|
A |
VICTOR APPLETON,
pseudonym for Howard R. Garis (1873-1962).
American author best known for his Uncle Wiggly
series featuring the gentleman rabbit with floppy ears in
top coat and hat. He also penned the majority of the
Tom Swift stories under his pseudonym "Victor
Appleton". Available titles
|
|
WILLIAM ARDEN, pseudonym for
Dennis Lynds (1924-2005). website
With the declining health of The Three
Investigators series' original author, Robert Arthur, he
was the first of several writers tasked with continuing the series.
He wrote the following titles in the series:
#10 The Mystery of the Moaning Cave - 1968; #12 The Mystery of the
Laughing Shadow - 1969;
#13 The Secret of the Crooked Cat - 1970; #18 The Mystery of the
Shrinking House - 1972; #19 The Secret of Phantom Lake - 1973; #22 The
Mystery of the Dead Man's Riddle - 1974; #25 The Mystery of the Dancing
Devil - 1976; #26 The Mystery of the Headless Horse - 1977; #28 The
Mystery of the Deadly Double - 1978; #30 The Secret of Shark Reef -
1979; #33 The Mystery of the Purple Pirate - 1982; #38 The Mystery of
the Smashing Glass - 1984; #42 The Mystery of Wreckers' Rock - 1986; and
Crimebusters #1: Hot Wheels - 1989.
Available titles
|
ROBERT ARTHUR, Jr.
(1909-1969).
He was a mystery writer known for The Mysterious
Traveler radio series and his Three
Investigators series of novels. He is frequently
confused with the film producer Robert Arthur, who was nine
days older than mystery writer Robert Arthur, Jr.
Robert Arthur, Jr. wrote a number of mystery books,
mostly for children, and he also worked on the anthology
television series Alfred Hitchcock Presents.
In the 1950s and 1960s, as an uncredited ghost editor,
Arthur anonymously compiled more than a dozen anthologies of
mystery, suspense and supernatural stories which were
purportedly edited by Alfred Hitchcock; these books were
authorized by the real Hitchcock but were entirely edited by
Arthur, who typically included at least one of his own
stories in most of the anthologies in addition to
ghostwriting for each book a foreword allegedly authored by
Hitchcock.
Arthur, along with his writing partner David Kogan, was
twice honored by the Mystery Writers of America with an
Edgar Award for Best Radio Drama: In 1950, for Murder
by Experts, and again in 1953, for The
Mysterious Traveler. Robert Arthur, Jr. died in
Philadelphia in 1969.
|
|
FRANK ASCH
Though he is most known for his
Moonbear picture books, Frank Asch has
written in almost every category of children's literature including
poetry, concept books, juvenile nonfiction, and children's novels. His
first picture book, George's Store
, (McGraw-Hill) was published in 1968. Since graduating from Cooper
Union in 1969 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, Mr., Asch has travelled
widely in the U.S. and abroad, taught public school in India and in a
Montessori school in the U.S. and has conducted art, writing, puppetry,
and creative dramatics workshops for children all over the country.
In 1976 Mr. Asch and his wife started their own
children's theatre called The Belly Buttons . In 1979, their
son Devin was born. In 1981 the Asch's moved to Vermont where they
became part of a home schooling community. Frank started a puppet club
with his son and his friends that performed in public schools.
In l989, Mr. Asch and Vladimir Vagin of the U.S.S.R.
published Here Comes the Cat , which was the first
Soviet/American collaboration on a children's book. Here Comes the Cat
has received wide recognition in the U.S. and was awarded the Russian
National Book Award.
More recently Mr. Asch has teamed up with naturalist/photographer, Ted
Levin for a series of poetry books for children illustrated with full
color photographs. Their first book, Sawgrass Poems was named
to the John Burroughs List of Nature Books for Young Readers for 1996.
Their second book, Cactus Poems won the same award in 1998.
Devin began his involvement in the illustration of
Mr. Asch's stories with Moonbear's Pet in 1997, in which he
first introduced the use of the computer for the colorization of the art
work. By 1999, Mr. Asch was using the computer to illustrate all of his
books. More recently, Mr. Asch has returned once again to writing longer
books for young readers with a new series entitled Class Pets.
The series has four books, the first of which is entitled The Ghost
of P.S. 42. Besides writing and illustrating books, Mr. Asch enjoys
working with children and adults and is currently creating family
centered programs in his newly renovated barn/studio. He is also
experimenting with short animations like Dear Moonbear. Frank
and Jan Asch live in Vermont with their dog, Robi. Devin lives in
Los Angeles.
|
|
REV. W. AWDRY
Awdry was born in Romsey, Hampshire, England in 1911.
