Who Wrote Henry’s Book?

Hello Oncers! It is time to wake up the blog and get some good old fashioned theory debates going. Don’t be afraid to comment, but please follow Jeff and Colleen’s rules about giving “BIG LOVE” to everyone.

One of the main questions out there about OUAT is the origin story of “the book”. You must know I’m talking about “Henry’s Book”. We will approach this theory from 4 different vantage points which also are the 4 main theories out there.

— THIS JUST IN! —

Colleen has a GREAT Theory about Who Wrote Henry’s Book on our Snow Queen Main Show Ep 254. Listen to her Theory here: http://www.onceuponatimepodcast.com/254

Mary Margaret/Snow White

snow

The show tells us that Henry received the book from Mary Margaret. Mary Margaret is quoted as saying the following (not in order) about the book in the pilot episode:

“What do you think stories are for? These stories are classics. There’s a reason we all know them. They’re a way for us to deal with our world. A world that doesn’t always make sense.” Mary Margaret

“Look, I gave the book to him because I wanted Henry to have the most important thing anyone can have. Hope. Believing in even the possibility of a happy ending is a very powerful thing.” Mary Margaret

Mary Margaret’s comments are very interesting. She seems to not notice that the versions of the fairy tales in Henry’s book are nothing like the ones told in the real world. What is also interesting is that before Emma arrived in Storybrooke, Regina had no knowledge of the book. OUAT characters don’t seem to have all the knowledge about how they were represented in the real world’s fairy tales and we see a little bit of this realization in the 3rd season on the island. On Neverland, Rumple, Regina, and Hook learn that they are villains and that villains don’t get happy endings which goes against the norm of a fairy tale.

Mr. Gold/Rumpelstiltskin

rumpel1

Many believe that our favorite skin-challenged, part-time hero Rumple wrote the book. It would make sense because he was the one who made plans to have the curse enacted by Regina. It is possible that he wrote the book as a fail-safe in case Emma did not come to Storybrooke. He may have also written the book as a biography of The Enchanted Forest before losing his memories, or perhaps forcing the characters to complete his plans by giving them “Rumple-filed” histories.

August W. Booth/Pinocchio

august-ouat

Many believe that it was August who wrote the book. We were first introduced to August W. Booth in the episode “True North”. In the episode “7:15 AM” Emma questions August (We now now as young Pinocchio) about his box and August eventually shows her that it is his typewriter. This scene is very important because it is where this theory gets its strength. In this scene August eventually reveals to Emma that he is a writer; no other character thus far has defined themselves as a writer. We also see towards the end of the season that August finds and repairs the book. The idea that August would want to repair the book creates the illusion that he is the creator/author of the book because he knows it so well.

The Blue Fairy/Mother Superior/Reul Ghorm

bluefairy

Another crowd favorite is Blue. Blue goes by many names and whenever she is involved there is usually some mysterious magic not too far away. She is known as being one of the most powerful magical creatures in the Enchanted Forest, but yet she rarely displays this power unless asked for help. Many believe that blue is the writer of the book because in a flashback she stresses to Snow that in time their story will reveal itself to Emma. This statement at least acknowledges that Blue is aware of the book or aware that the book may be a part of the curse. In general, Blue seems to know a lot more about magic then she wants everyone else to know. Rumple learned about the curse when she slipped up and told him about it after he demanded she bring Baelfire back to him. Did she really slip up and tell Rumple about the curse? Many believe that Blue is actually the one running things behind the scenes and not Rumple.

My Theory:
I like the magic theory. I believe that the book itself is magical and that it updates itself as events happen. I also think the book could be following some similar storyline to the movie “The Pagemaster”.

Well those are my thoughts…..now what do you think?

Ro

42 thoughts on “Who Wrote Henry’s Book?

  1. Gabriel

    The mystery of the book is something I really hope they reveal in the next season, because it’s high time they let the Once audience know. My money is still on the Blue Fairy, because if I remember correctly, at one point in season 2 she said that she and the fairies had some “Last minute preparations” to see to before the Queen’s curse hit. They never revealed to us what those preparations were, so there’s a good chance she and the fairies created the book as a means to one day help the Savior study her past and the past of her fellow Enchanted Forest citizens, but instead the book ended up in Henry’s hands instead of the saviors.

