William Mayne

Who was William Mayne?

William James Carter Mayne was an English writer of children's fiction. The Oxford Companion to Children's Literature calls him one of the outstanding children's authors of the 20th century. The Times Literary Supplement reportedly called him "the most original good writer for young people in our time". The contemporary children's author Aidan Chambers calls him "notoriously little read by children and much read by adults", essentially an observer and watcher. The Guardian Children's Book Editor Julia Eccleshare calls him "one of the most highly regarded writers" and influential although "sometimes thought of as inaccessible for his young readers". He once said, "All I am doing is looking at things now and showing them to myself when young."