Eleanor Frances (Butler) Cameron (March 23, 1912 – October 11, 1996) was a children's author and critic. She published 20 books in her lifetime, including ''
The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet
''The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet'' is a children's science fiction novel written by Eleanor Cameron, illustrated by Robert Henneberger, and published by Little, Brown in 1954. It is set in Pacific Grove, California, and on Basidium ...
'' (1954) and its sequels, a collection of critical essays called ''The Green and Burning Tree'' (1969), and ''The Court of the Stone Children'' (1973), which won the U.S.
National Book Award in category Children's Books.
["National Book Awards – 1974"]
National Book Foundation
The National Book Foundation (NBF) is an American nonprofit organization established, "to raise the cultural appreciation of great writing in America". Established in 1989 by National Book Awards, Inc.,Edwin McDowell. "Book Notes: 'The Joy Luc ...
. Retrieved 2012-02-27.
Biography
Eleanor Cameron was born in
Winnipeg
Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...
,
Manitoba
Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...
in Canada on March 23, 1912. Her family moved to South Charleston,
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
when she was three years old, and then to
Berkeley, California
Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...
when she was six. A few years later, her parents divorced. At age 16, she moved with her mother and stepfather to
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
. Cameron studied at
UCLA
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...
and the Art Center School of Los Angeles. She joined the
Los Angeles Public Library
The Los Angeles Public Library system (LAPL) is a public library system in Los Angeles, California. The system holds more than six million volumes, and with around 19 million residents in the Los Angeles Metropolitan area, it serves the large ...
in 1930 and later worked as a research librarian for the Los Angeles Board of Education and two different advertising companies. She married Ian Cameron, a printmaker and publisher, in 1934 and the couple had a son, David, in 1944.
Cameron's first published book, ''The Unheard Music'' (1950), was partially based on her experience as a librarian and was positively received by critics, though it didn't sell particularly well. Cameron did not turn to writing children's books until eight-year-old David asked her to write a space story featuring him as the main character. That book, ''
The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet
''The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet'' is a children's science fiction novel written by Eleanor Cameron, illustrated by Robert Henneberger, and published by Little, Brown in 1954. It is set in Pacific Grove, California, and on Basidium ...
'' (1954), proved to be very popular, spawning four sequels and two short stories over the following 13 years.
With the success of the Mushroom Planet books, Cameron focused on writing for children. Between 1959 and 1988 she produced 12 additional children's novels, including ''The Court of the Stone Children'' (1973) and the semi-autobiographical five book Julia Redfern series (1971–1988).
In addition to her fiction work, Cameron wrote two books of criticism and reflection on
children's literature
Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader.
Children's ...
. The first, ''The Green and Burning Tree'', was released in 1969 and led an increased profile for Cameron in the world of children's literature. Throughout the 1970s, 1980s, and early 1990s Cameron worked as a traveling speaker and contributor to publications such as
The Horn Book Magazine
''The Horn Book Magazine'', founded in Boston in 1924, is the oldest bimonthly magazine dedicated to reviewing children's literature. It began as a "suggestive purchase list" prepared by Bertha Mahony Miller and Elinor Whitney Field, proprietres ...
,
Wilson Library Bulletin
The ''Wilson Library Bulletin'' was a professional American magazine published for librarians from 1914 to 1995 by the H. W. Wilson Company, Bronx. NY. It began as ''The Wilson Bulletin'' and published occasionally. In its first volume were disc ...
, and Children's Literature in Education. She was also a member of the founding editorial board for the children's magazine
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
, which debuted in 1973. Her second book of essays, ''The Seed and the Vision: On the Writing and Appreciation of Children's Books'', came out in 1993. It is her final published book.
From late 1967 until her death Cameron made her home in
Pebble Beach, California
Pebble Beach is an unincorporated community on the Monterey Peninsula in Monterey County, California. The small coastal residential community of mostly single-family homes is also notable as a resort destination, and the home of the golf course ...
. She died in hospice in
Monterey, California
Monterey (; es, Monterrey; Ohlone: ) is a city located in Monterey County on the southern edge of Monterey Bay on the U.S. state of California's Central Coast. Founded on June 3, 1770, it functioned as the capital of Alta California under bo ...
on October 11, 1996 at the age of 84.
''Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'' controversy
From October 1972 to October 1973 a controversy spawned by Cameron over
Roald Dahl
Roald Dahl (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a British novelist, short-story writer, poet, screenwriter, and wartime fighter ace of Norwegian descent. His books have sold more than 250 million copies worldwide. Dahl has be ...
's ''
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
''Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'' is a 1964 children's novel by British author Roald Dahl. The story features the adventures of young Charlie Bucket inside the chocolate factory of eccentric chocolatier Willy Wonka.
The story was originally ...
'' embroiled the pages of ''
The Horn Book Magazine
''The Horn Book Magazine'', founded in Boston in 1924, is the oldest bimonthly magazine dedicated to reviewing children's literature. It began as a "suggestive purchase list" prepared by Bertha Mahony Miller and Elinor Whitney Field, proprietres ...
''.
In the first of a three part essay titled "McLuhan, Youth, and Literature", Cameron labeled ''Charlie'' "one of the most tasteless books ever written for children," finding it to be "sadistic" and "phony." She was especially chagrined at its use as a classroom read-aloud. Dahl replied in the February 1973 issue of Horn Book. He wrote that Cameron was entitled to her opinion about his book, but he felt that she had attacked his character as well. He also scoffed at her recommendation that teachers find better literature to share with their students: "I would dearly like to see Ms. Cameron trying to read ''
Little Women
''Little Women'' is a coming-of-age novel written by American novelist Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888).
Alcott wrote the book, originally published in two volumes in 1868 and 1869, at the request of her publisher. The story follows the lives ...
'', or ''
Robinson Crusoe
''Robinson Crusoe'' () is a novel by Daniel Defoe, first published on 25 April 1719. The first edition credited the work's protagonist Robinson Crusoe as its author, leading many readers to believe he was a real person and the book a tra ...
'' for that matter to a class of today's children. This lady is completely out of touch with reality. She would be howled out of the classroom."
In her essay, Cameron also decried the
Oompa-Loompa
This is a list of characters in the 1964 Roald Dahl book ''Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'', his 1972 sequel ''Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator'', and the former's film adaptations, ''Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory'' (1971) and '' ...
s, who were portrayed as abused, half-naked, African pygmy slaves. The pictures and descriptions of the Oompa-Loompas in ''Charlie'' were revised by Dahl and his publisher
Knopf
Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. () is an American publishing house that was founded by Alfred A. Knopf Sr. and Blanche Knopf in 1915. Blanche and Alfred traveled abroad regularly and were known for publishing European, Asian, and Latin American writers in ...
for the 1973 edition to cast the Oompa-Loompas as dwarves from Loompaland whom Willy Wonka adores.
Though this appeared to be a direct result of Cameron's criticism, the brief amount of time between the criticism and the publication of the revised edition of ''Charlie'' makes it more likely that the changes had already been put in motion by the time "McLuhan, Youth, and Literature" was published.
Legacy
Besides winning the National Book Award for Young People's Literature, Cameron's other awards included the 1972 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for ''A Room Made of Windows'', National Book Award runner-up in 1976 for ''To the Green Mountains'' and the
Kerlan Award
The Kerlan Award is a literary award given by the University of Minnesota's Kerlan Collection, a special library focusing on children's literature. Many awards focus on the finished product, but the Kerlan Award is given based on the creative proc ...
in 1985 for her body of work.
Since 1992 Super-Con-Duck-Tivity has presented the Eleanor Cameron Award for Middle Grades, one of its three annual
Golden Duck Awards The Golden Duck Awards for Excellence in Children's Science Fiction were given annually from 1992 to 2017. The awards were presented every year at either Worldcon or the North American Science Fiction Convention (NASFiC). In 2018 they were replace ...
for Excellence in Children's Science Fiction, to the author of an English-language novel written for
elementary school
A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...
children (grades 2 to 6). It is funded largely by
DucKon
DucKon was an annual science fiction convention held every May or June in the Chicago area between 1992 and 2014. The name is a shortening of DUpage County KONvention.
DucKon served as a fundraiser for Super-Con-Duck-Tivity, a non-profit org ...
, a yearly science fiction convention in the Chicago region.
Published fiction
The Mushroom Planet books
*''
The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet
''The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet'' is a children's science fiction novel written by Eleanor Cameron, illustrated by Robert Henneberger, and published by Little, Brown in 1954. It is set in Pacific Grove, California, and on Basidium ...