    Reply
    1. Megan

      I would have to disagree on that last part a bit. Because not only did the book ended up in Henry’s hands, he was also the one who (1) found Emma, (2) brought her to Storybrooke, (3) gave her the book, and (4) got her to believe in magic to be able to fulfill her destiny as the savior. So it wasn’t just that the book ended up in Henry’s hands instead of the saviors(Emma), it was what was happening in, or to, Storybrooke after Henry had gotten the book from Mary Margret.

      Reply
  2. OnceFan

    I really hope the truth of the book is revealed. I don’t think Snow could be the writer. She begets magic, the product of true love, but she herself has no magical ability. The book clearly has magical properties that is evidenced in the episode in season 3 when Snow explained that she originally found the book in her closet. Emma looks in a box, under some things and does now see the book. I cannot recall the words Snow said, but she talks about believing and looks herself. The book revealed itself to her. Snow herself could not have vested that element into the book.

    Rumple writing the book or instilling the book as part of the curse is a possibility that is strengthened in the season 3 finale when Captain Swan show him the book and he understands the character of it, in that the stories have “unwritten” themselves. Further, the absence of his story, the past he would wish not to reveal, is key. Rumple age, predating every other story other than Pan, Killian, Bae and Reul Gorham, would allow him knowledge of all the others.

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  3. OnceFan

    However, the book is possibly writing itself. I personally would like to see that the Ruel Gorham and the fairies crafted the book placing it in Storybrook where some magic does exist – residual magic Regina used to make Jefferson hat work, the Dragon August and Tamera sought out, and, of course, the book.

    The Oz arc was not in the book, and Rumple was certainly a part of Zelena story.

    August having knowledge of the book and adding pages to it is an interesting twist, but he could not infuse the magic into it either. On a side note, isn’t it interesting that Jiminy was in the book but Pinocchio wasn’t?

    Reply
  4. Iheartonce

    I have a different theory. I think the owner of the sorcerer’s hat is writing the book. And i think that is merlin/yen sid who i think are same person.

    Reply
  5. Sharon D

    I think the author has something to do with the sorcerers apprentice and its writing itself..Hense it should write the pages with Henry working with Gold as “his” apprentice

    Reply
  6. Morgan rogers

    I Think that Walt Disney wrote it because at the end of the first episode of season 4 they show the hat of Yensid from Fantasia… Just a theory.

    Reply
  7. Anonymous

    Is it possible that Mother Goose wrote the book? They brought Little Bo Peep, another nursery rhyme character into the show. Maybe they’ll bring in others.

    Reply
  8. Mystery?

    I think if the book was wrote by someone and just made up then all of their stories are just fake and were just made up and whoever wrote it their imagination was so great the characters came to life and everything took place I would absolutely hate it if that was he case but that is probably not the case hopefully not but if someone did write the book it would have to be merlin or somebody powerfull with magic but another theory I have is that the magic from the enchanted Forrest compressed into one during the curse and formed the best thing possible in that situation a magical book with all the memories so the magic In the hat and the magic in the book could be linked

    Reply
  9. Manny

    My money is on Rumple first and then the Blue Fairy second, having commissioned it from Geppetto with Jiminy over his shoulder. It would also explain how August learned how to bind books as well. Whoever wrote Henry’s book had to have been precognitive to have illustrated in the book a drawing of Regina’s mausoleum that only exists in Storybrooke. The heart vault in her Dark Castle appears to be different. It lacks the triangle truss (that is in the drawing and on SB’s mausoleum) used in construction to form a roof that is needed for an outdoor structure that it would not need inside a castle. Screencaps of the castle vault, in FTL/EF do not show a triangle truss nor do they show the crest/emblem that sits in the middle of the triangle truss, on Regina’s Storybrooke mausoleum. Henry also recently used the illustration in his book to find Regina’s Storybrooke mausoleum. So the author of Henry’s book had to be precognitive, and had to have written it in FTL/EF because according to A&E nobody except Regina and Jefferson had their memories during the first 28 years of the Dark Curse. Gold didn’t get his memories til Emma arrived and Henry had already had the book for a month. Obviously, Peter Pan was a precog and anything is possible with that guy…….

