Helen Wilkie Wing (February 7, 1892 – December 19, 1981) was an American author, composer, and pianist who was born in Polk, North Carolina. She lived in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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,
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
, for much of her life but also gave recitals in
Michigan
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
and
Wisconsin
Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
.
Wing presented many recitals with Grace Holverscheid Tallman, singing duets and accompanying Grace on piano. Together with Grace and her husband, Richard Dean Tallman, Wing owned the Normandy House restaurant in Chicago.
Wing taught at the Bliss School of Music in
Oak Park, Illinois. She wrote poems and songs for ''Child Life'' magazine, and at least 25 books for young children, including eight
Rand McNally
Rand McNally is an American technology and publishing company that provides mapping, software and hardware for consumer electronics, commercial transportation and education markets. The company is headquartered in Chicago, with a distribution c ...
Junior Elf books. Her works were published by the Wetmore Declamation Bureau in
Sioux City
Sioux City () is a city in Woodbury and Plymouth counties in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 85,797 in the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Iowa. The bulk of the city is in Woodbury County, ...
, Iowa, which provided plays and music for children, and the Chicago publisher Clayton F. Summy, who marketed spoken-word compositions to
Chautauqua
Chautauqua ( ) was an adult education and social movement in the United States, highly popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Chautauqua assemblies expanded and spread throughout rural America until the mid-1920s. The Chautauqua bro ...
performers.
Wing's works include:
Books
*Animal Alphabet (illustrated by
Racey Helps
Angus Clifford Racey Helps (1913–1970) was an English children's author and illustrator. His books were written in a simple style and feature woodland creatures and birds, with illustrations by the author. He is known also for illustrating po ...
)
*Animals at the Seashore (illustrated by Racey Helps)
*Animals' Boat Ride (illustrated by Racey Helps)
*Animals' Tea Party (illustrated by Irma Wilde)
*Billy Whiskers' Twins
*Georgie Porgie
*Happy Animals' ABC
*Happy Twins
*Kitten Twins (illustrated by Elizabeth Webb)
*Little Boy Blue's Horn
*Little Duckling (illustrated by Lucy Ozone)
*Nursery Nonsense of Now-a-days
*Old Woman Who Lives in a Shoe
*Play ABC With Me (illustrated by Racey Helps)
*Pony Twins (illustrated by Marjorie Cooper)
*Tubby Turtle
*Squirrel Twins (illustrated by Elizabeth Webb)
Rand McNally Junior Elf Books
*Butterball the Little Chick (illustrated by Mary Jane Chase)
*Hickory, Dickory Dock (illustrated by Eleanor Corwin)
*Jack Sprat (illustrated by Anne Sellers Leaf)
*Little Bo Peep (illustrated by Mary Jane Chase)
*Playtime Poodles: A Real Live Animal Book (photographed by Jack Schmidling & Albert G. Westelin)
*Puppy Twins (illustrated by Ruth Bendel)
*Tie My Shoe (illustrated by Sharon Cane)
*Volksy: The Little Yellow Car (illustrated by Mary Jane Chase)
Songs
*"Chink, Chink, Chinaman"
*"Circus"
*"Company"
*"Eskimo" (words by Mildred Plew Merryman)
*"Gingerbread Boy"
*"If"
*"Lilac Time"
*"Mother's Only Boy"
*"My Thoughts"
*"Nancy Sue"
*"Parasol"
*"Root for Rotary" (with Grace Holverscheid)
*"When I Am Very Old"
*"William"
Theatre
*Miracle of Christmas (music by Phyllis Fergus, text by Wing)
*One-Act Play
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wing, Helen
American women composers
American composers
American women writers
American writers
1892 births
1981 deaths
20th-century American women
20th-century American people