Elfrida Vipont was the pen name

Pen name

A pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a pseudonym adopted by an author. A pen name may be used to make the author's name more distinctive, to disguise his or her gender, to distance an author from some or all of his or her works, to protect the author from retribution for his or her...

 of Elfrida Vipont Foulds (July 3, 1902-14 March 1992), a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 children's author. She was also a schoolteacher and a prominent member of the Society of Friends in England.

Parentage and education

She was born in Manchester in July 1902, the youngest daughter of Edward Vipont Brown (1863–1955), a General practitioner

General practitioner

A general practitioner is a medical practitioner who treats acute and chronic illnesses and provides preventive care and health education for all ages and both sexes. They have particular skills in treating people with multiple health issues and comorbidities...

 and Dorothy Brown (née Crowley) (1874–1968). Her parents were Quakers and she had two siblings. having served on this body from 1939. She retired from it in 1985. She also served on the Friends Service Council, the Friends Education Council, the Library Committee and the Friends Historical Society Executive Committee. She was also a long-serving member of the Ackworth School

Ackworth School

Ackworth School is an independent school located in the village of High Ackworth, near Pontefract, West Yorkshire, England. It is one of eight Quaker Schools in England. The school is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference and SHMIS . The Head is Kathryn Bell, who succeeded...

 Committee. She also served on the Committee that arranged for Quakers' annual gathering, "Yearly Meeting

Yearly Meeting

Yearly Meeting is a term used by members of the Religious Society of Friends, or Quakers, to refer to an organization composed of a collection of smaller, more frequent constituent meetings within a geographical area. These constituent meetings go by various names such as Quarterly Meetings, which...

", and assisting in the revision of the "Book of Discipline

Book of Discipline

A Book of Discipline or Book of Order is a book detailing the beliefs, practices, doctrines, laws, organisational structure and government of many Christian denominations...

".

Life

She tried a career as a singer. In 1926, she married a research technologist, R. Percy Foulds. They had four daughters and she started her writing career during their early years. She became a teacher and was Head of the Quaker School operated during the Second World War at Yealand Conyers

Yealand Conyers

Yealand Conyers is a village and civil parish in the English county of Lancashire. It is in the City of Lancaster district.-Community:The community is included in the same district as Yealand Redmayne and is south of Beetham.-Geography:...

.

Writing career

Her best-known books are The Lark in the Morn (1948) and The Lark on the Wing (1950), the latter of which won the Carnegie Medal

Carnegie Medal

The Carnegie Medal is a literary award established in 1936 in honour of Scottish philanthropist Andrew Carnegie and given annually to an outstanding book for children and young adults. It is awarded by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals...

 that year.

A picture book for young children, The Elephant and the Bad Baby (1969), with illustrations by Raymond Briggs

Raymond Briggs

Raymond Redvers Briggs is an English illustrator, cartoonist, graphic novelist, and author who has achieved critical and popular success among adults and children...

 has become globally popular. She wrote a number of books in the 'Gazelle' and 'Reindeer' series, for younger readers. The Elephant and the Bad Baby is a "cumulative story" with a "poetic feel", a common effect drawn from the picture-book format of the text. The story is about a baby who refuses to say please and goes romping through town on the back of an elephant while being chased by various townspeople.

Publications

• Ackworth School, from its foundation in 1779 to the introduction of co-education in 1946, Lutterworth Press, 1959.
• Arnold Rowntree: a life, Bannisdale Press, 1955.
• Bed in Hell, Hamilton, 1974.
• The Birthplace of Quakerism: a handbook for the 1652 country, 5th revised ed. Quaker Home Service, 1997.
• Bless This Day: a book of prayer for children, 1958.
• The Bridge, 1962.
• The Candle of the Lord, 1983.
• A Child of the Chapel Royal, illustrated by John Lawrence
  John Lawrence (illustrator)
  John Lawrence is an eminent English illustrator and wood engraver. He has twice won The Francis Williams Award for illustration , and twice been runner-up for the Kurt Emil - Maschler Award...
  
