Eleanor Farjeon (1881–1965) is regarded as one of this country’s finest writers of poems and stories for children. In 1956 she was awarded both the Carnegie Medal and the Hans Christian Andersen International Medal; her hymn “Morning Has Broken” is a favourite around the world. Eleanor lived for many years in a little village called Houghton. The children of the village used to gather outside her cottage to play their favourite skipping games, and one day Eleanor went and asked them to recite their rhymes for her. These rhymes, which have been passed down from generation to generation, can be found word-for-word in Elsie Piddock Skips in her Sleep.
