Mabel Esther Allan’s autobiography, privately printed in two booklets in 1982 and 1985, was written partly to set the record straight ‘just in case someone decides to write about me and my work in the years to come’, partly for the interest of adult collectors of her books, and partly for the many who said to her that they too would have liked to write if only they could find the time.
It is a story of hard work, persistence and courage in the face of many difficulties, of robustly outspoken opinions on publishers, illustrators and critics, and of her love for travel in pursuit of backgrounds for her books.
Mabel Esther Allan died in 1998, having published over 170 books.