author
Ellen C. Babbitt
Best known for bringing ancient Buddhist stories to young readers, this early 20th-century American writer retold animal fables and moral tales in a clear, inviting style. Her best-known books helped introduce generations of children to the Jataka tales.
2 Audiobooks
Jataka tales
by Ellen C. Babbitt
More Jataka Tales
by Ellen C. Babbitt
About the author
Born in Philadelphia on December 4, 1871, Ellen C. Babbitt was an American author remembered for children's books based on traditional stories. She died in Los Angeles on September 3, 1958.
She is best known for Jataka Tales (1912) and More Jataka Tales (1922). In these books, she retold stories from the Buddhist Jataka tradition, drawing on translations associated with Professor E. B. Cowell and the "Guild of Jataka Translators," and reshaped them for younger readers.
Babbitt's work has lasted because of its simple storytelling, memorable animal characters, and gentle moral lessons. Her retellings helped make a classic body of world literature accessible to children in English-speaking homes and classrooms.