Children's Writers
Aardema, Verna
June 6, 1911—May 11, 2000
Place of Birth: New Era, MI
Place of Principal Residence: Muskegon, MI and Fort Myers, FL
Biography
Verna Aardema was born to Dora and Alfred Norberg on June 6, 1911. Aardema grew up as one of nine children in New Era, MI, a small West Michigan town. In 1934 she graduated from Michigan State University with a B.A. in journalism. After earning her degree, Aardema pursued teaching and worked as a staff correspondent for the Muskegon Chronicle. Aardema began writing at a young age, encouraged by her mother. In her senior year at Michigan State, she won three writing contests, which encouraged her to pursue her childhood dream of writing. Aardema first considered writing for children when her daughter refused to eat until told a story by her mother, whose stories revolved around African folktales. Aardema died on May 11, 2000 and was survived by her husband, Joel, and her two children, Austin and Paula.
Selected Works
- Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears (1975)
- Who’s in Rabbit’s House? (1977)
- Oh Kojo, How Could You! (1984)
Awards
- 1976 Caldecott Medal for Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears
- 1977 Brooklyn Art Books for Children Award for Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears
- 1977 School Library Journal Best Book of the Year for Who’s in the Rabbit’s House?
- 1978 Lewis Carroll Shelf Award for Who’s in the Rabbit’s House?
- 1984 Parents’ Choice Award for Literature for Oh Kojo, How Could You!
- 1981 Children’s Reading Round Table Award
Critical Reception
Verna Aardema is widely known as the premier re-teller of African folk tales, and these heroic tales provide moral lessons on human relationships and the mysteries of the natural world. Her book, Traveling to Tondo, was described by the School Library Journal as “the kind of story children love…perfect for reading aloud.”
Relevance of Place to Author’s Work
Aardema began her career as a writer at age 11, when her mother would allow her to skip chores and go for walks to a nearby wetland swamp to think and write. Aardema said, “I got to be a writer by default-the fault being that I was a born bookworm in a household that desperately needed mothers little helpers.”
Arrathoon, Leigh Adelaide
November 30, 1942 -
Place of Birth: Manhattan, NY
Place of Principle Residence: Rochester, MI
Biography:
Leigh Adelaide Arrathoon was born to Henry Elkin and Peggy Walles in Manhattan, New York. For one year she attended Centre d’art dramatique, a New York French Acting School, with a full tuition scholarship in 1957 to represent Forest Hills High School. She received her AB in French and Spanish from Hunter College Park Avenue in 1963 and enrolled in summer school at the Universities of Geneva, Lausanne, and Lille at Boulogne sur Mer, between 1961 and 1963 to study French language, literature, and culture. In 1966 and 1968 Arrathoon got her MA in French literature and Spanish literature respectively, and her MA and PhD in French Medieval Language and Literature in 1975. She was one of the first four women admitted to graduate school at Stanford. Arrathoon has worked as a teacher at many schools as a French, Spanish, or medieval literature teacher at schools including Princeton University and Oakland University. Many of her stories and articles have appeared in publications like The South Hill Gazette, Verses Magazine, and The Dana Literary Society. Ball State University forum nominated her article “The Two Saras of Chaucer’s Merchant’s Tale” for the Pushcart prize. She has published a seven-book series about Michigan and short historical fictions for children, as well as historical novels for young adults. One of her historical novels, Summer of the Bear, won the Michigan State History Award.
Selected Works:
- The Lady of Bergi (1984)
- Mirror of Love (1991)
- Great Places: Jody’s Michigan Adventures (1999)
- The Summer of the Bear (2002)
Awards:
- 2001 Appeared on Michigan Magazine
- 2007 Michigan State History Award
- n/a nominated for Pushcart Prize
Critical Reception:
Arrathoon’s work on medieval history, literature, and poetics has received academic attention, as demonstrated in her nomination for the Pushcart Prize for her article “The Two Saras of Chaucer’s Merchant’s Tale.” In addition, her historically researched children’s novels have been well received, including a Michigan State History Award in 2007.
