Marianne Carus (June 16, 1928 – March 3, 2021) was a German-born American editor and publisher known for creating the children's magazine ''

Cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

''. Responding to educators who were using the basic readers created by her and her husband, Carus began outlining a children's literary magazine. She was inspired by '' St. Nicholas'', started in 1873 and edited by

Mary Mapes Dodge Mary Elizabeth Mapes Dodge (January 26, 1831 – August 21, 1905) was an American children's author and editor, best known for her novel '' Hans Brinker''. She was the recognized leader in juvenile literature for almost a third of the nineteen ...

. Carus was not personally knowledgeable about publishing so she brought together a team of experts to act as her editorial board including

Eleanor Cameron 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'' (1954) and its sequels, a collection of ...

Virginia Haviland Virginia Haviland (May 21, 1911 – January 6, 1988) was an American librarian and writer who became an international authority in children's literature. She chaired the prestigious Newbery-Caldecott Award Committee, traveled and wrote extensivel ...

Clifton Fadiman Clifton Paul "Kip" Fadiman (May 15, 1904 – June 20, 1999) was an American intellectual, author, editor, and radio and television personality. He began his work in radio, and switched to television later in his career. Background Born in Brook ...

Lloyd Alexander Lloyd Chudley Alexander (January 30, 1924 – May 17, 2007) was an American author of more than 40 books, primarily fantasy novels for children's literature, children and young adults. Over his seven-decade career, Alexander wrote 48 books, and ...

Isaac Bashevis Singer Isaac Bashevis Singer (; 1903 – July 24, 1991) was a Poland, Polish-born Jews, Jewish novelist, short-story writer, memoirist, essayist, and translator in the United States. Some of his works were adapted for the theater. He wrote and publish ...

, and art director

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 illustra ...

. Unlike other children's publications of the time, the magazine had hand-drawn covers which included a volume and issue number. Carus served as editor-in-chief of the publications for more than 35 years. She was known for encouraging children to write in or submit drawings to the publication, and would often hire people from other types of publications and train them to work in children's literature. She was also highly competitive as to which submissions she would accept for publication. Cricket Magazine Group expanded to publish ''Ladybug'' in 1990, ''Spider'' in 1994, ''Babybug'' in 1995 and ''Cicada'' in 1998. While other children's publications at the time avoided topics that could be considered "edgy," Carus tried to make ''Cricket'' reflect gender and ethnic diversity, often specifically soliciting stories about girls to balance the existing stories she had. Carus ran Carus Publishing Company which owned

Open Court Publishing Company The Open Court Publishing Company is a publisher with offices in Chicago and LaSalle, Illinois. It is part of the Carus Publishing Company of Peru, Illinois. History Open Court was founded in 1887 by Edward C. Hegeler of the Matthiessen-Hege ...

as well as Cricket Magazine Group, and Cobblestone Publishing. The company was acquired by ePals Corporation in 2011.

Early life and education

Carus was born on June 16, 1928, in Dieringhausen, Germany, to Dr. Günther Sondermann (a descendant of Johann Wilhelm Sondermann), an ophthalmologist, and Elisabeth Sondermann (née Gesell). She grew up in Gummersbach, Germany. She married Blouke Carus on March 3, 1951. The couple had three children and often spent time in Germany. Carus was unsatisfied with the overly simplistic books their children brought home from school in the United States compared to what they were reading in German schools. Together with her husband, whose family owned Open Court Publishing Company, she created a set of books called the Open Court Basic Readers for elementary school students learning to read in 1963.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carus, Marianne 1928 births 2021 deaths American magazine editors Emigrants from West Germany to the United States People from Gummersbach