May 30: Countee Cullen, American poet and writer

BORN MAY 30:

Countee Cullen (1903-1946) was a Black American poet, novelist, children's writer, and playwright, and part of the Harlem Renaissance. Rare for a Black man in his time, he graduated with a master's degree in English from Harvard (after graduating Phi Beta Kappa from NYU). He was briefly married to the daughter of civil rights icon W.E.B. Du Bois; she filed for divorce when a few months after their wedding, he wrote her a letter confessing his love for men. Ten years later he married another woman and lived with her until his death some six years later. Overshadowed today by his colleague Langston Hughes, Cullen's work nevertheless expresses the experience of Black people in his day; one of his better-known poems, "Heritage," repeats its first line as a refrain: "What is Africa to me?" as he places his imagined homeland against his life as a "Christian" and an American. Also notable is his, "Yet Do I Marvel."

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May 23: Susan Cooper, English YA author

BORN MAY 23:

Susan Cooper (1935 - ) is an English author of Young Adult literature. In the past 15 years or so I've had the pleasure of reading a number of excellent series of YA fantasy literature, and few stand out in my mind like Cooper's The Dark is Rising pentalogy. Like Narnia, it features the adventures of a group of siblings, here Simon, Jane, and Barnabas (Barney) Drew. In the second novel, they meet Will Stanton, the seventh son of a seventh son; on his 11th birthday he undergoes a magical awakening and a rise to power as the last of the Old Ones--not unlike Harry Potter, a "chosen one." Cooper draws upon Arthurian legends, Celtic mythology, Norse mythology, and English folklore for the adventures of these young people, as did Lloyd Alexander in his The Chronicles of Prydain. The five books are Over Sea, Under Stone; The Dark Is Rising (which lent the series its name); Greenwitch; The Grey King; and Silver on the Tree. I may as well mention here the two books by Alan Garner, The Weirdstone of Brisingamen: A Tale of Alderley and its sequel, The Moon of Gomrath, as being of the same ilk. These five (Cooper's, Narnia, Potter, Prydain, and the two Alderley books) would make a terrific summer reading spate. They all give Tolkien a run for his money.

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May 15: L. Frank Baum, American children's author

BORN MAY 15:

L. Frank Baum (1856-1919) was an American children's author best known for the Wizard of Oz and its 13 sequels. He also wrote 41 other novels, 83 short stories, over 200 poems, and at least 42 scripts, but his place in history (and in my heart) depends on the 1939 film adaptation of WoO, a perfect "hook" on which to hang Joseph Campbell's teachings about "The Hero's Journey"--especially since this time he's a she. Born in New York state, and spending most of his career in the Midwest, he died in Los Angeles trying to establish a movie studio focused on producing films for children.

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Apr. 2: Hans Christian Andersen, Danish author of fairy tales

BORN APRIL 2:

Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875) was a Danish author who actually wrote plays, travel literature, novels, and poems, but we remember him today for his 156 fairy tales. One list of his "top ten" includes "The Emperor's New Clothes," about a vain emperor who gets exposed before his subjects; "The Little Mermaid," who wants to gain a human soul; "The Nightingale," in which the real thing competes with a mechanical bird for an emperor's favor; "The Steadfast Tin Soldier," who loves a paper ballerina; "The Red Shoes," about a vain girl forced to dance non-stop in her fancy footwear; "The Princess and the Pea," about a young woman whose sensitivity proves her royal ancestry; "The Snow Queen," on the struggle between good and evil as played out in the love between two children, Gerda and her friend Kai; "The Ugly Duckling," about a baby bird who is more than he seems; "The Little Match Girl," about a dying child's dreams and hope; and "Thumbelina," about a tiny girl who dodges loathsome critters to marry a flower-fairy prince. Many of Andersen's stories have inspired ballets, plays, and animated and live-action films.

