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Try our Authors and Illustrators area for information about CLN members. There's an alphabetical list as well.
Our alphabetically-arranged Birthday Bios page features authors and illustrators, current and past, with short biographies.
We thank our author and illustrator biography researchers, volunteers who write these informative articles about authors and illustrators, past and present: Lois Thompson Bartholomew, Terri DeGezelle, Juli Friedberg, Heidi Grosch, Sydney Lange, Steve Mudd, Vicki Palmquist, Leslie Greaves Radloff, Karen Ritz, Mary Rude, Julie G. Schuster, Christina Semsch, Martha Valainis |
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Barbara Seuling was born in Brooklyn on July 22nd. Before the writing bug bit her she did many different jobs such as sewing quilts for money while in college, answering phones at the 1964 World's Fair, and finally, getting a job at Dell Publishing Company. She helped launch the Yearling paperback imprint, and workd as an editor at Delacorte Press Books for Young Readers and J.B. Lippincott Co. Later, she taught at the Bank Street College of Education, the Writer's Voice, and at the Institute of Children's Literature.
An editor came to Barbara and asked if she would collect freaky facts for him and the idea of Freaky Friday was born. Freaky Friday was Barbara's first book. The book that Barbara is most famous for is How to Write a Children's Book and Get It Published.
Barbara Seuling has written more than fifty books and still has time for a regular column in Once Upon a Time, a magazine we all know! Barbara has three different classes going, on-line, in New York, and in Vermont. She has two new books soon to come out from Holiday House: From Head To Toe: The Amazing Human Body and How It Works, and Flick A Switch: How Electricity Gets to Your House.
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Susan Eloise Hinton, who was born on July 22nd, published her first book when she was 17 years old. That book, The Outsiders, remains one of the best-selling children's books of all time. She was one of the first to write with gritty realism about the growing pains of teenagers. She has also written Rumble Fish; That Was Then, This is Now; Tex; Taming the Star Runner—all books for young adults. While her son was growing up, she wrote picture books, including Puppy Sister and Big David, Little David. Now that her son is in college, she is once again at her writer's desk.
S. E. Hinton was the recipient of the American Library Association's and School Library Journal's first annual Margaret A. Edwards Award, which honors authors whose "book or books, over a period of time, have been accepted by young people as an authentic voice that continues to illuminate their experiences and emotions, giving insight into their lives."
—Vicki Palmquist |
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"We are all emigrants from the same country—the land of childhood. What I want to do is write about the journey all of us have taken—or are in the process of taking—from that special place."
Patricia Calvert celebrates her birthday on July 22nd. She grew up in the mountains of Montana in what was "a magic world for any child, one in which lodgepole pines grew like arrows toward a sky that seemed always blue." Even though Ms. Calvert knew she wanted to be a writer when she was ten, it wasn't until her daughters were grown and had moved away from home and Ms. Calvert and her husband moved to Minnesota that she concentrated on her writing.
Among her books, The Snowbird and Yesterday's Daughter have both been named to ALA's Best Books for Young Adults list. Glennis, Before and After received a Christopher Award. Betrayed! (Atheneum) appeared in 2002 and Robert E. Peary: To the Top of the World (Benchmark) in 2001. Most recently, Ms. Calvert has been focusing on nonfiction writing, bringing us biographies of Zebulon Pike and Kit Carson, as well as The Ancient Celts.
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Sarah Sullivan was born on July 21st, in Fairmont, West Virginia. She moved with her family to Wilmington, Delaware, when she was three. At age eight, they all moved to Littleton, Colorado, where Sarah lived until she was sixteen. Her next move was back to Wilmington, where she graduated from high school and headed off to Tufts University for college. Sarah graduated from West Virginia University College of Law and practiced law as an attorney until the writing bug bit her with her first published piece in Chickadee magazine. She attended Vermont College of Fine Arts to receive her MFA in writing for children and young adults.
Sarah's first two books were published in 2005, both at Candlewick Press. Root Beer and Banana refers to two Popsicle flavors, but it is a story of choices. Illustrated by Greg Shed, it met with resounding reviews, and was chosen by Daniel Pinkwater "Old and New Storybook Favorites" in Wondertime magazine. Dear Baby: letters from your big brother was illustrated by Paul Meisel. It was praised for its unique way of preparing for an addition to the family.
Sarah is expecting another picture book soon, but she is also working on poetry and middle grade fiction.
An avid canoer and hiker, Sarah lives with her husband in West Virginia, where they frequently spend weekends with their grown children.
