Her titles included her second most successful title, Gobbolino the Witch's Cat (1942). Propelled by its success - and despite by now having had the first of her four sons - Williams kept writing, and continued to be published throughout the second world war. Her first pony story, Kelpie, the Gipsies' Pony (1935), was illustrated by Barbara, but thereafter, and in subsequent pony stories such as The Twins and Their Ponies (1936), she mostly illustrated her own books with line illustration.įrom the outset, Adventures of the Little Wooden Horse was a success in Britain, and it appeared in the United States a year later. For it, she took a setting from her time in France, before launching into a run of novels which reflected her own childhood more closely. Her first book, Jean Pierre, which she also illustrated, appeared in 1931. The distinctions between children's and adults' books were less clearly drawn at that time, and even though she wrote stories about children and childhood, Williams did not define herself as a writer for children - although she did observe that "children seem to like them". Although the firm produced no children's books at the time - and published Williams only briefly in the 1970s - they soon entered the field with JRR Tolkein's The Hobbit in 1937.
Williams had been writing since early childhood, encouraged by her uncle Sir Stanley Unwin, who presided over the publishing company Allen and Unwin. While Barbara enjoyed art school, Ursula left after a year, having decided that writing rather than illustrating was for her. Later, they were sent to school in Annecy, in France, before returning home to study at Winchester College of Art. Both Ursula and her sister Barbara were keen riders, with a strong love of nature and animals, as well as a passion for stories and writing. Born in Petersfield, Hampshire, the younger of identical twins, she was first educated at home by a governess, under the guidance of her parents, both of whom were teachers.
Williams produced almost a book a year over her writing career, which spanned 70 years.
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