The son of a clergyman, he was educated at Dauntseys School,
West Lavington, Wiltshire; St Peter's Hall, Oxford (BA,
1932), and Wycliffe Hall, Oxford. He was ordained into the
Anglican priesthood in 1936. In 1938 he married Margaret
Wale, and two years later took a curacy in St. Nicholas'
Church, Kings Norton, Birmingham where he lived until 1946.
He subsequently moved to Cambridgeshire, serving as Rector
of Elsworth with Knapwell, 1946-53, and Vicar of Emneth,
1953-65. He retired from full-time ministry in 1965, and
moved to Stroud, Gloucestershire.
The characters that would make Awdry famous, and the
first stories featuring them, were invented in 1943 to amuse
his son Christopher during a bout of measles. After he wrote
The Three Railway Engines
Christopher wanted a model of Gordon; however that was too
difficult. Instead Awdry made a model of a tank engine from
odds and ends and painted it blue. Christopher christened
the model engine Thomas. Then Christopher requested stories
about Thomas and these duly followed and were published in
the famous book Thomas the Tank
Engine released in 1946.
The first book (The Three Railway Engines) was
published in 1945, and by the time Awdry stopped writing in
1972, The Railway Series
numbered 26 books. Christopher subsequently added further
books to the series. Awdry's enthusiasm for railways
did not stop at his publications. He was involved in railway
preservation, and built model railways which he took to
exhibitions around the country.
Awdry wrote other books besides those of The Railway
Series, both fiction and non-fiction. The story
Belinda the Beetle
was about a red car (it became a Volkswagen Beetle only in
the illustrations to the paperback editions). Wilbert
Awdry was awarded an OBE in the 1996 New Year’s Honours
List, but by that time his health had deteriorated and he
was unable to travel to London. He died peacefully in
Stroud, Gloucestershire on 21 March 1997, at the age of 85.
He is interred at Gloucester Crematorium.
A biography entitled The
Thomas the Tank Engine Man was written by
Brian Sibley and published in 1995.
|
|
B |
|
JUDY BAER website
Judy was born and grew up on a farm on the prairies of North Dakota. An
only child, she spent most of her days with imaginary people-either
those she read about or those she made up in her head. Her most
ambitious conjuring did not succeed, however. She kept a clean stall
with hay and oats for the horse she imagined would come but
unfortunately, it never did. As an adult, however, she managed to make
that dream come true and raised foundation quarter horses and buffalo
for some years. A voracious reader, Judy learned to read with comic
books, anything from Little Lulu and Superman to the Rawhide Kid. She
sold her first story for $10.00 to a farm magazine. She still has the
$10.00.
She
graduated from Concordia College, Moorhead, Minnesota with a major in
English and education and a minor in religion. At the time, she was
simply studying what interested her, but now realizes that she was
educating herself for her future career as an inspirational Christian
romance writer.
Judy wanted to write for Harlequin even in high school
but it wasn't until her youngest child learned to say "No" that she
realized that she'd better consider a second career to fall back on when
mothering was done. Her first book was written with her little girl on
her lap. Judy would type a few words, say "Now, Jennifer," at which time
her daughter would hit the space bar before Judy continued typing. It
wasn't the fastest way to work, but it offered a lot of mother-daughter
time together. An over-achiever, she's written 71 books for various
publishers. The mother of two and step-mother of three, she now has lots
of family to enjoy.
In 2001, she went back to school and became a certified
professional life coach. Currently she is working on her Master's in
Human Development in the areas of writing, coaching and spirituality and
writing inspirational Chick Lit which, she says, is the most fun she's
ever had writing.
|
|
BEN M. BAGLIO
"I was born in New York, in 1960. I spent much of my
childhood in a small town in New Jersey, about 10 miles
from Philadelphia. I was the only boy in a family with
three sisters. Since my parents wouldn't give me a
brother, I thought I'd settle for a dog. Mom and Dad
took a lot of persuading, but finally my parents agreed
to get me a black puppy called Nero. I thought I'd be
able to train him to be an amazing rescue dog, but all I
could ever get Nero to do was sit, speak, and give me
his paw! No search and retrieval, no discovering buried
treasure or even leaping his way around an obstacle
course — although he was very good at making food
disappear quickly. I loved him, whatever he did."
"I spent a lot of my childhood reading; I'd read
anything from cereal boxes to Charles Dickens. English
was always my favorite subject, and when I graduated
from high school I decided to study English Literature
at the University of Pennsylvania. As part of my
coursework, I was lucky enough to spend a year in
Edinburgh, Scotland, and I really enjoyed living in
Great Britain."
"After graduation, I started to work as a children's
book editor in New York City. I edited all kinds of
books — sports stories, mysteries, teen romances, and
even a series called Sweet Valley High, which was a big
success. Five years later, a job at publishing house in
England became available and next thing I knew I was
living in Great Britain again!"
