by Anne on August 16, 2009
George Littlechild, artist and author
Aug. 16, 1958-

This Land is My Land by George Littlechild (Children’s Book Press, 1993)
Part autobiography, part history, Littlechild matches his words with his bold, colorful art in this book about his life and the lives of other Native American peoples. Littlechild is a member of the Plains Cree Nation.
Resources about George Littlechild can be found in the Native American Authors Project page.
Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer
May 25, 1803-April 27, 1882

Paths to Peace: People Who Changed the World by Jane Breskin Zalben (Dutton, 2006)
Buddies with Nathaniel Hawthorne and Henry David Thoreau, Emerson had a great influence on the Transcendentalist movement.
An Emerson bio and samples of his work are featured on Thomas Hampson’s I Hear America Singing page at PBS.org.
by Anne on March 11, 2009
Wanda Gag, illustrator and author
March 11, 1893-June 27, 1946

Wanda Gag: The Girl Who Lived to Draw by Deborah Kogan Ray (Viking, 2008)
Captivated by drawing from the time she could hold a pencil, Gag honed her skills and although family tragedies waylaid her dreams for a time, eventually she went to art school and became the creator of one of the most beloved children’s books, Millions of Cats.
The Minnesota Historical Society offers biographical notes and additional resources on Gag at its Minnesota Author Biographies Project site.
Giselle Potter, children’s author and illustrator
20th century-

The Year I Didn’t Go to School by Giselle Potter (Atheneum/Anne Schwartz Books, 2002)
What a year! Traveling around Italy with her family’s theater troupe when she was seven, Potter gives a first-person account of this magical time.
Puppeters of America can link you up with a guild, festival or event in the US and Canada.
by Anne on February 18, 2009

Toni Morrison, professor and writer
Feb. 18, 1931-
Women of Hope: African Americans Who Made a Difference by Joyce Hansen (Scholastic, 1998)
Morrison won the Pulitzer Prize for her novel Beloved in 1988 and the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993. Highlights of this extraordinary woman can be found in this collective biography.
Biographies, bibliographies, essays, interviews are posted on a site devoted to Morrison.