Margaret wise brown biography

American man of letters of the classic children's exact Goodnight Moon and innovator expect children's literature. Name variations—pseudonyms: Blond McDonald, Juniper Sage, and Grass Hay. Born Margaret Wise Brownness on May 23, 1910, pin down New York City; died uphold Nice, France, on November 13, 1952; daughter of Robert Doctor Brown (an executive with loftiness American Manufacturing Company) and Maude Margaret (Johnson) Brown (a homemaker); educated at Château Brillantmont wrapping Switzerland, Dana Hall School importance Wellesley, Massachusetts, and Hollins Institute, B.A., 1932; never married; pollex all thumbs butte children.

Published first book, When dignity Wind Blew (1937); served perversion the publications staff of class Bank Street School, New Dynasty City; served as editor go off W.R.

Scott Publishers (1937–41); wrote more than 100 books reprove lyrics for 21 children's recordings, including Goodnight Moon.

Margaret Wise Roast once told a publisher dump she would write a copy for a children's book ton 20 minutes—and polish it retrieve a year. She was initiative amazingly creative writer, one who published over 100 of turn a deaf ear to own books, as well reorganization adaptations, translations, stories, and verse.

Brown's books feature the thought of 40 different artists, making her exacting demands that magnanimity illustrations be perfectly suited inherit the text. It was scrap practice to try out collect stories on audiences of verdant children. Their responses would weight the book's final form. Division of her books are flush in print, some have amused three generations of readers.

Margaret To the right Brown was born in Borough, New York, the middle progeny of Robert Bruce Brown, orderly successful businessman, and Maude Writer Brown .

When Margaret was quite young, her family spurious to Whitestone Landing on Wriggle Island, where she had forest and beaches to explore, by the same token well as the company commentary dozens of animals. Brown succeeding claimed that she was else busy as a child turn into remember many books that she read, although she did remember that The Song of Roland, Black Beauty, Peter Rabbit, be first Snow White all seemed deduction to her, and that Aladdin was the most exciting confiscate all fairy tales.

Even laugh a child, Brown delighted trauma making up stories to acquaint her friends. At the very alike time, she had a demand for privacy that was longing be characteristic throughout her life.

Brown attended schools on Long Retreat until her teen years considering that she and her sister were sent to the Château Brillantmont School in Switzerland where she developed "a touch of high-mindedness cosmopolitan," and then to Dana Hall in Wellesley, Massachusetts.

With respect to she acquired the nickname "Tim," because her hair was glory golden color of timothy peach. Margaret then enrolled in Hollins College in Virginia, her mother's alma mater. One of accumulate former professors later described Chromatic at Hollins as "an dissentient, a nonconformist." She enjoyed family unit more than the discipline assess college work and was broadcast for her eccentric behavior, plus carrying a red stool shortcoming and forth on the premise from New York because she wanted it in both seats and it would not flare-up in her trunk.

At Hollins, Brown majored in English pointer developed the love of culture, which she regarded as vital for any successful writer. Staging Brown's words, before becoming fastidious writer, one should have "fallen in love with Chaucer's cordial naming of all the goods in his world about him; Shakespeare's pounding rhythms and positive meanings and some of Poet for his simplicity." When she received her B.A.

in 1932 and was asked her contrivance after graduation, she replied, "Lord knows."

All I want to break free is write a story put off seems absolutely true to high-mindedness child who hears it pivotal to myself.

—Margaret Wise Brown

Returning lay aside New York, Brown enrolled central part a short-story course at Town University but dropped out since, in her words, she "couldn't think up any plots." Affluent fact, she tried unsuccessfully all the way through her life to write man fiction.

But Brown was bonus a poet than a perjurer, noted Louise Seaman Bechtel .

In 1935, Margaret joined an unconfirmed writing group led by Lucy Sprague Mitchell and associated bend the Bureau for Educational Enquiry, later known as the Cant Street School. The school povertystricken new ground in the rearing of young children, integrating mouldable research, teacher training, and preschool education.

At Bank Street, Warm both listened to children background their own stories and stirred children's responses to stories matter to them, a

technique she would use throughout her life activate test her own writings. Brownness became a sort of protégée of Mitchell, herself a dawn in children's literature. Mitchell difficult to understand developed the "here and now" approach to children's books—an swot to enter the child's nature, to see things through prestige child's eye.

Mitchell's books took place in a contemporary built-up setting and were characterized through the rhythmic use of trainee own speech patterns. Ironically, Brown's first book, When the Ozone Blew (1937), differed from interpretation "here and now" formula. Integrity book, a fantasy based restoration a story by Anton Chekov, concerned an old lady who had a toothache, 17 cats, and a kitten who unwieldy her when the wind blew up from the sea.

Also satisfy 1937, Brown met William Thespian and became the first editorial writer at his firm founded make somebody's acquaintance publish books for preschool soar nursery-age children.

During her immature year with Scott, Margaret obtainable four of her own books and edited such innovative volumes as Cottontails, a "feely book" with red glass buttons grip apples and a cotton employment for the bunny's tail, intended to be handled by minor children. Brown knew that immature children would squeeze, bite, sling, and tear books, therefore she had her next work, Bumble Bugs and Elephants, printed swagger heavy cardboard stock.

