Posted
October 14, 2016
She
wrote - she drew and painted - she published!
Born
in Ohio on this date in 1893, Lois Lenski was encouraged to paint and
draw by many of the adults in her life. She had talent, they said. A
visiting artist and a teacher encouraged her parents to buy her
quality art materials. Her parents agreed and bought her quality art
materials.
Still,
Lenski later related, nobody ever encouraged her to be original, or
to draw the things she saw around her. Instead, pretty much the
entirety of her childhood, she copied other people's pictures.
Lenski
attended university and earned a B.S. Degree in education, plus a
teaching certificate. But instead of jumping into teaching, she
received a scholarship to some further art training, so she studied
art in three different institutions, in New York City and London, and
she even traveled through Italy to see more art.
Lenski
married an artist whose wife had died some years before; he had two
small children. Years later, Lenski had a child of her own. Like many
husbands, Lenski's husband expected her to take full responsibility
for the house and kids and didn't seem to mind if that left her no
time for her art. But Lenski minded.
She
hire household help and worked on writing books and making art.
And
it paid off: she published 98 books! She also provided illustrations
for other authors. She earned a Newbery Honor and a Newbery Medal.
Here
are a few of her books:
Note:
Lenski was one of the authors who ushered in a new kind of realism
into kids' books. When she first wrote them, some called them “grim,”
and some definitely didn't like the grimness.
Nowadays,
some of her books seem problematic because of old-fashioned attitudes that we now realize are pretty racist.
Check
out her other books here.
Also
on this date:
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ahead:
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