    Reply
  10. Ruttman

    I think the person who wrote the book isn’t any of the characters we’ve seen in the show so far, but someone that seems to me be the logical choice, and that is Scheherazade from One Thousand and One Nights. Having told a thousand stories and kinda managing to make it into one big story, she would probably not have any problems with writing a book.

    Reply
  11. JM

    It wasn’t rumple. He would have written in Frankenstein, and Henry said that was nowhere in the book. That story involved Rumple and Regina, so minus those major players, and anyone connected to that story that the writer wasn’t familiar with.

    Whoever it was, they didn’t enter into StoryBrooke previous to Emma. No-one ever did. It originated in that town/curse.

    Reply
  12. Maxamil

    I have always thought that Henry exists or existed in a magic realm and wrote it for himself in the regular earth realm, as like a guide book or something. Awesome article really could have been anyone blue or August Booth seem likely. But yea idk why but keep picturing Henry being old n in a different realm writing it

    Reply
  13. Erin

    I think it is merlin who wrote the book. They have the “round table” they have mentioned Camelot and they have had Lancelot appear. Also the hat belongs to Mickey mouse. That’s my theory’s. Oh and it could also be a ” narrator” most stories have someone talking before it starts once upon a time ect they lived happily ever after.

    Reply
  14. Leah

    Maybe Emma wrote the book and everything we are seeing is just a little girl’s imagination who really is an orphan. Maybe these are all people that have come into her life that have made an impact in some way so she writes stories to give herself a better life. Maybe Mary Margret and David where foster parents to her and she was taken away from them by a social services agent and she is writing all these stories as a way of keeping her hope alive that she will make it back to Mary Margret and David. She is putting them all as the characters she sees them as. I mean every little girl dreams she was a princess. In this way she would truly be the only one who could write the characters their happy ending. Like it’s been said every child needs some hope maybe a younger Emma is writing the story to keep her own hope alive until she is once agian put with the only people who ever cared for her who somehow lost her.

    Maybe it is all just bedtime stories being told to a little girl. But hey if that’s not it lol then it could be August or the blue fairy.

    Reply
  15. nadine

    i know this sounds crazy, but what if it’s henry not henry now, but future henry who knows everything that has happens and finds away to go to the past and put the book there maybe with the help of someones magic. and when he knows that his mum needs a happy ending e writes a new page and brings it for robin to find. just saying. but i hope its not what some people are saying that its emma’s imagination in a story that she wrote, that would bust my feelings for this show

    Reply
  16. Katherine

    I think the book is magic and that it is somehow tied to Henry’s thoughts. This season, Henry is obsessed with believing that he isn’t “special” and now he and Regina are trying hard to figure out how she can have her happy ending. I think it’s possible that they’re all going to realize that since Henry is the one in Storybrook who is pure hearted, he’s the one that dictates its content. However, the book is constantly getting rewritten, too – remember when Robin found the page that shows what would have happened if they had met in that pub? This is before Henry’s time – so I am not sure how to explain that within the “Henry” theory. A theme that pops up in other literature is that the one who does the writing isn’t necessarily the one who dictates its content because the writer isn’t always pure of heart.

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  17. mickeys

    I agree with all of you. But have you guys watched season 3 episode 22 closely where Robin hood gets a note in his satchel, who else was with him in the library? I’ve watched it very closely, and my theory is what if the book was written by Peter pan from neverland, he needed the heart of the truest believer, he knew it would be henry long before henry was born. Another theory of mine is Blue is season 3 also Emma goes back to the past and she meets Blue no one knows her and hook, but Blue does. Thinking Blue wrote the book is a big yeah from me, but it has to be someone who travels the realms, who other than Jefferson can travel all the realms I know what you guys are thinking, Ariel of course, she travels everywhere, with just a swim. Its complicated guys, but the fact remains the book only helps Henry and Emma. Think about it Emma was snows first born she has powers, Henry is Emma’s first born and I’m hoping he will have powers two, the book was for him and Emma. Emma met a friend when she ran away as a little girl. This girl had a star tattoo or birthmark. I’m watching every episode all over again. Soon the writer will reveal itself because Bell is the only one who knows books better than anyone. She was set free to open the library, she will reveal the book where the page was torn out. And as for Pinochio please, we all know he was made of wood, his story would have been in the book if he hadn’t made silly choices as to leave Emma as a baby alone. That goes without saying. So he added his story because he is who he is he makes bad choices in his life, and he wanted things he can’t have like stealing the money Niel aka Belfire gave to Emma. I believe that this book is only meant for Henry and Emma. Yeah it protrays everyones happy ending and the villans bad choices, but its still only meant for Emma and Henry oh and Snow. She’s involved too.

