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Iona (born 1923) and Peter Opie (1918-1982) began their research together in 1944 and are noted authorities in the field of chidren's lore and literature. Fifteen years later they published The Lore and Language of Schoolchildren and took their places as, to quote The Guardian, 'the supreme archivists of the folklore movement.' Since that time, they have jointly published The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes, The Classic Fairy Tales, and Children's Game in Street and Playground. Since Peter Opie's death in 1982, Iona Opie has carried on with their work under his name as well as their own. Their collection of children's literature is now housed at the Bodleian Library at Oxford University.
The Opies, professors of literature and essentially folklorists, did something path-breaking: they observed children and took their play seriously...The Lore and Language of Schoolchildren reminds us that children are their own beings who create and navigate complicated social worlds, and the way they do so is worthy of respect and understanding. -Hilary Levey Friedman, Brain, Child Magazine
