Barbara Cooney (1917 - 2000)

Genre: Children's Literature

Cooney was born in Brooklyn, summered as a child on the Maine coast, received her art degree from Smith College (BA 1938), and lived until her death in March 2000 in Damariscotta with her husband, Charles Talbot Porter, a retired doctor; their four children are grown. Cooney won two Caldecott Medals, received the University of Maine's Maryann Hartman Award in 1998, and was recognised by Gov. Angus King as a 'Maine State Treasure.' Cooney illustrated over 105 children's books, 18 of which she also authored.

Children's books include:

Both Written and Illustrated:

• King of Wreck Island (1941; shipwreck story)
• The Kellyhorns (1942/2001; twins separated as babies reunite at age 12)
• Captain Pottle's House (1943/1948; mystery)
• Chanticleer and the Fox (1958/1999; adapted from Chaucer)
• The Little Juggler (1961/1982; adapted)
• Snow White and Rose Red: A Picture Book (1966/1991)
• Christmas(1967)
• Garland of Games and Other Diversions: An Alphabet Book (1969; with Suzanne Morse)
• Little Brother and Little Sister (1982; retold)
• Miss Rumphius (1982/1985/1999; reviews of Miss Rumphius)
• Hattie and the Wild Waves: A Story from Brooklyn (1990/1999)
• Eleanor (1996/1999; about Eleanor Roosevelt's childhood; reviews of Eleanor)
• Island Boy (1999)

Illustrated Only:

• Ake and His World (1941; by Swedish poet Bertil Malmberg)
• American Folk Songs for Children in Home, School, and Nursery School (1948; compiled by Ruth Seeger)
• The Best Christmas (1949; by Lee Kingman)
• Kildee House (1949/1993/1999; by Rutherford Montgomery; Newbery Honor Roll)
• Read Me Another Story (1949; compiled by Child Study Assoc. of America)
• Teacher Listen, Children Speak (1949)
• Just Plain Maggie (1950; by Lorraine Beim)
• The Man Who Didn't Wash Dishes (1950)
• Animal Folk Songs for Children (1950/1993; compiled by Ruth Seeger)
• Christmas in the Barn (1952; by Margaret Wise Brown)
• Yours With Love, Kate (1952; by Miriam Mason, about Kate Douglas Wiggin)
• Pepper (1952; by Barbara Reynolds; about a racoon)
• Let's Keep Christmas: A Sermon (1953)
• American Folk Songs for Christmas (1953/1999; compiled by Ruth Seeger)
• Peter's Long Walk (1953; by Lee Kingman)
• Five Little Peppers and How The Grew (1954; by Margaret Sidney)
• The Little Fir Tree (1954; Margaret Wise Brown )
• Little Women; or Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy (1955)
• Snow Birthday (1955; by Helen Kay)
• Friends with God: Stories and Prayers of the Marshall Family (1956)
• 'I Am Cherry Alive,' The Little Girl Sang (1958/1979; by Delmore Schwartz)
• The American Speller: An Adaptation of Noah Webster's Blue-Backed Speller (1960)
• Peacock Pie (1961; by Walter de la Mare)
• Favorite Fairy Tales Told in Spain (1963; retold by Virginia Haviland)
• A White Heron: A Story of Maine (1963; by Sarah Orne Jewett)
• Wynken, Blynken, and Nod (1964; retold by Eugene Field)
• Mother Goose in French: Poesies de la Viare Mere Oie (1964; transl. to French by Hugh Latham)
• Shaun and the Boat: An Irish Story (1965; by Anne Molloy)
• Katie's Magic Glasses (1965)
• The Courtship, Merry Marriage, and Feast of Cock Robin and Jenny Wren (1965)
• All in a Suitcase (1966)
• A Little Prayer (1967)
• The Crows of Pearblossom (1967; by Aldous Huxley)
• Mother Goose in Spanish: Poesias de la Madre Oca (1968; transl. by Alastair Reid/Anthony Kerrigan)
• Christmas Folk (1969; by Nathalie Belting)
• The Owl and the Pussycat (1969; by Edward Lear)
• Bambi: A Life in the Woods (1970/1982/1983; by Felix Salten)
• The Lazy Young Duke of Dundee (1970; by William Wise)
• Dionysos and the Pirates: Homeric Hymn #7 (1970; transl. and adapted by Penelope Proddow)
• Hermes, Lord of Robbers: Homeric Hymn #4 (1971; transl. and adapted by Penelope Proddow)
• Demeter and Persephone: Homeric Hymn #2 (1972; transl. and adapted by Penelope Proddow)
• Seven Little Rabbits (1973; by John Becker)
• Down to the Beach (1973; by May Garelick)
• Would You Rather Be A Tiger? (1973; by Robyn Supraner)
• The House Mouse (1973; by Dorothy Harris)
• Squawk to the Moon, Little Goose (1974; by Edna M. Preston)
• Barton and Dudley (1975; by Marjorie W. Sharmat)
• The Sad Story of the Little Bluebird and the Hungry Cat (1975; by Edna M. Preston)
• Lexington and Concord 1775: What Really Happened (1975; by Jean Colby)
• When the Sky Is Like Lace (1975; Elinor L. Horwitz)
• Midsummer Magic: A Garland of Stories, Charms and Recipes (1977; compiled by Ellin Greene)
• The Donkey Prince (1977; adapted from Grimm Bros. by Jean Craig)
• Plant Magic (1977; by Aileen Lucia Fisher; with Paul Taylor)
• Ox-Cart Man (1979/1983; by Donald Hall)
• How the Hibernators Came to Bethlehem (1980; by Norma Farber)
• Emma (1980/1993/1999; by Wendy Kesselman)
• Tortillitas para mam� and other nursery rhymes: Spanish and English (1981; transl. by Margot C. Griego)
• Where Have You Been? (1981; by Margaret Wise Brown)
• Spirit Child: A Story of the Nativity (1984; by Bernardino de Sahag�n; retold by John Bierhorst)
• The Story of Holly and Ivy (1985/1987; by Rumer Godden)
• Peter and the Wolf: a mechanical book (1985; by Prokofiev)
• Louhi, Witch of North Farm: a story from Finland's epic poem, the Kalevala (1986; retold by Toni de Gerez)
• The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree: An Appalachian Story (1988; by Gloria Houston)
• Roxaboxen (1990/1991/1999; by Alice McLerran)
• Letting Swift River Go (1991; by Jane Yolen)
• Emily (1992; by Michael Bedard)
• Only Opal: The Diary of a Young Girl (1994; by Opal Whiteley, adapted by Jane Boulton; about a 5 year-old girl girl living with foster parents in an Oregon lumber town around 1900; reviews of Only Opal)
• The Remarkable Christmas of the Cobbler's Sons (1994/1997; by Ruth Sawyer)
• Basket Moon (1999; by Mary Lyn Ray)

Written Only:

• The Story of Christmas (1995/1998/1999; written by Cooney and illustrated by Loretta Krupinski)

You can read more about her through Denise Ortakale's Cooney site and on Carol Hurst's Children's Literature site. There's also an article by Cooney about making picture books (1998) at Horn Book, her remarks at Bowdoin's commencement in 1996, and a little background material on Cooney at Univ. of Maine's site. Her papers are collected at deGrummond at the Univ. of Southern Mississippi.


Last Update: 08/01/2007

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