"I continued to edit children's books for a few more
years, and then decided to try and develop a book series
of my own — but I wasn't sure what I wanted it to be
about. I had always loved animals — dogs, cats, horses,
everything — and by then I had kittens of my own, two
Russian Blues called Benjamin and Peter. One day a
friend of mine asked where they were, and I said 'in the
kitchen.' Suddenly an idea had occurred to me — Kittens
in the Kitchen. Wouldn't that make a good title for a
first book in an animal series? My friend and I spent
hours thinking of other titles — Puppies in the Pantry,
Goat in the Garden, Piglet in a Playpen. The list seemed
almost endless!"
"That's when I started to create the characters of
Mandy Hope and James Hunter, and their adventures in the
Animal Ark
series. The books originally were published in England
(under the pseudonym Lucy Daniels)and have since gone on
to be published in the USA and translated into 15
languages. There's even been a live-action television
series in England!"
"Aside from writing, I enjoy all kinds of sports,
including scuba diving and swimming, music and movies. I
regularly receive fan mail from Animal Ark readers all
around the world, and I would welcome hearing from any
readers from my home country."
"Mandy and James and all the characters in
Animal Ark have
become very real to me, and I hope they become real for
you, too."
|
|
LYNNE REID BANKS
British author of books for children and adults. She
has written forty books, including the best-selling
children's novel The Indian in
the Cupboard, which has sold over 10 million
copies and been made into a film.
She was born in London in 1929, the only child of James
and Muriel Reid Banks. She was evacuated to Saskatoon,
Saskatchewan, Canada during World War II but returned after
the war was over. She attended St Teresa's School in Surrey.
Prior to becoming a writer Banks was an actress, and also
worked as a television journalist in Britain, one of the
first women to do so. Her first novel, The L-Shaped Room,
was published in 1960, and was an instant
and lasting best seller.
In 1962 Banks emigrated to Israel, where she taught for
eight years on an Israeli kibbutz Yasur. In 1965 she married
Chaim Stephenson, a sculptor, with whom she had three sons.
Although the family returned to England in 1971 and Banks
now lives in Dorset with her husband, the influence of her
time in Israel can be seen in some of her books (including
One More River and its sequel, Broken Bridge -
and other books such as An End to Running and
Children at the Gate) which are set partially or mainly
on kibbutzim.
|
|
L. FRANK BAUM
Lyman Frank Baum was born in Chittenango, New York. His
father was the oil magnate Benjamin Ward Baum and mother
Cynthia (Stanton) Baum, a women's rights activist. Baum grew
up with his seven brothers and sisters on a large estate
just north of Syracuse. "The cool but sun-kissed mansion . .
. was built in a quaint yet pretty fashion, with many wings
and gables and broad verandas on every side," Baum later
wrote in Dot and Tot in
Fairyland (1901). The house, although it was
large, did not have running water.
Until the age of twelve, Baum was privately tutored at home.
In the late 1860s, he spent two years at Peekskill Military
Academy, where he learned to loathe the rigid discipline. In
1873 Baum became a reporter on the New York World.
Two years later he founded the New Era weekly in
Pennsylvania. He was a poultry farmer with B.W. Baum and
Son, and edited Poultry Record and wrote columns for
New York Farmer and Dairyman. Baum's father
owned a string of theatres and Baum left journalism to earn
his living as an actor.
In New York he acted as George Brooks with May Roberts
and the Sterling Comedy in plays which he had written. He
owned an opera house in 1882-83, and toured with his own
repertory company. In 1882 he married Maud Gage; they had
four sons.
Baum returned in 1883 to Syracuse to the family oil
business and worked as a salesman in Baum's Ever-Ready
Castorine axle grease. His own endeavor was not successful
- Baum's Bazaar general store
failed in South Dakota, and the family's fortunes took a
downturn. From 1888 to 1890 he ran the Aberdeen Saturday
Pioneer. He moved to Chicago, and tried sales positions.
In 1897 he founded National Association of Window Trimmers
and edited Show Window from 1897 to 1902.
Baum made his debut as a novelist with
Mother Goose in Prose
(1897), based on stories told to his own children. Its
last chapter introduced the farm-girl Dorothy. In the
preface Baum wrote that he wanted to create modern
fairy tales, and not scare children like the Brothers Grimm
did. "Modern education includes morality; therefore the
modern child seeks only entertainment in its wonder tales
and gladly dispenses with all disagreeable incident."