    Reply
  18. melody

    I think it was the brothers grimm who wrote the book. It was either them or the possibility can be walt disney maybe by a long shot but in the beginning of the series neil mensions to mulan ahout the disney movvie baout her and if he didn’t wrote he bookhow did mickey’s sorcerer’s apprentice hat and broom showed up. So really my heart is set on walt disney.

    Reply
  19. Colin Raab

    I KNOW WHO WROTE THE BOOK! After today’s episode December 14, I figured out that Walt Disney is the author that Regina and Henry have been looking for. It just makes sense that Disney would write it.

    Reply
  20. Victoria

    I think it’s Walt Disney. It can’t be any character because a character can’t write their own story. Because if you write your story, you writing the story must be in the story. And it’s not. So therefore I think I its Walt Disney. On the other hand, The Grimm Brothers created most of these characters. So maybe it’s him. Either way it must be between Disney and the Grimm’s

    Reply
  21. Ian Mills

    I think that the Writer of the book is Henry. As a child he discovers the Writer is his future self, but lies and tells Regina he couldn’t find the author. When he grows up and he writes the book, which he knows off by heart so it’s the same. He keeps it the same so that he doesn’t mess up history. Then, to give Regina hope he puts the illustration of her and Robin in the library and hopes that it will make them be together. Henry did not know however that the picture was meant to be there, and he’s not actually changing time at all.

    Reply
  22. Dianca Rock

    Isn’t obvious to everyone. It’s most definitely Merlin. He’s the only one who could cross realms at will (Disney’s version), and he knew the future. Plus he was a great scholar. Not to mention Camelot and it’s artifacts were mentioned several times this season. The gaunlet glove, Rumples going over to Camelot, the wizards hat. It’s either Merlin, or he’s very good friends with the Grimm’s brothers.

    Reply
  23. Megan

    Has anyone considered Zelena as the author of the book? I know she probably isn’t, and that she is technically. But she is one of few in this show who can freely travel the realms (Via. slipper) and Rumpelstiltskin even says how amazing of a wizard she is. And she is trying to come up with a spell to time travel. Whose to say she hasn’t already time traveled? For all we know she has already been back in time and is now guiding her story along as she pleases. And I don’t know if I’m the only one, but do you really think Zelenas dead? She is so powerful that I wouldn’t doubt it if she feigned her own death.

    If that’s not it, then I’m with the people who think it’s Walt or Merlin.

    Reply
  24. Samantha

    I don’t have a clue who the author is but, I know where the door is.I believe, the door is in Jefferson’s hat.If you look at the walls on the picture it will match the walls in Jefferson’s hat.Watch “The Hat Trick” , and look at the walls.

    Reply
  25. Ronald C. Weiners

    I’ve been a pretty loyal fan of the show because it was just a pretty cool premise they built it on and being able to see the characters from so many different stories woven into one. However, I can honestly say that the Wicked Witch and Frozen ideas had steered me away from it since they were characters and stories I didn’t know well. This whole author mystery is really the only reason I am watching nowadays and it’s just quite the puzzle. Obviously everyone has had their guesses and who the hell even knows, but knowing how Kitsis and Horowitz write and tell stories, the answer to the storybook mystery is going to be an answer that was there all along. Well not all along, but I’d be willing to bet that once it’s revealed, we’re all going to be asking how we hadn’t seen it before. Those two usually start with a beginning story (the curse) and an idea on how to end it, then they fill in the blanks from there. Obviously some plot lines had to be tweaked or delayed when they got picked up for a 2nd, 3rd, and 4th season, but I personally believe it’ll be one of those “why didn’t I see it before?” type of things (something lame having to do with hope or the fact that we can all be responsible for our own destiny). I really hope I’m wrong because it would be cool to see an actual character behind the curtain

    Reply

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