Relevance of Place to Author’s Work:
Arrathoon has published several books of children’s stories about Michigan, including a seven-book series entitled Jody’s Michigan Adventures, focusing on different locations like Detroit, Greenfield Village, and Mackinac Island. Her work won the Michigan State History Award in 2007.
Baker, Ray Stannard
April 17, 1870 - July 12, 1946
Place of Birth: Lansing, MI
Biography:
Ray Stannard Baker was born to Joseph Stannard and Alice Baker in 1870. He achieved a B.S. at Michigan State University in 1889 and briefly studied Law and Literature at the University of Michigan. From 1892 to 1897 Baker was a reporter for the Chicago Daily Record, and then moved on to McClure Syndicate as manager in 1898. It was at this publication that Baker earned the reputation of being a prominent “muckraker” along with Ida Tarbell and Lincoln Steffens. During this time Baker also published children stories for Youth’s Companion along with a nine volume series of stories about rural living in America under the pen name of David Grayson. Troubled with the hard-hitting journalism in McClure, Baker left the magazine in 1906 to start his own publication called American Magazine. In 1908 Baker became the first well-known journalist to examine America’s social divide by writing the book Following the Color Line, which enjoyed great success. After supporting President Theodore Roosevelt, Baker experimented with socialism before supporting the candidacy of Woodrow Wilson in 1912. The two men struck a close friendship and in 1918 Wilson sent Baker to Europe to study the war situation. When it came to peace negotiations, Wilson appointed Baker as his press secretary at Versailles. Baker published fifteen volumes about Wilson and internationalism, including an eight-volume biography on Wilson, the last two of which won the Pulitzer Prize for biography in 1940. Baker died of heard attack in 1946 in Amherst, Massachusetts.
Selected Works:
- Seen in Germany (1901)
- Following the Color Line; an Account of Negro Citizenship in the American Democracy (1908)
- Adventures in Friendship (1910)
- Woodrow Wilson and World Settlement (1922)
- American Chronicle (1945)
Awards:
- Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography
- Contemporary American Literature
- Pulitzer Prize for Biography, for Woodrow Wilson: Life and Letters
Critical Reception:
Starting with his years as a muckraker, Baker became well known for his journalism and stories. After working closely with Woodrow Wilson, Baker was placed in a position of trust and took over important responsibilities such as being press secretary at Versailles and editing the President’s papers. Wilson once said, “I would rather have your [Baker’s] interpretation than that of anyone else I know.”
Relevance of Place to Author’s Work:
Baker received his education in Michigan,
Bloss, Joan
Dec. 9, 1928 –
Place of Birth: New York, NY
Place of Principle Residence: Ann Arbor, MI
Biography:
Joan Blos, a New York City native, was born on December 9, 1928 to Max (a psychiatrist) and Charlotte (teacher) Winsor, both of whom influenced her professional pursuits. Joan’s love for libraries was inherited from her parents, who took her on frequent trips to it and read out loud to her. Joan attended Vassar College during 1946 – 1949 and got her B.A. in physiology, a decision she contributed to her father. After graduation she worked as a college classroom assistant in a special nursery for disturbed by very young children. It was there she discovered her love for teaching children. Blos went for a year to New York City College to get a master’s degree in psychology, but did not complete the program. Instead she became a doctoral candidate at Yale and also worked as a research assistant in Yale’s Child Study Center where she was employed in the pediatric play program where she interacted with child patients. Blos later attributed this experience to sparking an interest in children’s literature. At Yale she also met her husband, Peter Blos. Three years later she decided academic psychology wasn’t a good fit and moved back to New York City with her husband. Blos reregistered for an M.A. at the City College of New York City and also worked part-time at the Bank Street College of Education, an organization focused on a progressive view of education, in the Publications division. Here she began writing, reviewing, and teaching. In 1970 Blos left New York City for Michigan. She published her first book, “It’s Spring,” She Said and has since released a plethora of other books as well as a stage play.