  , University Press, 1967.
• The China Dog, illustrated by Constance Marshall, H. Hamilton, 1967.
• Colin Writes to Friends House, Friends’ Book Centre, 1934.
• The Elephant and the Bad Baby, illustrations by Raymond Briggs, Hamilton, 1969.
• A Faith to Live By, 1962.
• The Family of Dowbiggins, illustrated by T. R. Freeman, Lutterworth Press, 1955.
• George Fox and the Valiant Sixty
  Valiant Sixty
  The Valiant Sixty were a group of early leaders and activists in the Religious Society of Friends . They were itinerant preachers, mostly from northern England who spread the ideas of the Friends during the second half of the Seventeenth Century, and were also called the First Publishers of Truth...
  
  , 1975.
• Good Adventure: The Quest for Music in Britain, 1931.
• The High Way, 1957.
• The Lark in the Morn, illustrated by T. R. Freeman, Oxford University Press, 1948.
• The Lark on the Wing, Oxford University Press, 1950.
• Larry Lopkins, illustrated by Pat Marriott, Hamish Hamilton, 1965.
• Let Your Lives Speak: a key to Quaker experience, Wallingford, Pennsylvania: Pendle Hill, 1953.
• A Lily among Thorns: some passages in the life of Margaret Fell
  Margaret Fell
  Margaret Fell or Margaret Fox was a founder of the Religious Society of Friends. Known popularly as the "mother of Quakerism", she is considered one of the Valiant Sixty early Quaker preachers and missionaries.-Life:...
  
   of Swarthmoor Hall, FHSC, 1950.
• Living in the Kingdom, 1955.
• Michael and the Dogs, 1969.
• The Pavilion, 1969.
• Quakerism - a Faith to Live By, Bannisdale Press, 1966.
• Rescue for Mittens, illustrated by Jane Paton, Hamish Hamilton, 1965.
• Search for a Song, illustrated by Peter Edwards. Oxford University Press, 1962.
• The Secret of Orra, with illustrations, Basil Blackwell, 1957.
• The Secret Passage, illustrated by Ian Ribbons, H. Hamilton, 1967.
• So Numerous a Family: 200 years of Quaker education at Ackworth, 1779-1979, with Edward H. Milligan
  Edward H. Milligan
  Edward Hyslop Milligan , also known as Ted Milligan, is a Quaker historian and the former librarian at Friends House, London. He is the author of The Biographical Dictionary of British Quakers in Commerce and Industry 1775-1920, which includes entries for some 2,800 people...
  
  , 1979.
• Some Christian Festivals - to which is appended a brief glossary of Christian terminology, Michael Joseph, London, 1963
• Sparks among the Stubble, illustrated by Patricia M. Lambe, Friends Home Service Committee, 1971. Originally published, London: Oxford University Press, 1950.
• The Spring of the Year, illustrated by T. R. Freeman, Oxford University Press, 1957.
• Stevie, illustrated by Raymond Briggs, Hamish Hamilton, 1965.
• The Story of Christianity in Britain, illustrated by Gaynor Chapman, Michael Joseph, 1960.
• The Story of Quakerism, etc. (2nd edition.) Bannisdale Press: London, 1960 (First published 1954).
• Terror by Night: a book of strange stories, 1966.
• Towards a High Attic: the early life of George Eliot
  George Eliot
  Mary Anne Evans , better known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, journalist and translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era...
  
  , Hamilton, 1970.
• Weaver of Dreams: the girlhood of Charlotte Brontë
  Charlotte Brontë
  Charlotte Brontë was an English novelist and poet, the eldest of the three Brontë sisters who survived into adulthood, whose novels are English literature standards...
  
  , Hamilton, 1966.
• What about Religion? illustrations by Peter Roberson, Museum Press, 1961.
• Why Young Friends? 1987.
• A Win for Henry Conyers, illustrated by T.R. Freeman, Hamilton, 1968. Originally published as More about Dowbiggins, 1958.

For a booklist organised by category, see Fantastic Fiction (accessed 7 December 2007)

External links

• Collecting Books and Magazines article on Elfrida Vipont, including extensive booklists.