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Mar. 17: Kate Greenaway, English Victorian children's book artist and writer

BORN MARCH 17:

Catherine "Kate" Greenaway (1846-1901) was an English Victorian artist and writer, known for her children's book illustrations. Starting out as a creator of the new-fangled greeting card, she received her first commission to illustrate a children's book in 1867. She published her breakout book, Under the Window, in 1879, and sold over 100,000 copies. It was one of only two books that she wrote (the other is Marigold Garden, 1885) though she illustrated over 150 as a result of something called the "Greenaway vogue," and she became widely imitated. She died of breast cancer at the age of 55. The Kate Greenaway Medal was established in her honor in 1955, awarded annually in the UK to an illustrator of children's books.

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Mar. 8: Kenneth Grahame, Scottish children's author

BORN MARCH 8:

Kenneth Grahame (1859-1932) was a Scottish writer most famous for the adventures of Mole, Rat, Mr. Badger, and the notorious Mr. Toad, friends who, among other things, spend their time "simply messing about in boats," as the Rat says. I'm talking, of course, about "The Wind in the Willows," one of the greatest of children's classics. He also wrote "The Reluctant Dragon," a charming short story about a poetry-loving dragon who prefers not to fight, and instead makes friends with St. George the notorious dragon-slayer.

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Mar. 5: Howard Pyle, American author and illustrator

BORN MARCH 5:

Howard Pyle (1853-1911) American author and illustrator of children's classics. He may not be a big deal to some, but for many of us he brought the "real story" of heroes like Robin Hood and King Arthur. I always focused on his words, but Van Gogh was an admirer of his illustrations, and he taught art to Maxfield Parrish and N. C. Wyeth. His writing, on the other hand, influenced not just me, but people like Ernest Hemingway. The stories were just so wholesome: one scholar spoke of "themes in [his school's] work: attention to realism and expression of optimism and a faith in the goodness of America." Try The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood, or his four (!) King Arthur books: The Story of King Arthur and His Knights; The Story of the Champions of the Round Table; The Story of Sir Launcelot and His Companions; and The Story of the Grail and the Passing of King Arthur.

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Mar. 2: Dr. Seuss, American author of children's books

BORN MARCH 2:

Dr. Seuss (1904-1991), actually Theodor Seuss Geisel ("Seuss" rhymes with "voice") was an American writer and illustrator of popular children's books. He wrote more than 60 books (six of which his successors have chosen not to publish any more because they "portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong"--that is, they're racist and/or and insensitive). But others that you know well--Horton Hears a Who!; The Cat in the Hat; How the Grinch Stole Christmas!; Green Eggs and Ham; The Lorax; Oh, the Places You'll Go!; and so on--have long been in print, and had sold over 600 million copies and been translated into more than 20 languages by the time of his death. He received a special Pulitzer Prize in 1984 for his "contribution over nearly half a century to the education and enjoyment of America's children and their parents," and also won two Academy Awards for things you've never heard of. Today, his birthday, has been adopted for the annual National Read Across America Day, an initiative on reading created by the National Education Association.

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Feb. 10: Charles Lamb, English author

BORN FEBRUARY 10:

Charles Lamb (1775-1834) English author whose Essays of Elia are considered his greatest work, exploring a variety of subjects in a charming, conversational manner. He is also known for writing, with his sister (whom I recently learned had, in a fit of madness, stabbed their mother to death) the Tales from Shakespeare for young readers, and, on his own, The Adventures of Ulysses for a similar audience.

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Jan. 30: Lloyd Alexander, American fantasy author

BORN JANUARY 30:

Lloyd Alexander (1924-2007) American author of more than 40 books, mainly fantasy novels for children and young adults, most famously a series of five fantasy novels rooted in Welsh mythology called The Chronicles of Prydain and featuring an "Assistant Pig-Keeper" who becomes the "High King"; the second of these was animated by Disney. Also of note is the darker and more adult Westmark trilogy, set in a time similar to the history of the French Revolution.

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Jan. 27: Lewis Carroll, English writer and humorist

BORN JANUARY 27:

Lewis Carroll (1832-1898) English writer and mathematician. He was a fun and funny guy--a dab hand at puzzles and riddles--who did much of his work to please the children of his friends, one of whom was named Alice. He wrote the novels Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass; and the poems The Hunting of the Snark and "Jabberwocky."

