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After narrowly escaping their deaths, the young siblings Alan and Jane set out for the safe and loving embrace of Toyland. Overcoming living dolls, a malicious Master Toymaker, and even their own Uncle Barnaby¿the children pursue their happily ever after and never lose hope, no matter the trouble that comes their way.
About the author
Anna Alice Chapin (1880-1920) was an American writer and playwright who mainly focused on creating fairy tales and other stories for children. After receiving a private education in music throughout her childhood, Chapin published her first work, The Story of the Rhinegold (1897), at seventeen. In 1904, Chapin collaborated with Glen MacDonough to produce what became arguably her most famous work: a children’s book adaptation of the operetta Babes in Toyland. She continued to write until her death, due to a short illness in 1920 and Glen MacDonough (1870-1924) was originally an American journalist, but after quickly progressing in status, he turned his attention to writing plays, his true passion. MacDonough wrote several plays before collaborating with Anna Alice Chapin to create Babes in Toyland, which became one of, if not the most, famous works of both their careers. In 1914 he became one of the founding members of The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers and continued to write until his death ten years later.
Summary
Based on the operetta that popularized the “fairytale show,” for stage, Babes in Toyland (1904) is Anna Alice Chapin and Glen MacDonough’s classic tale of adventure, fantasy, and a bit of Christmas magic that has charmed readers and audiences alike for over a century. Alan and Jane have been living with their Uncle Barnaby ever since their mother died some odd years ago. They are fortunate, he likes to remind them, to have even the smallest amounts of food and the nicest of soft beds given that most orphans of the world are without uncles to shelter them—yet while this humble life is enough for the children, it is a miserable existence for Barnaby who secretly plots to do away with the siblings and pocket their inheritance for himself. Sending them off to be shipwrecked, the unsuspecting children climb aboard a vessel with Gonzorgo and Roderigo and are abandoned at sea; surviving only by the grace of the good sea spirits and rescued by a sea-traveling band of gypsies. Having narrowly escaped death, Alan and Jane accept that they have no place with Uncle Barnaby and begin on an exciting adventure that—after a series of unfortunate events—leads them to the whimsical Toyland and an unusual Master Toymaker.Anna Alice Chapin and Glen MacDonough’s Babes in Toyland weaves the characters and stories from the Mother Goose nursery rhymes into a wonderfully unique fairytale filled that is sure to delight readers of all ages.
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