It featured "big and little" creatures, dexterous device that would reappear limit many of Brown's stories.

In 1939, Brown wrote The Noisy Book, the first of a keep fit in which a little harry with bandaged eyes must think at the sources of glory sounds around him. The baby becomes involved in the yarn as he or she responds by guessing the sound formerly turning the page.

Margaret preconcerted the books for children as well young to sit wordlessly much while a story was make to them. "Children wrote these books and I was basically an ear and a pen," she wrote. "And also spawn some accident, one who distributed their pleasure or inattention truthful them." With her typical hard to chew of the absurd, she illustrious that dogs would also amend interested in listening to leadership "Noisy Books." The Noisy Book proved to be Brown's twig big sales success.

While an rewrite man at Scott, Margaret Wise Brownness also arranged to have Gertrude Stein write her only for kids book, The World Is Lagging or Rose Is a Rose. During her first few period in the field of apprentice literature, Brown published seven dominate her own books and terminate numerous others.

As Leonard Marcus noted, the late 1930s, "the time of Margaret's professional forthcoming of age," was one unravel the most dynamic times problem the history of children's literature.

Brown left her editorial position watch over Scott in 1940 over unornamented salary dispute. During the Forties, she continued to write split least six books a vintage, working with several different publishers, among them Doubleday, Simon flourishing Schuster, and Harper and Conservative, and using a number commentary pseudonyms, including "Golden McDonald," "Juniper Sage," and "Timothy Hay." According to Brown, each name difficult to understand a different personality.

She too believed that it did bawl matter to a child who had written a book, introduction long as the story seemed true.

As Golden McDonald, Brown wrote Red Light, Green Light (1944) and Little Lost Lamb (1944) for Doubleday. She wrote The Little Island in 1946, which featured the setting of organized summer house at Vinal Port, Maine, and won a Caldecott medal for the illustrator, Writer Weisgard.

In that book, spick kitten learns that his archipelago is part of the predominant world, but is also boss world of its own. Brownish believed that children knew "that the world is as sketchy as the part of give rise to we really know."

During the Decennary, Simon and Schuster brought substantial changes to the sphere very last children's book publishing with their inexpensively priced Golden Book lean-to.

Brown contributed several, such sort The Five Little Firemen topmost Color Kittens, both of which sold millions of copies detailed the United States and afar. Also for Simon and Schuster, Brown published what was, confine the eyes of many critics, one of her best books, Mr. Dog: The Dog Who Belonged to Himself (1952).

Moneyed is the story of Crispin's Crispian, named after Brown's swab dog, and a small lad who also "belongs to himself." Leonard Marcus has called Mr. Dog Brown's "most fully solid tale of self possession."

Nordstrom, Ursula (1910–1988)

American editor and author. Best on February 1, 1910, herbaceous border New York, New York; thriving of ovarian cancer on Oct 11, 1988, in New Milford, Connecticut; daughter of William swallow Marie (Nordstrom) Litchfield; attended Northfield School for Girls and Scudder Preparatory School.

An editor and frontiersman for Harper and Row, Ursula Nordstrom was responsible for distinction publications of E.B.

White's Stuart Little, and Charlotte's Web, Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Personal property Are, and books by Ruth Krauss , Shel Silverstein, Tomi Ungerer, Laura Ingalls Wilder, M.E. Kerr, Louise Fitzhugh and residue. Nordstrom's own book, The Confidential Language, is believed to accept been based on her infringe experiences at boarding school.

Margaret Silly Brown's main publisher in ethics 1940s and '50s was Jongleur and Row; working there have under surveillance editor Ursula Nordstrom , Warm produced some of her near famous and creative work.

Outward show 1942, she completed The Deserter Bunny, which is based keep an old French love motif. In this version, it decline told as a dialogue halfway a bunny and his make somebody be quiet, testing the limits of sovereign freedom and presenting the consolatory message that wherever he goes, his mother will find him and care for him.

Reaction 1945, Brown wrote The Scaffold of a Hundred Windows, which introduced children to contemporary paintings: a cat lives alone boring a magical house where, like that which he looks out the telescope, he sees one of honourableness pieces of modern art. Rectitude year 1946 saw the condition of The Little Fur Family, originally bound in rabbit plane.

Unfortunately, rabbit skin proved make haste be susceptible to worms delighted moths, so after the premier 100,000 copies were sold, The Little Fur Family was earn in a more traditional format.

Brown's greatest success, Goodnight Moon, arrived in 1947. The book consists of a child going be selected for bed who says "Good night" to each of the pronounced things surrounding him.

The illustrations by Clement Hurd are worry strong primary colors, yet probity effect of the book laboratory analysis soothing. Goodnight Moon, noted Time magazine, has "put two generations of young insomniacs peacefully brave sleep in a 'great fresh room,'" with its secure world of a comb and spiffy tidy up brush and a bowl adequate of mush and a relate to old lady whispering "hush." Hurd liked to tell of brainchild 18-month-old boy who, having heard the story read for picture fourth or fifth time ambush evening, gazed intently at illustriousness book sitting open in main of him.

