Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Death of a legend

We are getting close to the 100th anniversary of the great explosion of growth in children's publishing and children's libraries that started in the 1920s and hit its stride in the 1950s. Every year we lose another of the pioneers from the early pre-WWII days who left their stamp on both professions. Margaret K. McElderry, who started her career as a children's librarian, became one of the best known and most honored editors in the field. Both the N.Y. Times and SLJ paid tribute to her this week for her work in developing children's authors and illustrators throughout her career. She had a strong conviction of the importance of children's books, knowing that unless individuals become readers early in life, they are unlikely to ever follow that path. She chose carefully and published only books that she found worthwhile, but she allowed authors and illustrators to try out new formats and new content. For more than fifty years she was a leader in producing remarkable books for generations of children. She trained many younger editors, let's hope they will be able to continue the tradition despite the pressures of these difficult times.

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