—Vicki Palmquist
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John Newbery, born on July 19, 1713, set up a bookshop and publishing house named The Bible and the Sun in London in 1744 and became one of the first to publish children's books. In 1781 his firm published the first collection of nursery rhymes associated with Mother Goose. A Pretty Little Pocket-Book and Little Goody Two Shoes were a couple of his other titles. In 1751, he began the first periodical designed for children, entitled The Lilliputian Magazine. John Newbery passed away in 1767. He is commemorated by the Newbery Medal, awarded annually since 1922 by the American Library Association for the most distinguished contribution to children's literature in the United States in the previous year. The Newbery Award was the first children's book award in the world. You'll also find original manuscripts and illustrations for books by past Newbery Award winners such as Christopher Paul Curtis, Carol Ryrie Brink, and Lois Lenski at the University of Minnesota's Kerlan Collection.
—Karen Ritz
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Born on July 19, 1916 in Philadelphia, poet Eve Merriam was also a playwright, director, and lecturer. She attended Cornell, the Universities of Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, and Columbia. Her first book was Family Circle, published in 1946. It was selected for the Yale Series of Younger Poets by Archibald MacLeish. Her book Inner City Mother Goose was the basis for a 1971 Broadway musical and Merriam called it "just about the most banned book in the country." She had a radio program about poetry and taught at City College in New York City. Eve Merriam died in 1992.
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Norma Sommerdorf was born on July 17th in a small Iowa town. She attended Bethel College and the University of Minnesota, receiving degrees from both institutions. History is a primary interest for her and Norma has had articles published in several noted historical publications. Her first picture book, An Elm Tree and Three Sisters, has been especially popular with children and seniors, both of whom identify with the sisters' strong love for a tree near their home. Based on a true story, Norma has regaled many groups with this touching story. Her next book, Red River Girl, a novel for middle-grade students, recounts the adventures of a girl whose family traveled the trails between Winnipeg and Saint Paul in the 1700s, bringing furs and trading goods. Her heroine's thirst for knowledge is central to the story.
Norma and her husband are the parents of four grown children and many students who have studied abroad and lived with their family. She has managed a travel agency, the Minnesota governor's residence, and a library.
—Vicki Palmquist
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Chris Crutcher, born on July 17th grew up in Cascade, Idaho. He graduated from Eastern Washington University, taught and directed alternative school before writing his first book, Running Loose, in 1982. He is the critically acclaimed author of six novels and a collection of short stories for teenagers, all chosen as ALA Best Books.
In 2000, he was awarded the American Library Association's Margaret A. Edwards Award, honoring his lifetime contributions in writing for teens. Drawing on his experience as an athlete, teacher, family therapist, and child protection specialist, he unflinchingly writes about real and often-ignored issues that face teenagers today. In 2002, his autobiography, King of the Mild Frontier was published to good reviews. His latest book is Deadline, a novel about a high school senior who discovers he has leukemia, has one year to live, and decides to keep it a secret. Crutcher lives in Spokane, Washington.
—Karen Ritz
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Karla Kuskin was born on July 17th in Manhattan, NY. She had no TV, electronic games, or brothers and sisters to distract her. So, she spent much of her time at the library across the street or entertained herself with reading, daydreaming, writing and drawing. In college she studied graphic design. She wrote Roar and More as one of her assignments. It became her first published book, followed by over 50 books, some in prose, others in poetry, and many including her own illustrations. She has two grown children, who are both photographers, and two grandchildren. She lives and works in her houses in Brooklyn Heights, NY and Arlington, VA, where she lives with her husband Bill Bell. Her book Moon, Have You Met My Mother? includes a great autobiographical poem.
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Arnold Adoff, born on July 16th, grew up in the East Bronx section of New York City where "books and food, recipes and political opinions, Jewish poetry and whether the dumplings would float on top of the soup" were equally important issues. "I read everything in the house," he says, "and then all I could carry home each week from the libraries I could reach on the Bronx buses."
For some years Arnold Adoff was a teacher and counselor in the public schools of Harlem and on the Upper West Side of New York. He was married to the children's author Virginia Hamilton. Adoff travels around the country giving workshops in schools, libraries, and colleges.
"By the time we reach adulthood, we are closed and set in our attitudes. The chances of a poet reaching us are very slim. But I can open a child's imagination, develop his appetite for poetry, and more importantly, show him that poetry is a natural part of everyday life. We all need someone to point out that the emperor is wearing no clothes. That's the poet's job."
Arnold Adoff is a poet, biographer, and anthologist. In 1988 he was given the National Council of Teachers of English Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children. He also received an American Library Association Notable citation for Street Music and an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults citation for Slow Dance Heartbreak Blues. Love Letters received a Blue Ribbon Award from the Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books and is a Riverbank Review Children's Book of Distinction. Some of his more than thirty books are: Hard to be Six, Chocolate Dreams, Greens, and Black is Brown is Tan.
