Phyllis Louise Krasilovsky (née Manning; August 28, 1926February 26, 2014) was an American writer of children's books.

Life

Phyllis Louise Manning was born in Brooklyn and graduated from its James Madison High School. She recalled that she started telling children's stories to her then-fiancé William Krasilovsky's five-year-old cousin, who was dying of cancer. Krasilovsky was first published after she walked into the Doubleday offices and insisted she must see an editor immediately before the couple left for Alaska. Children’s book editor Margaret Lesser heard the confrontation at the front desk, invited her in, read the manuscript and accepted ''The Man Who Didn't Wash His Dishes'' a few minutes later. Krasilovsky's husband, at the time still a student at Cornell Law School, carefully studied the contract before approving. Then they headed for Alaska. Their

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miniature car was so small, the wheel span was too narrow for the wooden tracks they occasionally encountered on the unpaved Alaska Highway. They had to hitch over the bridges with the car on the back of trucks. Phyllis subsequently used her power of persuasion in the

Yukon Yukon (; ; formerly called Yukon Territory and also referred to as the Yukon) is the smallest and westernmost of Canada's three territories. It also is the second-least populated province or territory in Canada, with a population of 43,964 as ...

to get them overnight lodging in a jail when they had nowhere else to stay. They were featured in an article in Ladies' Home Journal, ''How America Lives: Newcomers to Alaska''. Over the years Krasilovsky published 20 books for children, including ''The Very Little Girl'' and ''Scaredy Cat'' and perhaps best remembered, ''The Cow Who Fell in the Canal'' and ''Benny’s Flag''. She described her ''The Popular Girls Club'' as "one of the first books about mean kids". Her books were translated into fourteen languages. In the late 1960s, Krasilovsky was part of an initiative of eminent children’s book authors who pressed for foreign rights to their works to be negotiated separately from domestic publishing contracts. The first meeting, including Maurice Sendak,

Margret Rey Margret Elizabeth Rey (born Margarete Elisabeth Waldstein; May 16, 1906 – December 21, 1996) was a German-born American writer and illustrator, known best for the ''Curious George'' series of children's picture books that she and her husband H. ...

and

H. A. Rey Hans Augusto (H.A.) Rey (né Reyersbach; September 16, 1898 – August 26, 1977) was a German-born American illustrator and author, known best for the ''Curious George'' series of children's picture books that he and his wife Margret Rey create ...

Ruth Krauss Ruth Ida Krauss (July 25, 1901 – July 10, 1993) was an American writer of children's books, including '' The Carrot Seed'', and of theatrical poems for adult readers. Many of her books are still in print. Early life and education Ruth Krauss ...

Remy Charlip Remy or Rémy may refer to: Places * Remy River, a tributary of rivière du Gouffre in Saint-Urbain, Quebec, Canada * Rémy, a French commune in Pas-de-Calais * Remy, Oise, northern France * Remy, Oklahoma, USA * 14683 Remy, an asteroid * Po ...

, and

Crockett Johnson Crockett Johnson (October 20, 1906 – July 11, 1975) was the pen name of the American cartoonist and children's book illustrator David Johnson Leisk. He is best known for the comic strip '' Barnaby'' (1942–1952) and the ''Harold'' series of boo ...

, was held in her living room in

Chappaqua, New York Chappaqua ( ) is a hamlet and census-designated place in the town of New Castle, in northern Westchester County, New York, United States. It is approximately north of New York City. The hamlet is served by the Chappaqua station of the Metro ...

. Beginning in 1970, Krasilovsky taught children’s literature at Marymount College in Tarrytown, NY, for three years; she was asked to lead the academic procession at graduation despite her lack of a college degree. As a child of the Depression, she had attended James Madison High School in Brooklyn on the commercial track to learn typing and stenography but also joined the debating team, whose medal she won in her graduating year and where she met her future husband. The success of her book ''The Cow Who Fell in the Canal'' led the Dutch government to honor her with a reception at its Consulate in New York and a trip to the Netherlands. In addition to writing for many magazines, she wrote several op-eds for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

''. The Krasilovskys had four children: Alexis, Jessica, Margaret and Peter.

