Barbara Claassen Smucker (September 1, 1915 – July 29, 2003) was an American writer, primarily of children's fiction, who lived in Canada from 1969 to 1993. She is the author of twelve books, including ''

Underground to Canada ''Underground to Canada'' is an historical novel for young readers by Barbara Smucker. It was first published in Canada in 1977 and published in the United States the following year as ''Runaway to Freedom: A Story of the Underground Railway''. ...

'' (1977) which is still widely studied in Canadian schools and ''Days of Terror'' (1979) which won the Canada Council Children's Literature Prize. In 1988, she received the

Vicky Metcalf Award The Vicky Metcalf Award for Literature for Young People, colloquially called the Vicky, is given annually at the Writers' Trust Awards to a writer or illustrator whose body of work has been "inspirational to Canadian youth". It is a top honour for ...

for a distinguished body of writing.Rich, Elaime Sommers. (December 2004)
"Smucker, Barbara Claassen (1915-2003)"
''Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online''. Retrieved 24 February 2016. Born Barbara Claassen in

Newton, Kansas Newton is a city in and the county seat of Harvey County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 18,602. Newton is located north of Wichita, Kansas, Wichita. The city of North ...

, she studied for a year at Bethel College and then went to

Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant coll ...

where she received a bachelor's degree in journalism in 1936. After graduation, she taught high school for a year and then worked as a journalist for '' The Evening Kansan-Republican''. In 1939 she married Donovan Smucker, a

Mennonite Mennonites are a group of Anabaptism, Anabaptist Christianity, Christian communities tracing their roots to the epoch of the Radical Reformation. The name ''Mennonites'' is derived from the cleric Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland, part of ...

pastor and academic specialising in Christian ethics. They moved to Canada in 1969, where Donovan taught at Conrad Grebel College in Ontario while Barbara worked as a librarian, first as the children's librarian at

Kitchener Public Library The Kitchener Public Library is the public library system for the city of Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. It consists of six libraries; a large Central Library in the downtown core, with five Community Libraries located in various neighbourhoods of Ki ...

and then as the head librarian of Renison College (1977–1982). Most of her books were published while they were living in Canada. The couple returned to the United States in 1993, settling in

Bluffton, Ohio Bluffton, originally known as Shannon, is a village in Allen and Hancock counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. The population was 3,967 at the 2020 census. Bluffton is home to Bluffton University, a four-year educational institution affiliated ...

. Donovan died in 2001. Barbara died two years later in the Mennonite Memorial Home at age 87.''

Toledo Blade ''The Blade'', also known as the ''Toledo Blade'', is a newspaper in Toledo, Ohio, published daily online and printed Thursday and Sunday by Block Communications. The newspaper was first published on December 19, 1835. Overview The first issu ...

'' (15 December 2001)
"Dr. Donovan Smucker 1915–2001: Activist pursued academics, religion"
p. B7

Books

* 1955: ''Henry's Red Sea''; Scottdale: Herald Press * 1957: ''Cherokee Run''; Scottdale: Herald Press * 1966: ''Wigwam in the City'', illustrated by Gil Miret; New York: Dutton (published as ''Susan''; New York: Scholastic Book Services) * 1977: ''

'', illustrated by Tom McNeely; Toronto: Clark, Irwin (published in 1978 as ''Runaway to Freedom: A Story of the Underground Railway'', illustrated by Charles Lilly; New York: Harper) * 1979: ''Days of Terror''; Scottdale: Herald Press * 1983: ''Amish Adventure''; Scottdale: Herald Press * 1983: ''CMBC Junior Boys Rescue Team''; Self Published (5 copies made, unknown if they still exist) * 1985: ''White Mist''; Toronto: Clarke, Irwin * 1987: ''Jacob's Little Giant''; Markham, Ontario: Viking Kestrel * 1990: ''Incredible Jumbo''; New York: Viking * 1996: ''Selina and the Bear Paw Quilt'', illustrated by Janet Wilson; New York: Crown * 1999: ''Selina and the Shoo-fly Pie'', illustrated by Janet Wilson; New York: Stoddart Kids * 1999: ''Garth and the Mermald''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smucker, Barbara 1915 births 2003 deaths American children's writers American young adult novelists 20th-century American women writers 20th-century American novelists Mennonite writers American Mennonites American women writers of young adult literature