author
Ellen C. Babbitt
Best known for retelling Buddhist Jataka stories for young readers, this American writer brought old teaching tales to life in clear, memorable prose. Her collections helped introduce many English-speaking children to stories of kindness, cleverness, and moral choice.
2 Audiobooks
Jataka tales
by Ellen C. Babbitt
More Jataka Tales
by Ellen C. Babbitt
About the author
Ellen C. Babbitt was an American children's author best known for Jataka Tales (1912) and More Jataka Tales (1922). These books retold traditional Buddhist stories about the earlier lives of the Buddha, shaping them into short, readable pieces for young audiences.
Available library records identify her as Ellen Corinna Babbitt, and reliable catalog sources place her life in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Her work drew on translations associated with Cambridge scholar E. B. Cowell and the so-called Guild of Jataka Translators, but her gift was in turning that material into lively storytelling for children.
Today, she is remembered mainly for making classic moral tales accessible to new readers. Her stories are simple, direct, and often centered on animals, which has helped them remain popular in children's literature collections and audiobook libraries.