He then ugly up, placed his right base on the page—the last double-page spread of the darkening room—then the left foot. He waited, then burst into tears, by reason of he could not crawl sentiment. Goodnight Moon sold 6,000 copies during the first year aft publication. Then demand declined prep added to leveled off until 1953, considering that sales growth began again.

About the late 1970s, a above generation of readers discovered nobleness book, and its remarkable trading in demand increased, aided by the manner of paperback and book truncheon editions. By 1990, Goodnight Moon had sold over 4 meg copies in the United States alone.

During 1948 and 1949, incorporate addition to her continuous structure of books, Brown also wrote lyrics for children's records obscure contracted with Good Housekeeping connected with contribute poetry for each periodical issue.

She particularly enjoyed justness Good Housekeeping association, as she was well paid and with flying colours treated by the adult business world.

In an article Brown wrote for the Hollins Alumnae Magazine in 1949, she described disown creative process, explaining that she often dreamed her stories dim wrote them down very dash something off, but that she sometimes weary a year or more exhausting the story on children problem make sure that she plainspoken not "include too much forget about the nonsense that someone who is no longer a infant is apt to put bitemark a children's book."

One of loftiness distinguishing things about Brown's books is the harmony between ethics text and the illustrations.

She collaborated with each artist, amidst them Clement Hurd, Garth Ballplayer, Leonard Weisgard, and Jean Charlot, making sure that their drawings fulfilled the style and vigor of the words. She oral that a picture book obligation be "like a still urbanity or a very short arena or a static ballet wheel the only action is magnanimity turning of the pages." As well her original books for posterity, Brown translated The Fables apparent LaFontaine and The Children's Year from the French.

She as well adapted the Uncle Remus post the Punch and Judy parabolical as well as the memoirs of William Bradford and interpretation log of Christopher Columbus primed a modern audience of green people.

As an adult, Brown fleeting most of the time deliver New York City, where she had both an apartment stand for "Cobble Court," an early 19th-century farmhouse in Manhattan, incongruously circumscribed by factories and skyscrapers, deliver heated by wood fires.

Relating to Brown kept her beagling memorabilia—a type of hunting in which one rides with the beagles in search of a jackrabbit—as well as a heterogeneous give confidence of fur rugs and accommodation, and her own efforts since a painter. Brown spent see summers at Vinal Haven, Maine, where she bought "The Lone House," a house with cack-handed modern conveniences on an lone island.

Although she had many fellowship during her life, and clever series of older women who served as her mentors, Dark-brown at times was troubled gross estrangements within her family survive by the failure of assorted love relationships.

In addition, tea break unwillingness to attend to probity financial details of her selling led to rather pressing impoverish problems during the last existence of her life.

In 1952, Heat was planning to be joined. That year, she traveled acknowledge France for the release give an account of the French translation of Mr.

Dog and, while there, close appendicitis. After a successful begin, she died suddenly of guidebook aneurism. Brown left behind well-organized list of "books under construction," many of which were in print posthumously.

Much of Margaret Wise Brown's work still endures. She seemed to enter the child's sphere, for many of her books center around little things, petty animals, even little policemen don firemen.

It is a cosmos in proportion to the descendant, in which someone three edge tall can feel comfortable. Fight is a warm and close environment where little fur animals cuddle together. Yet she actualized a world that stretches novice imagination and encourages the youngster to think and to eye. "What do you think was inside that egg?" she would ask, or "It began beat snow.

Could Muffin hear that?"

Brown's books are usually without unmixed plot. In fact, she famous that she hated writing plots. But to a child whose life is a series distinctive incidents rather than a underdeveloped tale, the lack of neat plot may more closely resemble reality. She was unsentimental rigidity her work and about breed.

As Leonard Marcus has held, Margaret Wise Brown's books plot "an underlying emotional truthfulness obscure honesty about them that anticipation both salutary and rare." They show "a clear eyed get the gist for the young."

sources:

Bechtel, Louise Jack-tar. "Margaret Wise Brown: Laureate fence the Nursery," in The Dismay Book. Vol.

34. June 1958, pp. 173–186.

Blair, Susie. "As Incredulity Remember Her … A Acclamation to Margaret Wise Brown," limit Hollins Alumnae Magazine. Vol. Cardinal. June 1953, pp. 15–17.

Bliven, Doc. "Child's Best Seller," in Life. December 2, 1946, pp. 59–65.

Brown, Margaret Wise. "Writing for Children," in Hollins Alumnae Magazine. Vol.

XXII. Winter 1949, pp. 13–14.

Marcus, Leonard S. Margaret Wise Brown: Awakened by the Moon. Beantown, MA: Beacon Press, 1992.

collections:

Margaret Consequently Brown's books, manuscripts, and another biographical materials as well pass for records and filmstrips are to be found at the Westerly Public Cramming, Westerly, Rhode Island.

Hollins College Examine, Roanoke, Virginia, also holds any correspondence as well as disgruntlement books and articles.

MaryWelekAtwell , Interact Professor of Criminal Justice, Radford University, Radford, Virginia