'' (1954)
*''
Stowaway to the Mushroom Planet'' (1956)
*''
Mr. Bass's Planetoid'' (1958)
*''
A Mystery for Mr. Bass'' (1960)
*''
Jewels from the Moon and the Meteor That Couldn't Stay'' (1964)
*''
Time and Mr. Bass'' (1967)
Julia Redfern series
*''A Room Made of Windows'' (1971)
*''Julia and the Hand of God'' (1977)
*''That Julia Redfern'' (1982)
*''Julia's Magic'' (1984)
*''The Private Worlds of Julia Redfern'' (1988)
Other fiction
*''The Unheard Music'' (1950)
*''The Terrible Churnadryne'' (1959)
*''The Mysterious Christmas Shell'' (1961)
*''The Beast With the Magical Horn'' (1963)
*''A Spell is Cast'' (1964)
*''The Court of the Stone Children'' (1973)
*''To the Green Mountains'' (1975)
*''Beyond Silence'' (1980)
Published nonfiction books
*''The Green and Burning Tree: On the Writing and Enjoyment of Children's Books'' (1969)
*''The Seed and the Vision: On the Writing and Appreciation of Children's Books'' (1993)
Published articles, essays, and reviews
Source:
* "Write a Story for Me!" ''Wilson Library Bulletin'' 31, 8 (April 1957)
* "The Unforgettable Glimpse". ''Wilson Library Bulletin'' 37 (October 1962)
* "Unicorn".
oem
An original equipment manufacturer (OEM) is generally perceived as a company that produces non-aftermarket parts and equipment that may be marketed by another manufacturer. It is a common industry term recognized and used by many professional or ...
''Horn Book'' 39 (October 1963)
* "Of Style and the Stylist". ''Horn Book'' 40 (February 1964)
* "The Dearest Freshness Deep Down Things". ''Horn Book'' 40 (October 1964)
* "Why Not for Children?" ''Horn Book'' 42 (February 1966)
* "
The Owl Service
''The Owl Service'' is a low fantasy novel for young adults by Alan Garner, published by Collins in 1967. Set in modern Wales, it is an adaptation of the story of the Welsh mythology, mythical Welsh woman Blodeuwedd, an "expression of the myt ...
: A Study". ''Wilson Library Bulletin'' 44, 4 (December 1969)
* "The Art of
Elizabeth Enright
Elizabeth Wright Enright Gillham (September 17, 1907 – June 8, 1968) was an American writer of children's books, an illustrator, writer of short stories for adults, literary critic and teacher of creative writing. Perhaps best known as the New ...
". ''Horn Book'' 45 (December 1969) and 46 (February 1970)
* "The Power of Private Vision". ''San Francisco Sunday Examiner & Chronicle'' circa November 1970
* "
The First Four Years (novel)
''The First Four Years'' is an autobiographical novel by Laura Ingalls Wilder, published in 1971 and commonly considered the last of nine books in the ''Little House'' series. The series had initially concluded at eight children's novels followi ...
by
Laura Ingalls Wilder
Laura Elizabeth Ingalls Wilder (February 7, 1867 – February 10, 1957) was an American writer, mostly known for the ''Little House on the Prairie'' series of children's books, published between 1932 and 1943, which were based on her childhood ...
". ''The New York Times Book Review'', March 28, 1971
* "High Fantasy:
A Wizard of Earthsea
''A Wizard of Earthsea'' is a fantasy novel written by American author Ursula K. Le Guin and first published by the small press Parnassus in 1968. It is regarded as a classic of children's literature and of fantasy, within which it is widely in ...
". ''Horn Book'' 47 (April 1971)
* "Cameron Books Based on
Pacific Grove". The Pacific Grove Tribune and Pebble Beach Green Sheet'', March 17, 1971
* "At Her Back She Always Heard:
A Sound of Chariots
A, or a, is the first Letter (alphabet), letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name ...
by
Mollie Hunter
Maureen Mollie Hunter McIlwraith (30 June 1922 – 31 July 2012) was a Scottish writer known as Mollie Hunter. She wrote fantasy for children, historical stories for young adults, and realistic novels for adults. Many of her works are inspired b ...
