Mary Louisa Molesworth (1839-1921) was an English writer of children’s stories who wrote for children under the name of Mrs Molesworth. She is best known as a writer of books for the young, such as Tell Me a Story (1875), Carrots (1876), The Cuckoo Clock (1877), The Tapestry Room (1879), and A Christmas Child (1880). She has been called the Jane Austen of the nursery . Excerpt: ‘There must be somebody living over there, ’ he said. ‘I see smoke rising-you can hardly see it now, the light is growing so dim, but I’m sure I did see it. There must be a little cottage there somewhere among the trees.’ ‘Oh, how nice!’ exclaimed Maia. ‘We must find it out. I wonder what sort of people live in it-gnomes or wood-spirits, perhaps? There couldn’t be any real people in such a lonely place.’ ‘Gnomes and wood-spirits don’t need cottages, and they don’t make fires, ’ replied Rollo.