Humpty Dumpty
His most-played retelling on Academy Voices.
5 min · read by Claire Shadrawy
0:00
1:02
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Author
W. W. Denslow
The illustrator of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and his own picture books.
1856–1915 Children's StorySci-Fi
About
Who was W. W. Denslow?
W. W. Denslow was the American illustrator who first drew the Land of Oz, and the creator of a series of bright, funny picture books of nursery rhymes and fairy tales.
His life
William Wallace Denslow was born in Philadelphia in 1856 and worked as a newspaper artist and poster designer in Chicago, where he met L. Frank Baum.
Oz and his picture books
Denslow drew the pictures for The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in 1900, and his Dorothy, Scarecrow and Tin Woodman defined how Oz looked for a generation. He shared the rights, and the two fell out. He then made his own picture books, Denslow's Mother Goose and a series of retold fairy tales and rhymes such as Jack and the Beanstalk and The Three Bears, full of his bold color and jokes. He died in New York in 1915.
New to W. W. Denslow?
Start here
Humpty Dumpty
His most-played retelling on Academy Voices.
5 min · read by Claire Shadrawy 
Denslow's Jack and the Beanstalk
The beanstalk, the giant and the hen that lays golden eggs.
13 min · read by Claire Shadrawy
0:00
1:53
Denslow's Three Little Kittens
The nursery rhyme, with Denslow's playful twists.
8 min · read by Claire Shadrawy
0:00
2:16
Audiobooks
Listen to W. W. Denslow
Denlow's Mother Goose
Narrated by Claire Shadrawy
Old favorites come to life in this collection of Mother Goose nursery rhymes, the verses children have been reciting for generations. Humpty Dumpty, Jack and Jill and the...
0:00
1:24
Denslow's Jack and the Beanstalk
Narrated by Claire Shadrawy
Jack trades the family cow for a handful of beans, and overnight a beanstalk grows into the sky. Up above the clouds Jack meets a giant who once cheated his family. In W....
0:00
1:53
Denslow's Night Before Christmas
Narrated by Claire Shadrawy
It is Christmas Eve, and everyone in the house is asleep, not even a mouse is stirring. Then there is a clatter on the roof, and St. Nick arrives with his reindeer and a...
0:00
2:10
Denslow's Red Riding Hood
Narrated by Claire Shadrawy
A girl in a red hood is sent through the woods to take food to her grandmother. On the way she meets a wolf. He asks where she is going, and he has a plan. W. W. Denslow'...
0:00
1:14
Denslow's The Three Bears
Narrated by Claire Shadrawy
A little girl called Golden Hair wanders into a house in the woods, where she tries three bowls of porridge, three chairs and three beds. Then the owners come home. They...
0:00
1:20
Denslow's Three Little Kittens
Narrated by Claire Shadrawy
Three little kittens lose their mittens, and their mother is cross. They look high and low and finally find them. Then they have to wash them. W. W. Denslow, best known a...
0:00
2:16
Humpty Dumpty
Narrated by Claire Shadrawy
Everyone knows the rhyme. W. W. Denslow, the illustrator of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, made the famous egg the star of his own playful picture book in the early 1900s. R...
0:00
1:02
Scarecrow and the Tin Man
Narrated by Claire Shadrawy
The Scarecrow and the Tin Man are stars of a stage show, and they are tired. They have worked for two years without a day off. One afternoon they slip out the stage door...
0:00
3:02
Life in dates
W. W. Denslow's life
- 1856
Born in Philadelphia.
- 1900
Illustrates The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
- 1901
Denslow's Mother Goose.
- 1903
Begins Denslow's Picture Books series.
- 1915
Dies in New York City.
Questions
Questions about W. W. Denslow
Who was W. W. Denslow?
The illustrator of the first Oz book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900), and the author of his own picture books.
Did Denslow write his books?
He retold the rhymes and fairy tales himself and drew all the pictures.
Are Denslow's books good for young children?
Yes. They are short, funny retellings of nursery rhymes and fairy tales.
Where can I listen to W. W. Denslow audiobooks narrated by real people?
Academy Voices has 12 W. W. Denslow audiobooks, each performed by a real narrator, with a free sample on every one. Every recording is Certified Human Voice.
Reviewed October 2026 by the Academy Voices team. Sources: Wikipedia, Wikidata .
Keep listening
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L. Frank BaumThe author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and thirteen more O...
Beatrix PotterThe creator of Peter Rabbit, who wrote and painted her own l...
Jacob and Wilhelm GrimmThe German brothers who collected Cinderella, Snow White and...
Andrew LangThe Scottish writer who collected the world's fairy tales in...
The voices
Narrators who voiced W. W. Denslow's books
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