L. Leslie Brooke is best known as an illustrator of children's books in the humorous storytelling tradition of Randolph Caldecott. Like many illustrators of books for children, Brooke mined the rich vein of nursery tales and rhymes. In addition, he wrote three books about that most hospitable of birds, Johnny Crow. But he began his professional career by contributing drawings to juvenile novels. As he became better known, Brooke worked increasingly for younger children, and by 1903 he had found the form in which he excelled, the picture book, comprising a slight text greatly expanded by his splendidly drawn characters in detailed surroundings. These books have delighted young children for almost a century.

Born on 24 September 1862, Leonard Leslie Brooke grew up in semirural Birkenhead, across the river from Liverpool. His parents, Leonard Brooke and Rhoda Prentice Brooke, were Irish. His father commuted by ferry to his small rope and...