Like her celebrated aunt, Anna Laetitia Barbauld, Lucy Aikin felt a strong interest in providing accessible and suitable books for children. Her interest in providing proper literary models for young people to follow is evident in Poetry for Children: Consisting of Short Pieces To Be Committed to Memory (1801) and her engaging Juvenile Correspondence (1811), which espoused a more intimate, relaxed style for young writers than the typical models of the day. The versatility of Aikin's writing is reflected in the different genres she attempted: historical biography, fiction, poetry, letters, and the curious adaptations of classic literature published posthumously under the name Mary Godolphin.

Born in Warrington, England, on 6 November 1781, Lucy Aikin enjoyed all the opportunities and advantages of growing up in a literary family. She was the daughter of Dr. John Aikin, author and physician, and Martha Jennings Aikin, a cousin to John. Family influences were always to be...