Over the next 19 years Baum produced 62 books, most of
them for children. In 1899 appeared
Father Goose: His Book, which quickly
became a best-seller. Baum's next work was
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,
a story of little Dorothy from Kansas, who is transported
with her dog Toto by a "twister" to a magical realm. The
book, illustrated and decorated by W.W. Denslow, was
published at Baum's own expense and sold 90,000 copies in
the first two years. Upon his success, Baum moved to
California, where he produced sequels for the rest of his
life. Under the pen name "Edith Van Dyne" he published 24
books for girls, and as "Floyd Akers" he wrote six books for
boys. "Schuyler Staunton" was reserved for the novels The
Fate of the Clown (1905) and Daughter of Destiny
(1906). |
|
|
CLAIR F. BEE
|
Born: 1896 in Grafton, WV, died: 1983.
In the 1930s and 1940s, Clair Bee was synonymous with
the game of basketball. A New York icon, Bee helped to make
college basketball in the Big Apple a major event. Coaching
eighteen seasons at Long Island University, Bee led LIU to
NIT championships in 1939 and 1941. Under Bee, LIU became a
national power, winning 43 consecutive games, including
undefeated seasons in 1935-36 and 1938-39. Postseason, LIU
played annual tournaments with homegrown talent. And, when
the home team competed at Madison Square Garden, the fans
went wild. Called the game's greatest defensive strategist
by his contemporaries, Bee developed the 1-3-1 zone defense
and was very influential in the implementation of the
3-second rule.
Bee was a frequent contributor to a variety of sporting
publications and authored the critically acclaimed
Chip Hilton's Sports Stories for
Young People.
|
|
|
STAN, JAN and MICHAEL BERENSTAIN website
|
|
JEANNE BETANCOURT
website
Author of Pony Pals
series
|
|
JOHN BLAINE
Pseudonym used by Peter J. Harkins and Harold
Leland Goodwin to write the Rick Brant
Science Adventures.
Harold Leland Goodwin, an author who
wrote science-adventure books for children and
books about space exploration, died in 1990. He
was 75 years old and lived in Bethesda, Md.
Mr. Goodwin, who sometimes wrote under the
pseudonym John Blaine, worked at various times
for the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration and the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration. His largest work was
the ''Rick Brant Science-Adventure Series,'' a
26-volume series for children. The first book,
''Rocket's Shadow,'' was published in 1947 and
the most recent, ''The Magic Talisman,'' in
1990.
|
|
JUDY BLUME
website
|
|
ENID BLYTON
website
British author of Famous
Five, Secret Seven,
Adventurous Four,
Five Find-Outers, Noddy
series
|
|
MICHAEL BOND
Michael Bond was born in Newbury, Berkshire, England on
13th January 1926. He was educated at Presentation College, Reading.
During World War II Michael Bond served in both the Royal Air Force and
the Middlesex Regiment of the British Army. He began writing in
1945 and sold his first short story to a magazine called London Opinion.
This experience helped him decide that he wanted to be a writer.
Michael Bond never thought of writing for children but,
after producing a number of short stories and radio plays, his agent
suggested that he adapt a television play for children. His first book,
A Bear Called Paddington, was
published in 1958 by William Collins & Sons (now HarperCollins
Publishers). At the time, Michael Bond was working as a television
cameraman for the BBC.
After the first Paddington book was accepted, Michael
Bond went on to write a whole series and by 1967 his books were so
successful that that he was able to give up his job with the BBC in
order to become a full-time writer. In 1997 Michael Bond was
awarded to OBE for services to children’s literature. He is married with
two adult children and lives in London, not far from Paddington Station.
|
|
MADELINE BRANDEIS
Madeline Brandeis was an early film writer, producer
and director. Among movies she directed is The Star Prince (1918) a
silent film in which the Star Prince falls to earth to be raised by a
woodcutter. Among the silent films made by her production company,
Madeline Brandeis Productions, is The Shining Adventure (1925). She also
wrote a series of books about Children of All
Lands and Children of America,
including The Little Indian Weaver, The Wee Scotch Piper, The Little
Dutch Tulip Girl, Little John of New England, and The Little Swiss Wood
Carver. Little Jeanne of France (1929), for example, is illustrated with
photos taken by Ms. Brandeis in France.
|
FRANKLIN M. BRANLEY
Dr. Franklyn M. Branley was Astronomer Emeritus and
former Chairman of the American Museum-Hayden Planetarium. In 1960, he
originated the Let's-Read-and-Find-Out
science series. Dr. Branley was the author of over 150
science books for children
|
|
MARC BROWN
Marc was born in 1946 in Erie, Pennsylvania. He writes
as well as illustrates his books. He is best-known for the
Arthur series and its spin-offs. He
currently lives in Hingham, Massachusetts. The names of his two sons,
Tolon and Tucker, have been hidden in all of the Arthur books except for
one. He also has a daughter named Eliza, whose name appears hidden in at
least one book. He is also a Daytime Emmy award winner. The "Arthur"
show was named number 1 on PBS for three years. (1997, 2000, 2001)
|
|
|
|
BONNIE BRYANT
She is an American author of children's and young adult
books. She is best known for authoring the intermediate horse book
series
The Saddle Club, which was published by Bantam Books from
October 1988 until November 2001.
|
|
THORNTON W. BURGESS
American author (1874-1965), naturalist and
conservationist, wrote popular children's stories including the
Old Mother West Wind (1910)
series. He would go on to write more than 100 books and thousands of
short-stories during his lifetime.
