Arlene Tichy Mosel (August 27, 1921 – May 1996) was an American children's librarian who wrote the text for two award-winning children's

picture books A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images. The ima ...

illustrated by Blair Lent. '' Tikki Tikki Tembo'' won the annual ''Boston Globe''–Horn Book Award and Lent won the annual

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 ...

for ''

The Funny Little Woman ''The Funny Little Woman'' is a book "retold by" Arlene Mosel. Released by E. P. Dutton, it was the recipient of the Caldecott Medal for illustration in 1973, and was illustrated by Blair Lent.American Library AssociationCaldecott Medal Winner ...

''.

Biography

She was born as Arlene Tichy on August 27, 1921, in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

to Edward J. Tichy, an engraver and Marie Fingulin Tichy. She attended

Ohio Wesleyan University Ohio Wesleyan University (abbrevriated OWU) is a private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Delaware, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1842 by Methodist leaders and Ohio Valley, Centra ...

, where she was awarded a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in 1942, and later attended Western Reserve University (now

Case Western Reserve University Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a Private university, private research university in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was established in 1967 by a merger between Western Reserve University and the Case Institute of Technology. Case ...

) where she graduated with a

Master of Science in Library Science The Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) is the master's degree that combines two interdisciplinary academic disciplines. Library science is applied information science and a subfield of information science. This degree focuses on inf ...

degree in 1959. She married sales engineer Victor H. Mosel on December 26, 1942, with whom she had three children; Nancy Mosel Farrar, Joanne and James.Arlene (Tichy) Mosel, ''Contemporary Authors Online'',

Gale (Cengage) Gale is a global provider of research and digital learning resources. The company is based in Farmington Hills, Michigan, United States, west of Detroit. It has been a division of Cengage since 2007. The company, formerly known as Gale Research a ...

, entry updated December 7, 2000. Retrieved February 3, 2009. Mosel had been an assistant in the children's department at

Enoch Pratt Free Library The Enoch Pratt Free Library is the free public library system of Baltimore, Maryland. Its Central Library is located on 400 Cathedral Street (southbound) and occupies the northeastern three quarters of a city block bounded by West Franklin S ...

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

, before becoming an associate professor of

library science Library and information science (LIS)Library and Information Sciences is the name used in the Dewey Decimal Classification for class 20 from the 18th edition (1971) to the 22nd edition (2003). are two interconnected disciplines that deal with info ...

. She was also an assistant coordinator of Children's Services at the

Cuyahoga County Public Library Cuyahoga County Public Library (CCPL) has 27 branches that serve 47 communities in Cuyahoga County, Ohio. It was ranked the number one public library in the United States among libraries serving populations of more than 500,000 by the Hennen's ...

. The book '' Tikki Tikki Tembo'' was published by Holt in 1968 and illustrated by Blair Lent, It was presented as a retelling of a traditional Chinese story about a boy whose rescue after falling into a well was delayed due to his extremely lengthy name. The book was recognized as an

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 ...

and was recognized that year with the

Boston Globe–Horn Book Award The ''Boston Globe''–''Horn'' Book Awards are a set of American literary awards conferred by ''The Boston Globe'' and ''The Horn Book Magazine'' annually from 1967. One book is recognized in each of four categories: Fiction and Poetry, Nonficti ...

.Winners and Honor Books 1967 to present
,

. Retrieved February 3, 2009. In 1997, the book was selected by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' on its list of the 50 best children's books of the previous 50 years. It has been suggested, however, that the story probably originated from the

Japanese folktale Japanese folktales are an important cultural aspect of Japan. In commonplace usage, they signify a certain set of well-known classic tales, with a vague distinction of whether they fit the rigorous definition of "Oral tradition, folktale" or no ...

Jugemu instead of a Chinese folktale. In another collaboration with illustrator Blair Lent, Mosel's 1972 story ''

'', published by

E. P. Dutton E. P. Dutton was an American book publishing company. It was founded as a book retailer in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1852 by Edward Payson Dutton. Since 1986, it has been an imprint of Penguin Group. Creator Edward Payson Dutton (January 1, ...

, won the Caldecott Medal for illustration,"Caldecott Medal Winners, 1938 – Present"

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world. History 19th century ...

. Retrieved February 3, 2009. and was recognized as an Honor Book for the Globe–Horn Book Award and the 1974 Hans Christian Andersen International Children's Book Awards. Mosel died in May 1996 in

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mosel, Arlene 1921 births 1996 deaths Librarians from Ohio American women librarians American children's writers American Lutherans Case Western Reserve University alumni Case Western Reserve University faculty Ohio Wesleyan University alumni Writers from Cleveland Date of death missing American women children's writers 20th-century American women writers 20th-century Lutherans 20th-century American women academics