Helen Cresswell (1934 - 2005) wrote many children's books and addapted for television. I enjoyed this obituary of her. The part about her being hospitalised for a year with spinal problems at age 12 and the role of books and learning in that as a formative influence is fascinating. I was having a lovely conversation with Ben Harris on twitter the other day about times of illness being formative in children's reading and this seems a particularly extreme example of that.