His mother was Caroline F. Haywood. His father, a
travelling salesman, Thornton Waldo Burgess Sr. died when Thornton Jr.
was an infant. No doubt the watery and rugged environs of the Cape and
his exposure to the wildlife of the area created a lasting impression on
Burgess when he was young. He spent much time exploring the flora and
fauna, fishing and picking berries. When he was working to help support
himself and his mother, one of his employers owned property near the
Discovery Hill Road wildlife habitat which would become the inspiration
for such future settings as Smiling Pool and Old Briar Patch.
After he graduated from the Sandwich High School in
1891, Burgess moved to Boston to attend Business College. Whilst taking
odd jobs he got some exposure for his writing and his initiation into
the publishing world came when a jingle and some short satires he wrote
were used by the advertising trade magazine Brains. He also
became a reporter for the Springfield Homestead. Collier's
and Good Housekeeping also accepted some of his work. In 1905 he
and Nina E. Osborne (1881-1906) married, with whom he'd have a son. She
died a year later, leaving Burgess with the task of raising him on his
own, though he also spent much time with relatives. While his son was
away on such a visit he got the idea of putting to paper the bedtime
stories he created for him, so his relatives could read them to him. His
stories were soon in demand among friends and relatives, and at their
urging Burgess submitted them to Good Housekeeping.
Peter Rabbit and friends came to life in his 1910
collection of stories Old Mother West Wind. It was
followed by Mother West Wind's
Children (1911) and
Mother West Wind's Neighbours (1913).
Though not as successful, The
Boy Scouts of Woodcraft Camp (1912) was
published with three volumes to follow. Fannie P. Johnson,
who had two sons, and Burgess married in 1911. Harrison Cady
(1877-1970), a life-long friend of Burgess' would illustrate
his works. After Good Housekeeping was sold, Burgess
moved on to writing prolifically for the New York Tribune
syndicate as a freelancer. His daily newspaper column
"Bedtime Stories", with such characters as Peter Rabbit,
Jimmy Skunk, Bobby Raccoon, Joe Otter, Grandfather Frog,
Jerry Muskrat, and Spotty the Turtle were soon being read in
homes all over America. With lessons to be learned about
life and the natural world around them, they are very much
like the children that loved them, with families and
conflicts, adventures and much fun to be had by all. Most of
Burgess's works would be translated to French, Swedish,
Chinese, German, Spanish, Italian, and Gaelic.
Burgess was a master at telling charming stories of
well-dressed loveable creatures that
captivated little boys and girls, but there
is a very real and authentic tone to his
works. He was an avid supporter of wildlife
preservation and protection programs. For
instance the Green Meadow Clubs and the
Radio Nature League, a popular weekly radio
show he started in 1924, was aimed at
educating and creating awareness of animal
and environmental issues that are just as
relevant today. In 1925 he moved to Hampden,
Massachusetts. He was awarded an Honorary
doctorate in Literature on 20 June 1938 from
Northeastern University. The Boston Museum
of Science bestowed upon him a special gold
medal "for leading children down the path
to the wide wonderful world of the
outdoors." His last publication was
Now I Remember (1960), a memoir focusing
on his early days in Sandwich and his life
as a writer. He died on 5 June 1965 at the
age of 91. He is buried in the Springfield
Cemetery in Springfield, Hampden County,
Massachusetts, alongside his first wife
Nina.
|
|
|
|
C
JOANNA CAMPBELL
website
Writer of
Thoroughbred series
|
|
LEWIS CARROLL (pseudonym of Charles
Lutwidge Dodgson), 1832-1898, English author, mathematician, and
Anglican clergyman wrote Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865).
At the time Charles was born his father was curate at
All Saints’ Church in Daresbury but in 1843 the family moved
to the Croft Rectory in Richmondshire, North Yorkshire. The
children’s education started at home and young Charles, who
wanted to be like his father, was enrolled at the Richmond
public school as a boarder. Starting at the age of fourteen
he attended Rugby School in Warwickshire until 1849. They
were mostly unmemorable years for Dodgson—he caught whooping
cough and a case of the mumps. But he was exceptionally
gifted and, like his father, excelled in mathematics and won
many prizes. He also loved literature and studied such
authors as John Bunyan, William Shakespeare and John Ruskin
and went on to appreciate many others like Charles Dickens,
George Eliot, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Elizabeth Gaskell,
and Lord Alfred Tennyson, who also became a friend. He
expressed his creativity in writing poetry and short stories
for his own magazines including The Rectory Umbrella
which his siblings read to great amusement. The year after
he matriculated to Christ Church College (the same as his
father’s) and moved to Oxford University (1851) his mother
Frances died—her sister Lucy Lutwidge (1805-1880) then moved
in to the Rectory to help care for Charles’ younger
siblings.
