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Common Knowledge

Legal name: Uttley, Alice Jane Taylor
Birthdate: 1884-12-17
Date of death: 1976-05-07
Gender: female
Education: Lea Board School, Holloway
Lady Manners Grammar School, Bakewell
Owen’s College, Manchester University
Lady’s Training College, Cambridge
Occupations: children's book author
teacher
suffragette
Awards and honors: Honorary Doctorate of Letters, University of Manchester, 1970
Blue Plaque
Relationships: Uttley, James Arthur (husband)
Uttley, John (son)
Taylor, Henry (father)
MacDonald, Ramsay (friend)
Taylor, Hannah (mother)
Judd, Denis (biographer)
Short biography: Alison Uttley was the pen name of Alice Jane Taylor, born and raised in rural Derbyshire. She was educated at a local grammar school and at Manchester University, where she became only the second woman honors graduate. She did postgraduate studies at Cambridge to qualify as a teacher. In 1911, she married James Uttley, a scientist. After her husband’s suicide, she took up writing to support herself and her son under the name Alison Uttley and produced the popular work The Country Child (1931), a fictionalized account of her own childhood, illustrated by C.F. Tunnicliffe. Although she also wrote for adults, her best remembered works are her stories for children, for whom she invented the beloved characters of Little Red Fox, Little Grey Rabbit, Sam Pig, Little Brown Mouse, and Brock the Badger, among others. She was a prolific writer and published more than 100 books, including the classic A Traveller in Time (1939). She wrote about 20 volumes of memoirs as well as her autobiography, Ambush of Young Days (1951).
Nationality: UK
Birthplace: Cromford, Derbyshire, England, UK
Places of residence: Derbyshire, England, UK
Fulham, London, England, UK
Bowden, Cheshire, England
Knutsford, Cheshire, England, UK
Place of death: Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England, UK
Burial location: Holy Trinity Churchyard, Penn, Buckinghamshire, England, UK
Associated Place (for map): England, UK

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52 reviews

JanelleBailey 1,424 reviews

Tales of Little Grey Rabbit by Alison Uttley

I disliked this book quite a lot. It lacked the charm I usually find in stories for young children featuring animals.

I objected particularly to one section where the Little Grey Rabbit went to the Wise Owl for advice. The price the Wise Owl charged for this advice was Little Grey Rabbit’s tail. The Little Grey Rabbit was very upset about losing her tail, but she really needed advice so she allowed the owl to cut it off. The owl then hung it on his door as a door knocker. The book went on show more to say that he had a heart because he put a spider web on the stump where the tail had been to make it feel better.

Later in the story the Little Grey Rabbit was talking to another character about the sad loss of her tail. The Little Grey Rabbit told the character not to do anything about it that would make the Wise Owl her enemy. Because the owl was her friend. The Wise Owl refused to give the Little Grey Rabbit her tail back until the other character gave the owl something better to use as a door knocker.

That’s one of the most distasteful storylines I’ve ever read in a children’s book, especially a book that’s written for young children. It’s just warped. A person who hurts you is not your friend. And they aren’t a wise person to go to for advice. The owl features prominently throughout the story as someone the characters turn to for advice and help. But they are afraid of him, and he always exacts a price for his advice. He’s not anyone’s friend, he’s a bully, and teaching kids that’s okay is a problem. show less

Oct 11, 2025

john257hopper 2,266 reviews

A Traveller in Time (A Puffin Book) by Alison Uttley

My third consecutive classic children's book, which I am reading as a lighter contrast to the current grim reality. This is also a timeslip/imaginative work like Penelope Lively's A Stitch in Time, but this time moving between the present day (which on internal evidence must be 1907, though the book was published in 1939) and Elizabethan England of 1582. In both time periods the setting is the fictional estate of Thackers in Derbyshire, a farm in the 20th century and in the 16th century one show more of the estates of Anthony Babington, a Catholic plotter who sought the release from captivity of Mary, Queen of Scots and her placement on the English throne. Penelope Taberner, staying there with her great aunt and great uncle, soon discovers she can pass from one time period to the other, but cannot control when it happens. The writing is very good, with a great feel for the colour, warmth and detail of life at Thackers in both time periods. This is a moody and atmospheric novel, with the transfers between time periods feeling dream-like/flow of consciousness, such that I sometimes forgot which time period I was in (which I think was the point). The actual plot to rescue Mary from her captivity at nearby (historical) Wingfield manor and hide her at Thackers is only a small part of the narrative. I am fairly sure I read this novel as a child in the late 70s/early 80s (though in my memory it was shorter than its 400 pages here) and also think I watched a 1978 TV adaptation, though I remember no details. show less

Mar 27, 202023 other reviews

muumi 1,781 reviews

Rainbow tales by Alison Uttley

"Eleven tales which capture the magic and beauty of the [English] countryside" says the back cover blurb. This is true, but an understatement. Uttley is one of the very few authors who can create new and original stories out of the ancient strands of folklore without becoming derivative or unauthentic. Each story is a treasure.

Jun 1, 2014 (Edited)

cbl_tn 2,096 reviews

A traveller in time by Alison Uttley

Worried about her youngest daughter’s health, Mrs. Cameron arranges for all three of her children – Alison, Ian, and Penelope – to stay with her elderly aunt and uncle on the Derbyshire farm where she herself was raised. All of the children, and especially Penelope, soon take to the rhythms of country life. However, it isn’t as restful for Penelope as the adults hoped. Penelope finds she has the ability to slip between past and present. She spends more and more time in 16th century show more Thackers, the country home of Anthony Babington, whom Penelope knows is destined to be executed for his role in plotting the escape of Mary, Queen of Scots. Penelope feels herself caught between the two worlds, as tragedy draws ever closer for her 16th century friends and Penelope is powerless to change the outcome.

This book combines many elements that I love, including old houses with secret passages and time travel into the past. The time travel element reminds me very much of Daphne du Maurier’s The House on the Strand, with past and present coexisting in the same physical space for the time traveler. The descriptions of the house, its furnishings, the farm buildings, and the landscape are vivid enough that I could easily picture them in my mind. The continuity between past and present, with furniture and tools in use over many generations of the farm’s inhabitants, will resonate with family historians who either cherish physical objects passed down in their own family or who mourn their lack. show less

Jan 9, 202223 other reviews

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