William Roscoe's poem The Butterfly's Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast (1807) helped free English children's literature from the pedagogical constraints that had ruled it since the middle of the eighteenth century. The new awareness animating Roscoe's poem--that fantasy and invention were sufficiently worthwhile children's literary qualities and that innocent pleasure could serve as the sole purpose of reading--would become a hallmark of English children's literature during the nineteenth century, finding memorable and varied expression within the airy visions of Clement Clarke Moore, George MacDonald, and Lewis Carroll.

William Roscoe was born on 8 March 1753 at the Old Bowling Green House, Mount Pleasant, Liverpool. He was the only son of William and Elizabeth Roscoe. The elder William Roscoe owned an extensive market garden and kept the popular Bowling Green tavern. When six years old, Roscoe was sent to schools in Liverpool, where he learned reading and arithmetic. After leaving school before...