It’s the birthday of Norman Lindsay (1879-1969), an Australian artist, author, and political cartoonist who wrote and illustrated the classic children’s book The Magic Pudding, which in 2018 celebrated its 100th birthday. Lindsay was born in Creswick, Victoria, Australia, and started drawing for newspapers at 16, ultimately becoming the chief cartoonist at the Sydney Bulletin. [...]
It’s the birthday of Jane Yolen (b. 1939), best known for her picture book Owl Moon (1987), which won illustrator John Schoenherr the Caldecott Medal in 1988. Yolen has written over 300 books for both children and adults, which is, you know, more than everybody else combined. Yolen was born in New York City. Her [...]
Susan’s Almanac Project for January 29, 2019 It’s the birthday of author, illustrator, and screenwriter Bill Peet (1915-2002), who spent 27 years working for Walt Disney (with whom he famously clashed again and again) and also wrote over 30 children’s books, which sold in the millions. Peet was born in Grandview, Indiana. His father was [...]
Susan’s Almanac Project for November 27, 2018 It’s the birthday of noted children’s book author and illustrator Kevin Henkes (b. 1960), whose books have won numerous awards, including a Caldecott Medal for Kitten’s First Full Moon (2004). Henkes was born in Racine, Wisconsin, the fourth of five children, an experience he credits with teaching him [...]
It’s the birthday of the woman who wrote: On the outskirts of a tiny little town was a neglected garden. In the garden stood an old house, and in that house lived Pippi Longstocking. She was nine years old, and she lived there all alone. She had no mother or father, which was [...]
It’s the birthday of Edward Stratemeyer (1862-1930), prolific author of children’s books and the founder of Stratemeyer Literary Syndicate, which brought out a number of wildly popular children’s series and changed the world of children’s publishing. Stratemeyer was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, to German immigrants; his father was a tobacconist. Stratemeyer had a printing [...]
It’s the birthday of E.B. White (1899-1985), best known for his classic children’s novel Charlotte’s Web (1952) and for The Elements of Style (published privately in 1919 by William Strunk, expanded and revised in 1959 by White), both of which have sold millions of copies. Elwyn Brooks White was born in Mount Vernon, New York, [...]
It’s the birthday of two 19th century writers best known today for their children’s books: Charles Kingsley (1819-1875), known for The Water-Babies (1863), and Johanna (Heusser) Spyri (1827-1901), known for Heidi (1881). If you google them, you will find formidably Victorian images, Kingsley sporting those disturbing long sideburns and Spyri wearing a high ruffled collar [...]
It’s the birthday of a number of interesting poets and authors, one of whom is Aleksandr Pushkin (1799-1837), considered Russia’s greatest poet. Pushkin had a turbulent political and personal life, living in exile for several years because of his political views, and his masterpiece, Evgeny Onegin (1833), features a character who dies in a duel—foreshadowing [...]
It’s the birthday of one of the best-selling children’s book authors of all time, Margaret Wise Brown (1910-1952), who wrote The Runaway Bunny (1942), Goodnight Moon (1947), and over 100 other books in her very short lifetime. Brown was born in Brooklyn, New York, to wealthy but emotionally and/or physically absent parents. Her mother was [...]
It’s the birthday of two authors who have each written a ton of books for children and young adults: Eloise Greenfield (1929) and Gary Paulsen (1939). Greenfield was born in Parmele, North Carolina, and raised in Washington, D.C., where her family moved because of the Great Depression. She has warm memories of growing up in [...]
It’s the birthday of artist and children’s book author and illustrator Oliver Jeffers (1977), whose bestselling picture books have sold more than 10 million copies. If there’s a child in your life, you’ve probably heard of How to Catch a Star (2004), Lost and Found (2005), The Incredible Book Eating Boy (2006), Stuck (2011)… Jeffers [...]