Dodgson was determined to succeed and approached his
education avidly: he earned his B.A. in 1854 with First
Class Honours in mathematics, Second in Classics, and in
1857 graduated with an M.A. Again, following in his father’s
footsteps, Dodgson was appointed Mathematical Lecturer at
Oxford, a position he held from 1856 to 1881. Around the
time of his appointment a new Dean came to Christ Church,
Henry Liddell and his wife Lorina and their children Harry,
Lorina, Edith and Alice. They all became great friends to
Dodgson and were often subjects for his photography as well
as his own family and Tennyson’s, Scottish author George
MacDonald’s, and Dante Gabriel Rossetti and his family. They
went on outings together, including rowing on the rivers
Thames and Isis near Oxford. Dodgson, who loved to tease and
joke, entertained the children by drawing pictures and
telling them stories including the beginnings of his
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
Dodgson clearly had a love and respect for the young sharp
minds who laughed at his stories and shared his sense of
humour.
Dodgson also loved the theatre and often made the short
trip to London with friends to visit art galleries and
museums. Teaching provided a stable income for him and as a
respected teacher he also published under his name Dodgson
numerous textbooks on math including Two Books of Euclid
(1860), Elementary Treatise on Determinants (1867),
Examples in Arithmetic (1874), and Curiosa
Mathematica, Part I: A New Theory of Parallels (1888).
Dodgson was curator of the Common Room at Christ Church
for many years, and while much of his time was taken up with
campus life and attending lectures, teaching was often
mundane and hardly gave outlet to his creativity. Soon he
was submitting humorous short stories and poems to various
magazines for publication including the Oxford Critic,
The Comic Times and the Whitby Gazette. In
1856 he started using his pseudonym ‘Lewis Carroll’ an
anglicised form of his given name: ‘Lewis’ being an
anglicised form of ‘Ludovicus’ and Latin for Lutwidge; and
‘Carroll’ anglicised from ‘Carolus’, Latin for Charles.
After taking holy orders, including the commitment not
to marry, Dodgson became deacon in 1861 in Christ Church
Cathedral. He assisted in services for many years but at
times had difficulty reading aloud certain combinations of
letters that caused hesitations in his speech. However he
was never fully ordained a priest for he was not interested
in the full-time ministration of a parish; it would take
time away from his busy social life, hobbies and cultural
pursuits. He liked to take holidays and practice his
photography in various parts of the country with family and
friends like fellow Oxford Alumnus Doctor Reginald Southey
(1835-1899). He was also beginning to write. Encouraged by
his friends he put pen to paper and composed his Alice
stories. They were published in 1865 to much success, with
illustrations by John Tenniel.
In 1867 Carroll travelled through Europe and Russia
with preacher and friend from Oxford, Henry Parry Liddon
(1829-1890). The same year his father died, 1868, his
siblings moved to ‘The Chestnuts’ in Guildford, Surrey. With
over ten years’ worth of poems Carroll published his first
major collection as Phantasmagoria in 1869. His epic
nonsense poem “The Hunting of the Snark” was published in
1876. In 1871 Carroll’s sequel to
Alice, Through
the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There
appeared, including another famous poem “Jabberwocky”.
Carroll’s humorous play Euclid and his modern rivals
was published in 1879.
In 1881 Carroll resigned his lectureship at Oxford in
order to focus on his writing. His first of many works on
voting theory The Principles of Parliamentary
Representation (1884) was followed by A Tangled Tale
(1885) which combines mathematical puzzles ‘knots’, poems,
and a narrative story. Other works to follow include
Alice’s Adventures Underground (1886), The Game of
Logic (1887), The Nursery Alice (1889), Sylvie
and Bruno (1889), Eight or Nine Wise Words about
Letter Writing (1890), and Sylvie and Bruno Concluded
(1893).
Rev. Charles Lutwidge Dodgson died on 14 January 1898
at his sisters’ home The Chestnuts and he now lies buried
with many of his siblings at The Mount cemetery in
Guildford, Surrey, England.
|
|
MATT CHRISTOPHER
website
Matthew F. Christopher was born on August 16, 1917, in
Bath, Pa. He was the oldest of nine children and a talented athlete,
playing baseball, football and soccer in high school. He became
interested in writing at the age of 14 and in 1940 had his first story
published in a detective magazine. He began writing children's books in
the mid 1950's with the publication of The
Lucky Baseball Bat (Little, Brown and Company).