Death

Krasilovsky died at the age of 87 on February 27, 2014, in

Redding, Connecticut Redding is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 8,765 at the 2020 census. History Early settlement and establishment At the time colonials began receiving grants for land within the boundaries of present- ...

, of complications from a stroke."Phyllis Krasilovsky, 87"
''Westport Now'' (

Westport, CT Westport is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, along the Long Island Sound within Connecticut's Gold Coast. It is northeast of New York City. The town had a population of 27,141 according to the 2020 U.S. Census. History ...

). March 1, 2014.

Books

* ''The Man Who Didn’t Wash His Dishes'' ( Doubleday, 1950), illustrated by

Barbara Cooney Barbara Cooney (August 6, 1917 – March 10, 2000) was an American writer and illustrator of 110 children's books, published over sixty years. She received two Caldecott Medals for her work on ''Chanticleer and the Fox'' (1958) and '' Ox-Cart Ma ...

* ''The Very Little Girl'' (1953), illus. Ninon MacKnight; 1992 edition illus. Karen Gundersheimer, * ''The Cow Who Fell in the Canal'' (1957), illus. Peter Spier * ''Scaredy Cat'' (1959), illus.

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* ''Benny's Flag'' (1960), illus. W. T. Mars; 2002 edition illus.

Jim Fowler James Mark Fowler (April 9, 1930 – May 8, 2019) was an American professional zoologist and host of the acclaimed wildlife documentary television show Mutual of Omaha's ''Wild Kingdom''. Early years Born in Albany, Georgia, Fowler spent h ...

– "recounts the story of Jon Ben Benson, a young Aleut boy who enters a contest to design a state flag for Alaska" * ''The Very Little Boy'' (1962), illus.

; 1992 edition illus. Karen Gundersheimer, * ''Susan Sometimes'' (1962), illus. Abbi Giventer * ''The Girl Who Was a Cowboy'' (1965), illus. Cyndy Szekeres * ''The Very Tall Little Girl'' (1969), illus. Olivia H. H. Cole * ''The Shy Little Girl'' (

Houghton Mifflin The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...

, 1970), illus.

Trina Schart Hyman Trina Schart Hyman (April 8, 1939 – November 19, 2004) was an American illustrator of children's books. She illustrated over 150 books, including fairy tales and Arthurian legends. She won the 1985 Caldecott Medal for U.S. picture book illust ...

* ''The Popular Girls Club'' (

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest pu ...

, 1973), illus.

* ''L. C. is the Greatest'' (1975) – 129 pages, * ''The Man Who Tried to Save Time'' (1979), illus. Marcia Sewall * ''The Man Who Entered a Contest'' (1980), illus. Yuri Salzman * ''The Man Who Cooked for Himself'' ( Parents Magazine Press, 1981), illus. Mamoru Funai * ''The First Tulips in Holland'' (1982), illus. S. D. Schindler – "fictionalized account of how a

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

merchant brought tulip bulbs from

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

", * ''The Christmas Tree That Grew'' (1987), illus. Kathy Wilburn * ''The Happy Times Storybook'' (1987), illus.

Ruth Sanderson Ruth Sanderson (born 1951) is an American illustrator and writer of children's books. Biography Sanderson graduated from the Paier College of Art in Connecticut in 1974.Stevens (2001), 107. She is a member of the Society of Illustrators, the S ...

* ''The Man Who Was Too Lazy to Fix Things'' (1992), illus. John Emil Cymerman * ''The Woman Who Saved Things'' (1993), illus. John Emil Cymerman

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Krasilovsky, Phyllis 1926 births 2014 deaths American children's writers 20th-century travel writers American women travel writers American travel writers People from Brooklyn People from Chappaqua, New York James Madison High School (Brooklyn) alumni 21st-century American women