Hans Christian Andersen (Dinamarca, 1805) fue un hombre de origen humilde y formación esencialmente autodidacta. Aun así, como escritor abarcó todos los géneros literarios: novela, cuento, libros de viajes, poesía, teatro, aunque su importancia radica fundamentalmente en los cuentos de hadas, en los que fusiona lo sobrenatural con lo cotidiano. Inspirándose en tradiciones populares y narraciones mitológicas, así como en experiencias personales, escribió más de 150 cuentos protagonizados por personajes de la vida diaria, héroes míticos, animales y objetos animados. Sus obras han sido traducidas a más de 80 idiomas y han sido adaptadas a teatro, ballet, cine, y representadas en esculturas y pinturas. En su honor, desde 1956 se concede, cada dos años, el Premio Hans Christian Andersen.

Louisa May Alcott nació en Germantown, Pensilvania, en 1832 y murió en Boston en 1888. De su vasta obra literaria destacan tres clásicos de la literatura: Mujercitas (1868-1869), Hombrecitos (1871) y Los muchachos de Jo (1886). Otras obras de L. M. Alcott, publicadas póstumamente, son Un moderno Mefistófeles, Un susurro en la oscuridad y ésta, La herencia.

Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896) was a famed abolitionist and author. In 1851, she received $400 (a great sum in her day) for a serialized version of her novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin, which went on to be the bestselling novel of the 19th century and the second most-sold book, behind The Bible. The novel's portrayal of slavery is credited as a catalyst for the slavery debate in the years preceding the Civil War.

John Milton (1608–1674) was an English poet, polemicist, man of letters, and civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under its Council of State and later under Oliver Cromwell. He wrote at a time of religious flux and political upheaval, and is best known for his epic poem Paradise Lost (1667), written in blank verse. Milton's poetry and prose reflect deep personal convictions, a passion for freedom and self-determination, and the urgent issues and political turbulence of his day.

José María de Pereda (Polanco, 1833-Santander, 1906) es, dentro del panorama narrativo del siglo XIX, el máximo representante del realismo costumbrista. Sus novelas y cuentos reflejan con extraordinaria vitalidad las costumbres de su tierra, Santander, y el sentir de sus gentes y tradiciones. Entre sus obras más conocidas encontramos varias que representan el tópico del beatus ille: Escenas montañesas (1864), El sabor de la tierruca (1882), Sotileza (1885), Peñas arriba (1895), La puchera (1889); pero también otras como De tal palo tal astilla (1880) o Pedro Sánchez (1895), testimonio de la Revolución de 1854. Fue miembro de la Real Academia Española desde 1896.

Joseph Rudyard Kipling (Bombay, 1865-Londres, 1936), autor de relatos y cuentos infantiles, novelista y poeta, se le recordará, sobre todo, por sus obras infantiles. Entre ellas, destacan El libro de la Selva (1894), el relato corto El hombre que pudo ser rey (1888), la novela de espionaje Kim (1901), y Puck de la colina de Pook (1906), algunos de ellos, llevados al cine. Después de rechazar el premio nacional de poesía Poet Laureat en 1895, la Order of Merit y el título de Sir de la Order of the British Empire, Kipling aceptó el Premio Nobel de Literatura de 1907 convirtiéndose en el ganador más joven hasta la fecha de este premio, y en el primer escritor británico en recibir este galardón.

Kenneth Grahame (8 de marzo de 1859 – 6 de julio de 1932) fue un escritor escocés, principalmente conocido por sus libros El viento en los sauces (1908) y The Reluctant Dragon (1898), ambos libros fueron llevados al cine por Disney.

Willa Cather nació en Winchester (Virginia) en 1876, de una familia de origen irlandés, y pasó su infancia en Nebraska, en los años de la primera gran colonización de inmigrantes checos y escandinavos. Siempre activa y de espíritu independiente, estudió en la Universidad de Nebraska, donde se presentó, vestida de hombre, con el nombre de William Cather. Fue viajera, periodista, maestra, dirigió revistas; vivió durante cuarenta años con su compañera, Edith Lewis; y, cuando hubo ahorrado lo suficiente, se dedicó exclusivamente a la literatura. Admiradora de Flaubert y Henry James, así como de Turguéniev, Conrad y Stephen Crane, su primera novela, Alexander’s Bridge, se publicó en 1912. Al año siguiente, con Pioneros (ALBA CLÁSICA núm. L) introdujo el que habría de ser uno de sus temas centrales: el mundo vitalista de los colonos en el que transcurrió su infancia. A ésta siguieron otras novelas como Mi Ántonia (1918; ALBA CLÁSICA núm. XXXV), One of Ours (1922), que mereció el premio Pulitzer, La muerte y el arzobispo (1927), Shadows on the Rock (1931) o Lucy Gayheart (1935; ALBA CLÁSICA núm. ) y algunas exquisitas nouvelles como Una dama extraviada (1923; ALBA CLÁSICA núm. LX) o Mi enemigo mortal (1926; ALBA CLÁSICA núm. XXXII), ejemplos de un modo de escribir complejo y personal que se ganaría la admiración de escritores como William Faulkner y Truman Capote. Es autora asimismo de un gran número de relatos, reunidos en Los libros de cuentos (ALBA CLÁSICA MAIOR núm. ), y de un delicioso libro de recuerdos y ensayos, Para mayores de cuarenta (1936; ALBA CLÁSICA núm. LV). Murió en Nueva York en 1947.