Christopher became well-known for his sports fiction
novels for children with over 130 titles bearing his name. He was
awarded numerous writing honors from state organizations as well as the
1993 Milner Award. Besides books, he had about 275 short stories and
articles published in over 65 children and adult magazines over the
years.
Matt Christopher and his wife Cay were the parents of
four children and the grandparents of ten grandchildren and three
great-grandchildren. He died in 1997 in Charlotte, North Carolina.
|
|
BEVERLY CLEARY website
She was born Beverly
Bunn in McMinnville, Oregon, and, until she was old enough to attend
school, lived on a farm in Yamhill, a town so small it had no library.
Her mother arranged with the State Library to have books sent to Yamhill
and acted as librarian in a lodge room upstairs over a bank. Beverly
learned to love books there.
When the family moved to
Portland, where Beverly attended grammar school and high school, she
soon found herself in the low reading circle, an experience that has
given her sympathy for the problems of struggling readers. By the third
grade she had conquered reading and spent much of her childhood either
with books or on her way to and from the public library. Before long her
school librarian was suggesting that she should write for boys and girls
when she grew up. The idea appealed to her, and she decided that someday
she would write the books she longed to read but was unable to find on
the library shelves, funny stories about her neighborhood and the sort
of children she knew.
In 1934, Beverly Bunn left home to attend college in
California, which she imagined as the land of orange groves and movie
stars, far removed from the hardships of the Depression. As a young
woman "who was sure where she wanted to go but did not know if she could
find the money to get there," she juggled studies of Chaucer and French
grammar with the many chores that came with life in a student
cooperative house. She also found time to eat a bacon and tomato
sandwich with a quiet young man named Clarence Cleary.
In 1934, Beverly Bunn left home to attend college in
California, which she imagined as the land of orange groves and movie
stars, far removed from the hardships of the Depression. As a young
woman "who was sure where she wanted to go but did not know if she could
find the money to get there," she juggled studies of Chaucer and French
grammar with the many chores that came with life in a student
cooperative house. She also found time to eat a bacon and tomato
sandwich with a quiet young man named Clarence Cleary.
Work as a librarian brought her into contact with all
sorts of youngsters, from the children of the unemployed to the
offspring of doctors and lawyers. But it was the children who built
scooters out of apple boxes and roller skates who truly inspired her.
They asked, "Where are the books about kids like us?" and the young
librarian responded with her first book, about a boy named Henry who had
a dog named Spareribs-later changed to Ribsy.
|
|
|
|
JOANNA COLE
Joanna Cole loved science as a child. "I always enjoyed
explaining things and writing reports for school. I had a teacher who
was a little like Ms. Frizzle. She loved her subject. Every week she had
a child do an experiment in front of the room and I wanted to be that
child every week," she recalls. It's no surprise that Cole's favorite
book as a child was Bugs, Insects, and Such.
Ms. Cole has worked as an elementary school teacher, a
librarian, and a children's book editor. Combining her knowledge of
children's literature with her love of science, she decided to write
children's books. Her first book was
Cockroaches, which she wrote because there had never been
a book written about the insect before. "I had ample time to study the
creature in my low-budget New York apartment!" Since then she has
written more than 90 nonfiction and fiction books for children, and she
is the winner of the 1991 Washington Post /Children's Book Guild
Nonfiction award for the body of her work, which also includes the ALA
Notable Children's Book How You Were Born,
Bony-lets;
Cars and How They Go; and with
Stephanie Calmenson, The Gator Girls
series. Despite the hard work Ms. Cole insists that writing "is the
greatest fun in the world." And The Magic
School Bus books in particular provide the opportunity
for Ms. Cole to combine the two things she loves most: science and
humor.
|
|
STEPHEN COSGROVE
website
Author of Buggs
and Serendipity series.
|
|
D
ROALD DAHL website
Mr. Dahl is the author of
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,
Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator,
among other books. He was born in 1916 and died in 1990.
