Ella Farman Pratt

Ella Farman Pratt was an American author, editor, and magazine writer born in 1837. She wrote stories and books for children and young people, and her work appeared during a period when juvenile literature and family magazines were growing quickly in the United States.

She is especially remembered for editing and writing for magazines for young readers, including Wide Awake and Our Little Men and Women. Alongside that editorial work, she published books such as How Two Girls Tried Farming and The Cooking Club of Tu-Whit Hollow, showing her range from domestic fiction to stories with an energetic, practical spirit.

Pratt died in 1907, but her books and magazine work still offer a good glimpse of what children’s reading looked like in the late 1800s. She stands out as one of the many writers who helped make children’s literature both entertaining and instructive without losing its sense of fun.