author
John Walker Harrington
1868–1952
A longtime newspaper writer with a lively eye for unusual stories, he also wrote a playful animal tale that has charmed young readers for generations. His work moves easily between journalism, popular science, and children's fiction.
1 Audiobook
The jumping kangaroo and the apple butter cat
by John Walker Harrington
About the author
Born in Missouri in 1868, John Walker Harrington built his career in American journalism at the turn of the twentieth century. Sources describe him as a newspaper writer who worked for major papers including the New York Herald, and as a contributor to publications such as the New York Times, Saturday Evening Post, Scientific American, and Popular Science Monthly.
He is especially remembered in the audiobook world for The Jumping Kangaroo and the Apple Butter Cat (1900), a whimsical children's book filled with talking animals, mischief, and friendly adventure. That story shows a lighter side of a writer whose day-to-day work often centered on reporting and feature writing.
Harrington died in 1952. Although he is not widely known today, his career reflects the range of a versatile early modern magazine and newspaper writer—someone equally at home with news, popular-interest articles, and imaginative storytelling for children.