Author. She received recognition as an English author at the turn of the 20th century, excelling in children's books. She was the recipient of the 1955 Carnegie Medal for Literature for "The Little Bookroom," a collection of 27 stories, mainly fairy tales. She had written the stories earlier but not published them as a collection. The Carnegie Medal is the oldest and most prestigious award offered for children's books to British subjects. In 1956 she was the recipient of the very first Hans Christian Andersen International Medal for her contribution to children's literature throughout her career. The Hans Christian Andersen International Medal is at times called the "Nobel Prize for Children's Literature." The candidate for this medal should see a situation from a child's point of view and have the ability to stretch a child's imagination. Born the only daughter of four children, her father, Benjamin Leopold Farjeon, was a prolific writer, authoring sixty novels, and her mother, Maggie, was the daughter of an American actor Joseph Jefferson. The Farjeon ancestry was originally Dutch Orthodox Jewish, yet this faith was not practiced in her household. Called Nellie, she was educated at home, attending operas by the age of four, writing on a type-writer by the age of seven, and writing an opera at the age of sixteen that was produced by the Royal Academy of Music. Since she was not married, she had to earn a n income out of necessity at the age of twenty-two when her father died, thus she began to write. Her first books were for adults: "Pan-Worship and other poems" in 1908 and "The Soul of Kol Nikon" in 1914, which was a novel inspired by Celtic culture. She became close friends with poet Edward Thomas and his wife. During World War I, Thomas was killed in action at the Battle of Arras in France in 1917. In 1958 in her book, "Edward Thomas: The Last Four Years," she gives an account of the importance that he was to her writings. In 1916 she successfully wrote "Nursery Rhymes of London Town," which was adapted for school children's songs. Written during the war, yet not published until 1921, "Martin Pippin in the Apple-Orchard," was meant to be an adult book but became a successful children's book, which led her to turn to writing for an audience of children. She wrote a sequel "Martin Pippin in the Daisy Field" in 1937. Besides children's story books, she co-authored with her youngest brother, Herbert, children's text books for schools, including "Kings and Queens" in 1932 and "Heroes and Heroines" in 1933. She is remembered for her lyrics, which were put to an old Gaelic tune, of the 1931 Christian hymn "Morning Has Broken." The hymn is still being sung in church services and was at the top of the Easy Listening hit list in 1971 for singer, Cat Stevens. She became Roman Catholic in 1951. In 1959 she was the recipient of the very first American Regina Medal, which is given by the Catholic Library Association in recognize of literary careers in children's literature either as an author or illustrator. The Children's Book Circle in England established the Eleanor Farjeon Award in her honor. Never described as beautiful, she was described as a shy girl, who needed glasses from a young age and had inherited her father's talent of writing. She was her mother's constant caregiver for twelve years with little relief and being described as a little immature socially compared to her artistic outgoing friends. Besides, the poet Thomas, her other colleagues that were authors included D.H. Lawrence , Walter de la Mare , and Robert Frost. Beside her brother Herbert being an author, her brother, Joseph Jefferson, was a very prolific writer with his some of crime and mysteries novels being reprinted under the name J. Jefferson Farjeon in the 21st Century. Her oldest brother, Harry, was a talent musician and composer. She never married but had a close 30-year relationship with a school teacher, George Earl, and after his death in 1949, with actor Denys Blakelock, who wrote her 1966 memoir, "Portrait of A Farjeon." In 1935 she wrote "A Nursery in the Nineties," which is considered to be a portrait of her childhood. Besides the mentioned children's books, she wrote 11 adults novels, plays based on fairy tales, 33 collections of poetry, and many other writings.