Barbara C. Freeman (1906–1999)

Barbara C. Freeman was born in Ealing, near London, the daughter of William Freeman, a writer and secondhand book dealer, and his wife Lucy. She was educated at the Tiffin Girls' School, Kingston-upon-Thames, and attended Kingston School of Art. In 1926, she went to work as a painter for Green & Abbott, a London wallpaper studio, and later turned freelancer, often working on annuals such as Blackie's Children's Annual. She specialized in fairy tales and was often engaged to illustrate collections of classic stories by the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen, as well as more modern stories. She also produced illustrations for The Children's Encyclopedia, and for works such as The Cuckoo Book (1942) by Edith Mary Bell and The Treasure Hunters (1958) by Enid Blyton.

By the 1956, she had begun writing and illustrating her own books for children and young adults. These included Two-Thumb Thomas (1961), A Book by Georgina (1962), Broom-Adelaide (1963),
The Name on the Glass (1964),
The Other Face (1975), A Haunting Air (1976), and A Pocket of Silence (1978). Her books are no longer in print, but some of her illustrations are still available as posters and art prints.