". ''The New York Times Book Review'', November 5, 1972
* "McLuhan, Youth, and Literature", Horn Book, 48 (October 1972), 48 (December 1972), and 49 (February 1973)
* "
Greenwitch
Greenwitch is a contemporary fantasy novel by Susan Cooper, published by Atheneum Press in 1974. It is the third entry in the five book ''Dark Is Rising Sequence''.
Synopsis
The Drew children – Simon, Jane, and Barney – return to Cornwa ...
". ''The New York Times'', May 4, 1974: 43
* "A Question of Taste". ''Children's Literature in Education'', Vol. 7, Issue 2 (June 1976)
* "Of Dreams, Art, and the Unconscious". ''The Openhearted Audience: Ten Authors Talk About Writing for Children''. Virginia Haviland, ed., 1980
* "A Branch of the Tree: Children's Literature as World Literature" ''Prelude: Mini-Seminars on Using Books Creatively'', Series 4, Children's Book Council, 1979. Sound recording.
* "Art and Morality" ''Proceedings of the Seventh Annual Conference of the Children's Literature Association''. Priscilla A. Ord, ed., March 1980
* "A Response to Perry Nodelman's 'Beyond Explanation'" ''Children's Literature'' 12, Francelia Butler, ed. Modern Language Association, 1980
* "Fantasy, Science Fiction and the Mushroom Planet Books". ''Children's Literature Association Quarterly'' 6 (Winter 1981)
* "One Woman as Writer and Feminist", ''Children's Literature Association Quarterly'' 7 (Winter 1982)
* "The Inmost Secret". ''Horn Book'' 59 (February 1983)
* "A SECOND LOOK:
Gone-Away Lake
''Gone-Away Lake'' is a children's novel written by Elizabeth Enright, illustrated by Beth and Joe Krush, and published by Harcourt in 1957. It was a runner-up for the annual Newbery Medal and was named to the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award list in 197 ...
". ''Horn Book'' 60, 5 (September/October 1984)
* "''
A Gathering of Gargoyles'' by Meredith Ann Pierce". ''The New York Times Book Review'', December 30, 1984
* "The Eternal Moment". ''Children's Literature Association Quarterly'' 9 (Winter 1984)
* "With Winkled Brow and Cool Fresh Eye". ''Horn Book'' 61 (May/June 1985) and 61 (July/August 1985)
* "A Writer's Journey". ''Innocence and Experience: Essays and Conversation on Children's Literature''. Barbara Harrison and Gregory Maguire, eds. Lothrop Lee & Shepard Books, 1987
* "Books Remembered: Eleanor Cameron". ''The Children's Book Council'' 41, 1 (January – August 1987)
* "Afterward". ''
Charlotte Sometimes'' by
Penelope Farmer
Penelope Jane Farmer (born 1939) is an English fiction writer well known for children's fantasy novels. Her best-known novel is ''Charlotte Sometimes (novel), Charlotte Sometimes'' (1969), a boarding-school story that features a multiple time sli ...
. Dell Yearling, 1987
*''When I Was a Child''. Barbara Rosen, ed. Children's Literature Association, 1992
* "A Discussion of
Peter Dickinson
Peter Malcolm de Brissac Dickinson OBE FRSL (16 December 1927 – 16 December 2015) was an English author and poet, best known for children's books and detective stories.
Dickinson won the annual Carnegie Medal from the Library Association ...
's
Eva
Eva or EVA may refer to:
* Eva (name), a feminine given name
Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters
* Eva (Dynamite Entertainment), a comic book character by Dynamite Entertainment
* Eva (''Devil May Cry''), Dante's mother in t ...
". ''Horn Book'' 70, 3 (May/June 1994)
* "A Child Besotted with Words". ''Books that Invite Talk, Wonder, and Play with Language''. Janice Kristo and Amy McClure, eds. National Council of Teachers of English, 1996
References
External links
*
*
*
''Eleanor Cameron: Dimensions of Amazement'' by Paul V. Allenat University Press of Mississippi (Feb 2018 publication, 978-1496814487)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cameron, Eleanor
1912 births
1996 deaths
20th-century Canadian novelists
20th-century Canadian women writers
American children's writers
American women children's writers
Canadian children's writers
Canadian science fiction writers
Canadian women novelists
National Book Award for Young People's Literature winners
People from Pebble Beach, California
Women science fiction and fantasy writers
20th-century American women
20th-century American people