Biography,  Nonfiction

The Story Behind Modern Books

Ever wondered how some loved story took shape in its author’s mind? I read Jeane’s review of this book over at Dog Ear Diary, and it sounded really interesting. I picked up a used copy and have spent the last couple of days going through it.

Elizabeth Rider Montgomery gives brief accounts (around 3-4 pages each) of how thirty-seven children’s books came to be. Writing in 1949, she focuses on stories published between 1925 and 1945. I’m not sure if there exists a more up-to-date incarnation of a similar survey.

I enjoyed reading through the chapters on stories I know; I skimmed or skipped the ones on books I haven’t read. This is not illustrated, but it’s a children’s book, as my used copy from an elementary school library testifies. But it doesn’t condescend. It’s general and fairly simple in its focus, so it serves as a great introduction to further study on the authors included here.

I really enjoyed learning about some of my favorites. I had no idea James Thurber wrote Many Moons (a book I adore) in the midst of serious health issues. I did have a feeling that Robert McCloskey must have studied ducks for quite awhile to produce the drawings in Make Way for Ducklings, and I liked getting the details. I loved learning about Virginia Lee Burton’s own house-moving in The Little House, Lois Lenski’s creation of Mr. Small and how revolutionary he was, Marjorie Flack’s research for The Story about Ping. Other tales include My Friend Flicka, Lassie Come Home, The Yearling, Babar, Rabbit Hill (written by an extremely impractical gardener!)… Too many treasures to list. The chapter on Laura Ingalls Wilder makes no mention of Rose Wilder Lane, but that aspect of the Little House books didn’t come out until later.

A couple of themes emerge, including the amount of work and planning and research that go into these deceptively simple-looking tales for children. Believing in your project and not being daunted by initial rejection are important ideas too. The other theme that came through strongly to me was how much plain good will toward children exists in the world of children’s writers. Maybe this is a “duh,” but I hadn’t really thought about it before. The library shelves represent a supportive community for me as a parent. These authors wrote not just to put food on the table, but because they felt they had things worth sharing and preserving: Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Pa and his stories, the long-ago Wisconsin of Carol Ryrie Brink’s grandmother in Caddie Woodlawn, Felix Salten’s close observation of animals in Bambi. And of course, in every case, the main gift is delight.

It’s interesting, how many of these “modern books” are now considered classics. I look forward to sharing these mini-biographies with my daughters and expect they will pique their curiosity about some of their favorites. I also plan to use it as a resource for investigating some of the books listed here that I haven’t read.

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