Marcia Joan Brown (July 13, 1918 – April 28, 2015) was an American writer and illustrator of more than 30

children's books A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younge ...

. She has won three annual

Caldecott Medal The Randolph Caldecott Medal, frequently shortened to just the Caldecott, annually recognizes the preceding year's "most distinguished American picture book for children". It is awarded to the illustrator by the Association for Library Servic ...

s from the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members ...

, and three

honors as an illustrator, recognizing the year's best U.S.

picture book A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images. The images ...

illustration, and the ALA's

Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal The Children's Literature Legacy Award (known as the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal until 2018) is a prize awarded by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), to writers or illustrat ...

in 1992 for her career contribution to children's literature. Many of her titles have been published in translation, including

Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...

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and Xhosa-Bantu editions. Brown is known as one of the most honored illustrators in children's literature.

Life

Brown was born on July 13, 1918 in

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, and Yonkers, with a population of 211,328 at the 2020 United States census. Located in W ...

. She enrolled in the New York State College for Teachers, predecessor to the

University at Albany The State University of New York at Albany, commonly referred to as the University at Albany, UAlbany or SUNY Albany, is a public research university with campuses in Albany, Rensselaer, and Guilderland, New York. Founded in 1844, it is one ...

. She taught at Cornwall High School in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. She left teaching to work in the New York Public Library's Central Children's Room. Her first book was ''The Little Carousel'', a 32-page picture book that she both wrote and illustrated, published by

Scribner's Charles Scribner's Sons, or simply Scribner's or Scribner, is an American publisher based in New York City, known for publishing American authors including Henry James, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Kurt Vonnegut, Marjorie Kinnan Rawli ...

in 1946. Brown lived with her companion Janet Loranger who was also her editor. Brown died on April 28, 2015 in Laguna Hills, California.

Awards

For her contribution as a children's illustrator Brown was U.S. nominee in both 1966 and 1976 for the biennial, international Hans Christian Andersen Award, the highest international recognition available to creators of children's books. She received the 1977

Regina Medal The Regina Medal is a literary award conferred annually by the U.S.-based Catholic Library Association. It recognizes one living person for "continued, distinguished contribution to children's literature without regard to the nature of the contri ...

from the Catholic Libraries Association for "continued, distinguished contribution to children's literature without regard to the nature of the contribution" and the 1992

from the American Library Association for "substantial and lasting contributions to children's literature"; it was then conferred every three years. She received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the SUNY Albany Alumni Association (1969), the Distinguished Service to Children's Literature Award from the University of Southern Mississippi(1972), The Regina Medal from the Catholic Library Association for service to children's literature (1977). From 1955 to 1983 Brown won three

s, the annual American Library Association award to the illustrator of the year's "most distinguished American picture book for children" (only

David Wiesner David Wiesner (born February 5, 1956) is an American illustrator and writer of children's books, known best for picture books including some that tell stories without words. As an illustrator he has won three Caldecott Medals recognizing the ye ...

has also won three). Her books have been named Honor Books six times from 1947 to 1954, and display silver rather than gold seals.

Selected works

winners *'' Cinderella, or the Little Glass Slipper'', 1954 *'' Once a Mouse'', 1961 *''

Shadow A shadow is a dark area where light from a light source is blocked by an opaque object. It occupies all of the three-dimensional volume behind an object with light in front of it. The cross section of a shadow is a two-dimensional silhouette, ...

'', 1982

Caldecott Honor The Randolph Caldecott Medal, frequently shortened to just the Caldecott, annually recognizes the preceding year's "most distinguished American picture book for children". It is awarded to the illustrator by the Association for Library Service ...

finalist * '' Stone Soup: An Old Tale'', 1947 * '' Henry Fisherman'', 1949 * ''

Dick Whittington and his Cat Dick, Dicks, or Dick's may refer to: Media * ''Dicks'' (album), a 2004 album by Fila Brazillia * Dicks (band), a musical group * ''Dick'' (film), a 1999 American comedy film * "Dick" (song), a 2019 song by Starboi3 featuring Doja Cat Names ...

'', 1950 * '' Skipper John's Cook'',1951 * ''

Puss in Boots "Puss in Boots" ( it, Il gatto con gli stivali) is an Italian fairy tale, later spread throughout the rest of Europe, about an anthropomorphic cat who uses trickery and deceit to gain power, wealth, and the hand of a princess in marriage for ...

'', 1952 * ''

The Steadfast Tin Soldier "The Steadfast Tin Soldier" ( Danish: ''Den standhaftige tinsoldat'') is a literary fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen about a tin soldier's love for a paper ballerina. The tale was first published in Copenhagen by C.A. Reitzel on 2 Octo ...

'', 1953

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Marcia 1918 births American children's writers American women illustrators Caldecott Medal winners American children's book illustrators Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal winners Writers from Rochester, New York 2015 deaths Artists from Rochester, New York University at Albany, SUNY alumni