacock at Home. Writing in the early 1800s, she helped shape a warm, witty corner of English children’s literature.
3 Audiobooks
The Peacock 'At Home' AND The Butterfly's Ball AND The Fancy Fair
by Catherine Ann Turner Dorset, William Roscoe
The Peacock 'At Home:' A Sequel to the Butterfly's Ball
by Catherine Ann Turner Dorset
Think Before You Speak; Or, The Three Wishes
by Catherine Ann Turner Dorset, Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont
About the author
Born Catherine Ann Turner in Surrey, she was the younger sister of novelist and poet Charlotte Smith. She later married Michael Dorset and, after his death, turned more fully to writing as a profession. Her work appeared during a period when children’s literature was growing quickly, and she became known for verse that was light, moral, and easy to enjoy.
Her best-known piece is The Peacock at Home (1807), a comic animal poem that became widely popular. She also wrote other works for young readers, including The Lion’s Masquerade and The Peacock and Parrot on Their Tour to Discover the Author of "The Peacock at Home". Some of her earliest publications were collaborations with her sister.
Today she is remembered as part of the rich tradition of early British writing for children. Her poems mix humor with gentle lessons, and their lively scenes of talking animals helped make them favorites with generations of young readers.