|
|
Daly, Kathleen |
|
Dana, Maggie |
|
Darby, Gene |
|
Davidson,
Alice Joyce |
|
Davis, Jim |
|
De Brunhoff, J
& L |
|
Dean, Anabel |
|
Delton, Judy |
|
Disney, Walt |
|
Dixon,
Franklin W |
|
Dubowski,
Cathy East |
|
E
Eisenberg, Lisa |
|
Ellis, Carol |
|
Erikson, John R |
|
Estes, Allison |
|
F
Farley, Walter |
|
Fisher, Dr. Lester |
|
Fitzgerald,
John D. |
|
Fleischman, Sid |
|
Frank, Penney |
|
Fritz, Jean |
|
G
Gambill, Henrietta |
|
George, Jean Craighead |
|
Grahame, Kenneth |
|
Gray, W;
Monroe, M |
|
Greene, Carol |
|
Gunn, Robin Jones |
|
H |
|
Hart, Allison |
|
Hayward, Linda |
|
Hazen, Barbara Shook |
|
Henry, Marguerite |
|
Hicks, Laurel |
|
Hill, Dave |
|
Hill, Eileen |
|
Hill, Grace Livingston |
|
Hoban, Lillian |
|
Hoff, Syd |
|
Hope, Laura Lee |
|
Hornblow,
Leonora & Arthur |
|
Hughes, Dean |
|
Hunia, Fran |
|
Hutchens, Paul |
|
I
Ife, Elaine |
|
J
Jackson, Dave
& Neta |
|
Jenkins, Jerry |
|
Johnson, Ann Donegan |
|
Johnson, Spencer |
|
Jones, Mary Alice |
|
K
Keene, Carolyn |
|
Kenny, Kathryn |
|
Kincaid, Beth |
|
King-Smith, Dick |
|
Kjelgaard, Jim |
|
Korman, Justin |
|
Kramer, Janice |
|
L
Leitch, Patricia |
|
L'Engle, Madeleine |
|
Leppard, Lois Gladys |
|
LeSieg, Theo |
|
Levene, Nancy S |
|
Lindgren, Astrid |
|
Lowell, Melissa |
|
Lowry, Lois |
|
Lyle, Mel |
|
M
MacBride,
Roger Lea |
|
MacDonald, George |
|
Martin, Ann M |
|
Martin, Dorothy |
|
Martin, Marcia |
|
Massi, Jeri |
|
Matthews, Leonard |
|
Mayer, Gina
& Mercer |
|
McCall, Yvonne |
|
McCloskey, Robert |
|
McCullagh, Sheila |
|
McGovern, Ann |
|
Miller, Albert G |
|
Miller, Basil |
|
Milne, A A |
|
Minarik, Else |
|
Moncure, Jane Belk |
|
Montgomery, L M |
|
Moore, Clement C |
|
Morgan, Stacy Towle |
|
Morris, Gilbert |
|
Murphy,
Elspeth Campbell |
|
Murray, W |
|
Myers, Bill
|
|
N |
|
Newton, Suzanne |
|
Nielsen, Shelly |
|
Norton, Mary |
|
O
O'Brien, Jack |
|
O'Connor, Jane |
|
O'Donnell, Mabel |
|
Oke, Janette |
|
O'Neil, Laura |
|
Oxenham, Elsie |
|
P
Page, Caroline Gift |
|
Palmer, Bernard |
|
Parish, Peggy |
|
Park, Barbara |
|
Pascal, Francine |
|
Patience, John |
|
Paulsen, Gary |
|
Perkins, Al |
|
Perrin, Blanche |
|
Pike, Christopher |
|
Porter, Connie |
|
Potter, Beatrix |
|
Preller, James |
|
Pullein-Thompson,
Christine |
|
Q
Quackenbush, Robert |
|
R |
|
Rey, Margret
& H A |
|
Richardson, Arleta |
|
Robertson, Keith |
|
Rockwell, Carey |
|
Roddy, Lee |
|
Roper, Gayle |
|
Rounds, Glen |
|
Rourke, Arlene |
|
Rushford, Patricia |
|
S
Scarry, Richard |
|
Schantz, Daniel |
|
Schulte, Elaine |
|
Schulz, Charles |
|
Selden, George |
|
Seuss, Dr. |
|
Shaw, Janet |
|
Sheldon, Ann |
|
Showers, Paul |
|
Sinykin, Sheri Cooper |
|
Slater, Teddy |
|
Snelling, Lauraine |
|
Sobol, Donald |
|
Sorenson, Jane |
|
Speregen,
Devra Newberger |
|
Stahl, Hilda |
|
Stine, R L |
|
Striker, Fran |
|
Sutton, Margaret |
|
T-U
Tedrow, T L |
|
Theone, Bodie
& Brock |
|
Theone, Jake
& Luke |
|
Travers, P L |
|
Tripp, Valerie |
|
V |
|
Vail, Virginia |
|
Walker, Holly Beth |
|
W-Z
Warner,
Gertrude Chandler |
|
Wassermann,
Selma & Jack |
|
Wayne, Jenifer |
|
West, Jerry |
|
Weyn, Suzanne |
|
Whitcomb, Mary Burg |
|
White, Anne Terry |
|
Wilbee, Brenda |
|
Wilder, Laura Ingalls |
|
Williams, Jay |
|
Wilt, Joy |
|
Wright, Bob |
|
Wyatt, George |
