Sophie May Farman

Rebecca Sophia Clarke, who wrote under the pen name Sophie May, was an American children's author born in Norridgewock, Maine, in 1833. She drew on the behavior and talk of real children around her, especially her nieces and nephews, and that gave her stories an easy, natural feeling that stood out in her time.

Her best-known work was the Little Prudy series, and sources describe her as the author of dozens of books published between 1860 and 1903. Readers and later reference works alike note that her fiction was admired for its humor, warmth, and its refusal to turn every story into a sermon.

Clarke spent most of her life in her hometown. She died in 1906, but her books remained part of classic American children's literature and are still remembered for their bright, believable picture of family life.