—Martha Valainis
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Richard Egielski celebrates his birthday on July 16th. He was born in New York City and educated at the High School of Art and Design, Pratt Institute, and Parsons School of Design. While at Parsons, he took a course from Maurice Sendak, who convinced him that he had a natural disposition toward picture books. Egielski met Arthur Yorinks in an elevator at school, and they soon realized that their art and stories belonged together. Their first book, Sid and Sol, came out in 1977, illustrated with black and white drawings. A later project, Hey, Al, was awarded the Caldecott Medal in 1987. Buz, a tale about a boy who accidentally swallows a bug, is the first book he wrote and illustrated himself. It was chosen for the New York Times ten best illustrated list in 1995. One of his more recent books is The End, written by David LaRochelle. Egielski works on about two books a year, and, although he now always works in watercolor, Egielski varies the paper surface to achieve a different feel for each book. He lives in New Jersey with his wife, Denise, also an illustrator, and son, Ian.
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Margaret Cecile (Peggy) Parish was born on July 14, 1927 in South Carolina. After graduating from the University of South Carolina with a degree in English, she taught school in Texas, Kentucky, and in New York at the Dalton School for a number of years.
Her most loved series of books, Amelia Bedelia, were written because Ms. Parish was amused by how literally her students often answered her questions. She wrote many Amelia Bedelia books and did some interesting research for them. For example, when she wrote that Amelia Bedelia baked a sponge cake, Ms. Parish felt she had to know what would actually happen if someone baked a sponge—so she did. (It stayed spongy.) She moved back to South Carolina, writing thirty books, of which twelve were about Amelia Bedelia.
Although Peggy Parish died in 1988, many of her books are still in print.
—Vicki Palmquist |
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Ashley Bryan was born in New York City on July 13th and now lives on a small island off the coast of Maine, where he writes and illustrates books most of the year. A former teacher at Dartmouth College, he has compiled, written and illustrated numerous books, many of them African folktales, such as Ashley Bryan's African Tales, Uh Huh and The Story of Lightning and Thunder, and collections of spirituals such as All Night, All Day: A Child's First Book of African American Spirituals and What a Morning. His book Beat the Story Drum, Pum-Pum, received the Coretta Scott King Award for Illustration, and Lion and the Ostrich Chicks was a Coretta Scott King Honor Book. (from CBC)
—Vicki Palmquist |
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Born on July 13th, Marcia Brown was the daughter of a minister—one of three minister's daughters, growing up during the Great Depression. She was interested in medical school, but there wasn't enough money. Instead, she studied at New York State College for Teachers, majoring in English and drama. She taught high school for three years, but then she moved to New York City to pursue her dream of writing and illustrating children's books. She never took an art class, but during summers she worked at a resort hotel in Woodstock and there she studied with Judson Smith. Her first book was The Little Carousel (1946) and her second book was Stone Soup (1947), now considered to be a children's literature classic. She won her first Caldecott medal in 1954 when her translation of Cinderella was given top honors by the committee. Once a Mouse (1961) and Shadow (1982) received Brown's other two Caldecott medals, and she has been graced with six more Caldecott Honors. At this point, no other illustrator has equaled her record. Marcia Brown now lives on the West Coast where she is studying Chinese art.
—Vicki Palmquist
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Born on July 13, 1904, Isaac Bashevis Singer lived in Poland, in towns both small and large, with his father, a Hasidic rabbi, and his mother, the daughter of a rabbi. Storytelling was a large part of their family life, so it wasn't surprising when Mr. Singer developed a fondness for working with books. He studied at a Rabbinical Seminary and supplemented his income by teaching Hebrew.
In 1923, Mr. Singer moved to Warsaw, where he worked as a proofreader for the Literarische Bleter. He also translated German books by Thomas Mann, Erich Marie Remarque, and Knut Hamsun into Yiddish. He was associate editor of Globus magazine from 1933 to 1935.
His first book was, Satan in Goray, was published in 1932. It told the 17th century story of a false messiah and the cultural fervor that arose around those who believed in the man.
In 1935, Singer wished to work and live away from the rising anti-Semitism in Poland, so he emigrated to New York City. He became a citizen of the United States in 1943. His first book in English, Gimpel the Fool, was published in 1957. Beloved for his many books, Singer was elected to the National Institute of Arts and Letters in 1964, at that time its only member who wrote in a language other than English. Movies based on Singer's books are The Magician of Lublin, Yentl, and Enemies: a Love Story, the latter being somewhat autobiographical.
Many books were published for children containing Mr. Singer's work, among them Stories for Children, Zlateh the Goat (illustrated by Maurice Sendak), and Why Noah Chose the Dove (illustrated by Eric Carle).
A true treasure of the world at large, Mr. Singer passed away in 1991, on July 24th, at the age of 88.
—Vicki Palmquist
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