Annie Fellows Johnston (1863 1961) was an early 20th century writer of books for middle school aged readers. Her Little Colonel series comprised 13 books and was translated into over 40 different languages. The semi- biographical series tells the story of a young girl in the society of old Kentucky aristocracy. The main character of the stories is known as The Little Colonel. The author first met this five year old girl with the military attitude copied from her military grandfather and from that meeting was inspired to write the first book in the series. One of the stories was adapted for the movie The Little Colonel starring Shirley Temple.