Selected Works:
- In the City (1964)
- Just Think (1971)
- A Gathering of Days: A New England Girl’s Journal, 1830 – 1838 (1979)
- Martin’s Hats (1984)
- The Grandpa Days (1989)
- On Very Best Valentine’s Day (1989)
- Brooklyn Doesn’t Rhyme (1994)
- Hungry Little Boy (1995)
- Hello Shoes! (1999)
Awards:
- 1980 Newbery Medal for A Gathering of Days: A New England Girl’s Journal
- American Book Award (Children’s Fiction) for A Gathering of Days: A New England Girl’s Journal
- 1987 Globe-Horn Book Honor Award for Old Henry
- Booklist Editor’s choice for Old Henry
- Honorary Doctorate from Bank Street College of Education in NYC
Critical Reception:
Blos’ novel A Gather of Days: A New England Girl’s Journal, 1830-32 received rave reviews. Kirkus Reviews wrote the book was “carefully researched and convincingly delivered.” The St. Louis Post-Dispatch commented that the “careful tuning of psychological nuances to historical elements…gives the story its powerful immediacy. A Gathering of Days not only gives the reader a close look at the early 1800s, it offers… a deeply moving human experience.” The Toronto Globe and Mail described Blos’ book Brothers of the Heart: A Story of the Old Northwest, 1837 – 1838 as “more powerful and more stirring than its award-winning predecessor.” St. James Guide to Children’s Writers wrote Blos’ “language, with its rhythms and lilt of earlier times, is remarkably spare, not replete with full-blown descriptions, yet giving the reader a strong sense of place and characterization. Blos has accomplished the fine feat of balancing history with universal human experience, uniting the book’s past with the reader’s present. Brothers of the Heart was rewritten as a stage play in 1999.
Relevance of Place to Author’s Work:
Living in Ann Arbor has allowed Blos to do local research for her books, most particularly Brothers of the Heart, where she drew inspiration for her setting, as well as spending time in the Ypsilanti Historical Society and the Bentley Library. She is actively involved in the community publishing plays for theatrical companies such as Wild Swan Theater. Today plenty of her time is reading in the Library of the University of Michigan and writing books.
Bowman, Crystal J.
1951—
Place of Birth: Holland, MI
Place of Principal Residence: Grand Rapids, MI
Biography
Crystal was born in Holland, Michigan to Harold and Gerene Langejans in 1951. Crystal loved writing poems as a child, and wrote her first poem when she was 10 years old. Her teacher praised her work, and predicted that one day she would be a published author. Crystal went to Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, graduating with a BA in Elementary Education with a specialization in Math. She did not anticipate becoming a children’s author, poet and lyricist. After graduation from Calvin in 1973 and took Graduate classes at the University of Michigan for Early Childhood Education while teaching preschool. In her Children’s Lit class, Bowman discovered her love for Children’s Literature. She began her writing career in 1990 as a lyricist for children’s piano music, and now has written over fifty books. Her children, Rob, Scott, and Teri, have been credited by Bowman has being her principle source of inspiration. Bowman has even kept a journal of her children’s funny quips that greatly add to the quality of her books. In addition to writing, Bowman speaks at a variety of functions, including conferences and school writing workshops. Currently Bowman lives in Grand Rapids, MI and Palm Beach, Florida Gardens, Florida with her husband, Bob, of whom she has been married to for over thirty-five years.
Selected Works
- Children’s Piano Lyrics (1991-2001)
- Ivan and Dynamos (1997)
- If Peas Could Taste Like Candy (1998)
- Windmills and Wooden Shoes (1999)
- A Star for Jesus (2006)
- My Christmas Stocking (2006)
Relevance of Place to Author’s Work
For her writing Bowman relies heavily on her childhood memories and experience raising three children in Michigan.