Myrtle Sheldon
Myrtle Sheldon (born c. 1893) was an American illustrator of children’s books.
Sheldon was African-American, and, according to biographic information at the Library of Congress, she was born about 1893.[1] She illustrated many children's books, some without attribution at the time of publication. Those publicly credited include A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson, Ellen Tarry's Janie Belle, and the 1932 Newbery Honor-winning children's book Boy of the South Seas by Eunice Tietjens. Tarry’s work was particularly notable, as Janie Belle was one of the first children’s picture books with an African-American author published in the United States.[2]
Actress Kathy Bates listed the Stevenson book as one of her favorites and lauded Sheldon's drawings.[3]
Works
Works illustrated by Sheldon include:
- The Little Lame Prince (1910 edition) by Dinah Maria Mulock Craik and Myrtle Sheldon.[4]
- A Child's Garden of Verses (1916) by Robert Louis Stevenson[5] M.A. Donohue & Co.
- Boy of the South Seas (1931) by Eunice Tietjens. Received the Newbery Honor in 1932.[6]
- Jerry Todd's Up-The-Ladder Club (1937) and Jerry Todd's Poodle Parlor (1938) both by Leo Edwards
- Mary and Marie (1938) by Helen Valentine
- Harry, the Horse (1939) by Joan Mosely
- We Call it Human Nature (1939) by Paul Grabbe[7]
- Ginger Blue (1940) by Charles Morrow Wilson[8]
- Janie Belle (1940) by Ellen Tarry[2]
References
- Sheldon, Myrtle. "LC Catalog - Browse". catalog.loc.gov. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
- Tarry, Ellen (April 30, 1992). The Third Door: The Autobiography of an American Negro Woman. University of Alabama Press. pp. 150–151. ISBN 9780817305796. Retrieved June 7, 2020 – via Google Books.
- "Kathy Bates's Favorite Books of All-Time". Retrieved June 14, 2020.
- Craik, Dinah Maria Mulock; Sheldon, Myrtle (1910). The little lame prince. M.A. Donohue.
- Stevenson, Robert Louis. "A Child's Garden of Verses". www.gutenberg.org. The Project Gutenberg eBook. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
- "Newbery Medal and Honor Books, 1922-Present". American Library Association. Retrieved December 30, 2009.
- Catalog of Copyright Entries. Part 1. [A] Group 1. Books. New Series. United States Copyright Office. December 5, 1941. p. 2078 – via Google Books.
- Catalog of Copyright Entries. Part 1. [A] Group 1. Books. New Series. United States Copyright Office. 1941. p. 5361. Retrieved June 7, 2020 – via Google Books.