Adrienne Adams (February 10, 1906 – December 3, 2002) was an American children's book illustrator as well as an artist and writer of children's books. She won two Caldecott Honors (in 1960 and 1962) and in 1973 she was awarded the Rutgers Award for overall contributions to children's literature. In 1977, she was awarded the University of Southern Mississippi Medallion.

Life and career

Adams was born in

Fort Smith, Arkansas Fort Smith is the List of municipalities in Arkansas, third-most populous city in Arkansas, United States, and one of the two county seats of Sebastian County, Arkansas, Sebastian County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the pop ...

, and grew up in

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

. She obtained a B.A. at

Stephens College Stephens College is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Timeline of women's colleges in the United States#First and oldest, the second-oldest women's educa ...

(which awarded her the Alumnae Achievement Award in 1964) and then attended the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...

. She also was awarded the University of Southern Mississippi's Medallion in 1977. She moved to New York in 1929 to study at the American School of Design and until 1949 she was a free-lance designer of displays, murals, textiles, greeting cards, etc. She married children's book writer John Lonzo Anderson on August 17, 1934, and in 1942 illustrated his first book, '' Bag of Smoke'', to begin her career as an illustrator. She became a full-time illustrator in 1952, and illustrated more than 30 books, ranging from contemporary authors including

Rumer Godden Margaret Rumer Godden (10 December 1907 – 8 November 1998) was a British author of more than 60 fiction and non-fiction books. Nine of her works have been made into films, most notably ''Black Narcissus (novel), Black Narcissus'' in 194 ...

, Irwin Shapiro and

Aileen Fisher Aileen Lucia Fisher (September 9, 1906 – December 2, 2002) was an American people, American writer of more than a hundred children's books, including poetry, picture books in verse, prose about nature and America, biographies, Bible-themed book ...

to the fairy tales of

Hans Christian Andersen Hans Christian Andersen ( , ; 2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogue (literature), travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his literary fairy tales. Andersen's fai ...

and the

Brothers Grimm The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob Grimm, Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm Grimm, Wilhelm (1786–1859), were Germans, German academics who together collected and published folklore. The brothers are among the best-known storytellers of Oral tradit ...

. She also wrote and illustrated six children books of her own. Adams and Anderson lived together in

Lebanon Township, New Jersey Lebanon Township (pronounced "LEB-uh-nin") is the northernmost township in Hunterdon County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 6,195, a decrease of 393 (−6.0%) from the 2010 ...

.Stapleton, Chip
"Author, artist-wife make a happy team"
''

Courier News The ''Courier News'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Somerville, New Jersey, that serves Somerset County and other areas of Central Jersey. The paper has been owned by Gannett since 1927. Notable employees *John Curley, former presi ...

'', May 7, 1971. Accessed April 13, 2023, via

Newspapers.com Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites. It is owned by The ...

. "Mr. Biddle, is ecstatic as he flies along with the help of Adso, Bodso, Crown and Charlie in the latest joint effort by Adrienne Adams and John Lonzo Anderson of Lebanon Township."

Selected works

;By other writers * 1954 – ''Impunity Jane: The Story of a Pocket Doll'' by

(

Viking Press Viking Press (formally Viking Penguin, also listed as Viking Books) is an American publishing company owned by Penguin Random House. It was founded in New York City on March 1, 1925, by Harold K. Guinzburg and George S. Oppenheimer and then acqu ...

) * 1957 – ''Mouse House'' by Godden (Viking) *1957 – '' The Easter Bunny That Overslept'' by Priscilla and Otto Friedrich ( Lothrop, Lee & Shepard) * 1958 – '' The Story of Holly and Ivy'' by Godden (Viking) *1959 – ''Houses from the Sea'' by Alice E. Goudey (

Charles Scribner's Sons Charles Scribner's Sons, or simply Scribner's or Scribner, is an American publisher based in New York City that has published several notable American authors, including Henry James, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Kurt Vonnegut, Marjori ...

) – one runner-up for the 1960

Caldecott Medal The Randolph Caldecott Medal, frequently shortened to just the Caldecott, annually recognizes the preceding year's "most distinguished American picture book for children". It is awarded to the illustrator by the Association for Library Service ...

*1960 – ''

The Shoemaker and the Elves "The Elves and The Shoemaker" (German: ''Die Wichtelmänner'') is a set of fairy tales collected by the Brothers Grimm (KHM 39) about a poor Shoemaking, shoemaker who receives much-needed help from three young helpful brownie (folklore), elves. T ...

'' by the

(Scribner's) –

ALA Notable Book American Library Association Notable lists are announced each year in January by various divisions within the American Library Association (ALA). There are six lists which are part of the larger ALA awards structure. * ''ALA Notable Books for Adu ...

*1961 – ''The Day We Saw the Sun Come Up'' by Alice E. Goudey (Scribner's) – one runner-up for the 1962 Caldecott Medal *1961 – ''

Thumbelina Thumbelina (; ) is a literary fairy tale written by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. It was first published by C. A. Reitzel on 16 December 1835 in Copenhagen, Denmark, with "The Naughty Boy" and "The Travelling Companion" in the se ...

'' by Hans Christian Andersen (Scribner's) – ALA Notable Book *1963 – ''Bring a Torch, Jeannette, Isabella'' by W. Saboly (Scribner's) – ALA Notable Book *1964 – '' Snow-White and Rose-Red'' by Grimm (Scribner's) *1968 – '' Jorinde and Joringel'' by Grimm (Scribner's) – ALA Notable Book *1973 – ''Twice Upon a Time'' by Irwin Shapiro (Xerox Family Education) *1975 – ''

Hansel and Gretel "Hansel and Gretel" (; ) is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm and published in 1812 as part of ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'' (KHM 15). Hansel and Gretel are siblings who are abandoned in a forest and fall into the hands of a witch ...

'' by Grimm (Scribner's) *1977 – ''The River Bank from The Wind in the Willows'' by Kenneth Grahame (Scribner's) *1983 – ''The Easter Bunny That Overslept'' by Priscilla and Otto Friedrich (Lothrop, Lee & Shepard) – revised (see 1957) ;Self-illustrated

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

catalogs five children's picture books with text and illustrations by Adams. * 1971 – ''A Woggle of Witches'' (Charles Scribner's Sons) * 1976 – ''The Easter Egg Artists'' (Scribner's) * 1978 – ''The Christmas Party'' (The Scribner Book Company) * 1980 – ''The Great Valentine's Day Balloon Race'' (Scribner) * 1981 – ''A Halloween Happening'' (Scribner)

Sources

*''Something About the Author'', vol. 8, pp. 1–2. *''Illustrators of Children's Books: 1957–1966'', 1968, pp. 70–71. *''Contemporary Authors: New Revision Series'', vol. 1, pp. 9–10.

References

External links

*
Adrienne Adams Papers
at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

* (including 1 "from old catalog")
Adrienne Adams Papers
Special Collections at the University of Southern Mississippi (de Grummond Children's Literature Collection) {{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Adrienne 1906 births 2002 deaths American children's book illustrators People from Fort Smith, Arkansas People from Lebanon Township, New Jersey Artists from New Jersey Artists from Oklahoma Stephens College alumni University of Missouri alumni American women children's book illustrators 20th-century American women artists 20th-century American illustrators