Lucy Maud Montgomery (1874-1942) fue una escritora canadiense, reconocida por la serie de novelas Ana de las Tejas Verdes, saga que le proporcionó éxito inmediato y que no tardó en convertirse en un superventas internacional. Montgomery también es la autora de la trilogía de novelas Emily y de numerosas colecciones de relatos cortos.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882). One of Americas best loved poets, Longfellow drew on his own experience of domestic tragedy to produce some of the most moving and honest poems ever written.

Robert Louis Stevenson (Edimburgo, Gran Bretaña, 1850 – Vailima, Samoa, 1894), hijo de un dominante constructor de faros, tuvo desde niño varias crisis pulmonares que le llevaron a una constante y nostálgica peregrinación en busca de climas más cálidos, hasta que en 1888 embarca hacia los mares del Sur y se establece en Samoa con su mujer, cumpliendo así el sueño de su corta vida. Sus estudios de náutica, que más tarde abandonaría por los de derecho, le permitieron entrar en contacto con las gentes y costumbres marineras, ingredientes fundamentales en algunas de sus obras más conocidas, como La isla del tesoro, La flecha negra o El extraño caso del Dr. Jekyll y Mr. Hyde.

William Dean Howells (1837-1920) was an American novelist and critic. He edited the Atlantic Monthly from 1871-1881, where he championed literary realism and advanced the careers of such important American writers as Mark Twain, Stephen Crane, and Henry James. His best known novel is The Rise of Silas Lapham (1885).

Margery Williams Bianco, who published under the pen name Margery Williams, was an English-American author of children's books best known for her enduring classic, The Velveteen Rabbit, or How Toys Become Real. Born in London, England, Williams spent most of her youth in the Unites States, returning to London at the age of nineteen hoping become a published author. While some of her novels and children's books were printed, including her 1902 novel for adult audiences, The Late Returning, none of these early works gained much recognition. Williams' commercial success came only after her return to the United States with the 1922 publication of The Velveteen Rabbit, or How Toys Become Real, which was an instant success. Williams continued to write for the remainder of her life, eventually penning more than 20 titles before her death in 1944.

Robert Lee Frost fue un poeta estadounidense. Su trabajo se publicó inicialmente en Inglaterra antes de que se publicara en los Estados Unidos.

Hesba Stretton (1832-1911) was the pen name of an English gentlewoman named Sarah Smith. She became a contributor to All Year Round when her sister, without Sarah's knowledge, submitted a piece that Dickens accepted for publication. She is most well known for having written a book in 1866 called Jessica's First Prayer, which had sold by the end of the 19th century over a million and a half copies! She died in 1911.

Santa was born a long, long time ago; really nobody knows how long ago. He was born in the North Pole, and he never left. But one night a year he travels North to South and East to West, And then back to home, where it's always the best. His father's name is Father Christmas, and he is the one who brought us Christmas. Like all the beautiful Christmas trees are green, the robe he is wearing is also green. His Mother's name is Mother Snow; She is the one who dresses the winter in a beautiful big blanket of snow. Santa has a big heart, and he gives to everybody all that he can. He leaves us all the presents we like because he knows us all so well. Once morning arrives, it takes us no time to unwrap all our gifts very fast. But I'm sure you are all familiar with this story from your years past. Of course, Santa went to school like every one of you. You can probably easily guess what his favorite subject was. It was in geography class which he excelled, and did so well. He knows all the countries on the map, without the use of Google map. Santa also has a sweet tooth, that is why he cannot say no to your goody, especially your Christmas cookie. But when you see him, don't you dare call him jelly-belly, just because of his big belly! Santa likes every animal, and every little creature he can speak with, and he is excited to share some of his animal adventures with you today in his new book Why Animals Love Santa.

Born in Philadelphia, in 1856, Kate Douglas Wiggin lived in Maine, New York City, Santa Barbara, and San Francisco. Having received her education in many forms including ‘dame school,’ home study, and female seminary, she was only in her twenties when she set up the first free kindergarten on the West Coast of America, in San Francisco. While her mission was in the field of child education, her children's books remain popular even today. Before editing this delightful selection of ten of the best-known tales from The Arabian Nights, she was also known for Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1903) and wrote many other works for children as well as adults, including The Birds' Christmas Carol, Timothy's Quest, Penelope's Progress, and Penelope's English Experiences. In 1904, she received an honorary degree from Bowdoin College. She died in England, in 1923.

William J. Locke (1863-1930) once said, “I believe half the unhappiness in life comes from people being afraid to go straight at things." Besides The Red Planet, his The Fortunate Youth, Simon the Jester, and Jaffery were also top-ten bestsellers in the 1910s.

Boyhood friends Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe discovered an interest in folktales in common, and were inspired by the German Grimm brothers to collect and publish their favorite homeland tales. The first volume of collected Norwegian Folktales was published in 1845, and became exceedingly popular. Asbjørnsen was born in 1812 in Christiana (Oslo) and became a teacher. Moe was born on a farm in Ringerike, and continued his family trade.

John Masefield (1878--1967) was an English poet and writer, and Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 1930 until his death. He is remembered as the author of the classic children's novels The Midnight Folk and The Box of Delights, two novels Captain Margaret and Multitude and Solitude and a great deal of poetry, including his anthology Saltwater Ballads.

William Henry davies was a welsh poet and writer. He was also a traveller and adventurer, often living on his wits as a tramp and itinerant labourer. After a serious accident while attempting to board a train in eastern Canada while on the way to the Klondike Gold Fields he returned to London and began to write. He would become one of the most popular poets of his time with his work championed by both Edward Thomas and George Bernard Shaw.