author
Dorothy Kilner
1755–1836
A pioneering writer for young readers, she helped shape children's fiction in the late 1700s with lively moral tales and a sharp feel for how children think. She is best remembered for The Life and Perambulation of a Mouse, a story that stayed popular for generations.
1 Audiobook
The Life and Perambulations of a Mouse
by Dorothy Kilner
About the author
Born in Essex in 1755, Dorothy Kilner became one of the most productive English writers of children's books in the late eighteenth century. She often published anonymously or under the names M. P. and Mary Pelham, and her work stood out for pairing clear moral lessons with an observant, often playful sense of children's behavior.
Her best-known book is The Life and Perambulation of a Mouse (1784), an early and influential animal story told from a nonhuman point of view. She wrote many other books for young readers as well, helping build a new kind of literature aimed specifically at children rather than simply adapted for them.
Kilner died in 1836, but her place in the history of children's writing has lasted. Her stories are still remembered for being instructive without losing their warmth, imagination, and everyday understanding of family life.