Penguin Classics: Pollyanna

Eleanor H. Porter was born in New Hampshire in 1868. As a young woman she trained as a singer but after marrying in 1892 she turned to writing. During the course of her career she wrote many novels for children and adults, but her most famous book was Pollyanna. "Glad Clubs" sprang up across America and the book was made into a Broadway show and a Hollywood movie, adding to the enormous popularity of Porter's famously sunny character. As a result, Porter was a commercially successful and popular writer during her lifetime. She died in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1920.

Neil Reed has been an illustrator for more than 20 years and has illustrated novels such as Goodnight, Mr. Tom and What Katy Did. As well as illustrating, Reed enjoys landscape design and painting. He currently lives in Cornwall.