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Jan. 18: A. A. Milne, British writer

BORN JANUARY 18:

A. A. (Alan Alexander) Milne (1882-1956) English novelist, essayist, poet, playwright, and short-story writer, and, most notably, author of children's literature: he was the "father" of Winnie-the-Pooh (and the father of Christopher Robin Milne)

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Jan. 12: Jack London, American writer

BORN JANUARY 12:

Jack London (1876-1916) American novelist, short story writer, journalist, and activist, and one of the first American authors to become an international celebrity and earn a large fortune from writing. His rough-and-ready novels include The Call of the Wild, White Fang, and The Sea Wolf; and stories "To Build a Fire," "An Odyssey of the North," "Love of Life," "The Pearls of Parlay," and "The Heathen"; the non-fiction work The People of the Abyss was an exposé of the conditions of the working class in the east end of London.

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Jan. 6: Carl Sandburg, American writer

BORN JANUARY 6:

Carl Sandburg (1878-1967) American poet, writer, and editor; poetry Chicago Poems; The People, Yes; history Abraham Lincoln: The Prairie Years and The War Years; Rootabaga Stories for children; two Pulitzer Prizes in Poetry (1919, 1951); one for History (1940)

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Jan. 5: Umberto Eco, Italian writer

BORN JANUARY 5:

Umberto Eco (1932-2016) Italian novelist, critic, and philosopher whose complex novels reflected his work in semiotics; The Name of the Rose; Foucault's Pendulum; The Island of the Day Before; The Prague Cemetery. But he also wrote children's books, and far more non-fiction than his "mere" seven novels.

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Dec. 30: Rudyard Kipling, Indian-born English writer

BORN DECEMBER 30:

Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) Indian-born English journalist, short-story writer, poet, and novelist, whose "children's books" say more than many "adult books" these days; The Jungle Book; Just So Stories; Kim; Captains Courageous; poems "If—"; "Gunga Din"; "The White Man's Burden"; Nobel Prize in Literature (1907)

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Nov. 30: Mark Twain, American writer and humorist

BORN NOVEMBER 30:

Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) (1835-1910) American author of novels such as Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer, as well as short stories like "The Man Who Corrupted Hadleyberg" and "The Jumping Frog of Calaveras County." Thought by the uninitiated to be "merely" a writer of "boys' novels," he was also a scathing social critic and entertaining travel writer. An American original.

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Nov. 29: C. S. Lewis, British writer and lay theologian

BORN NOVEMBER 29:

C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) British novelist, poet, essayist, and lay theologian, as well as a professor at both Oxford and Cambridge, and a chum of Tolkien. Though best known for his series like The Chronicles of Narnia and The Space Trilogy, his explicitly theological works (Mere Christianity; The Screwtape Letters) were also popular. The Allegory of Love reflects his work as a medievalist.

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Oct. 17: Alan Garner, English novelist

BORN OCTOBER 17:

Alan Garner (born 1934) English novelist well-known for "children's" fantasy novels (though very sophisticated, and based on local lore), including the Alderley trilogy: The Weirdstone of Brisingamen; The Moon of Gomrath; and, nearly 50 years after Moon, Boneland.

The Stone Book Quartet is also notable, and Garner has written several books retelling British folk tales.

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Oct. 16: Oscar Wilde, Irish author

BORN OCTOBER 16:

Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) Irish playwright, novelist, essayist, and poet. He wrote (among others) The Picture of Dorian Gray; The Importance of Being Earnest; and The Ballad of Reading Gaol; also, the very un-child-like fairy tales "The Happy Prince"; "The Nightingale and the Rose"; and "The Selfish Giant."

Wilde was not as clever as he thought: when the father of one of his lovers accused him (correctly) of homosexuality, Wilde sued him for criminal libel--and lost. Evidence brought forth in the trial led to Wilde's criminal conviction for "gross indecency," and he was jailed for two years.

He died in self-imposed exile, of meningitis, at age 46.

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