The Dawnchild
By Beryl Irving | Restored paperback edition
A lost 1920s children’s fantasy, restored
First published by Faber & Gwyer in 1926, The Dawnchild follows lonely seven-year-old Mignonette - Mig - as she is drawn out of an unhappy home by the mysterious Dawnchild and carried toward Dawnland, with cruel Cousin Belinda and the Umpis in pursuit.
The book has the strange, luminous quality readers remember from childhood: magical, moral, sometimes a little frightening, and full of images that stay in the mind. Online recollections of the old hardback keep returning to the same feeling - a cherished book read in childhood, lost, searched for, and remembered for decades.
Why readers remember it
- A quest story about loneliness, courage, malice, and the longing for happiness
- Original illustrations by Beryl Irving, whose style has been compared with Jessie M. King
- A rare Faber & Gwyer first edition that became difficult to find in ordinary bookshops
- A family-reading book with an unusually strong afterlife in readers’ memories
What people have said
Children’s author Vivian French remembered it as “a truly amazing fantasy story”. Other readers have described the book as a little scary, magical, and impossible to forget, with several accounts of families trying for years to replace a lost childhood copy.
About this edition
This Irving Books edition restores Beryl Irving’s 1926 story for modern readers and collectors, with the original illustrations reproduced inside. It is for readers of early twentieth-century children’s fantasy, illustrated books, and family archive titles that deserve not to disappear.
About Beryl Irving
Beryl Irving (1896-1965) was an author, illustrator, and broadcaster. She wrote and illustrated children’s books including The Dawnchild and later contributed illustrations to family and archive works including Good Food and Royal Navalese.