Georgene Faulkner (1873–1958) was an American writer of

children's literature Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. In addition to conventional literary genres, modern children's literature is classified by the intended age of the reade ...

and storyteller of the early twentieth century. In her career, she was known and promoted as "the Story Lady." A native

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

an, she attended the School of Education of the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

, then at the forefront of educational reform. When her sister Elizabeth Faulkner started the Faulkner School for Girls in 1909, Georgene was in charge of the

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cen ...

. She was an accomplished storyteller; she dressed up as Mrs.

Santa Claus Santa Claus (also known as Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle or Santa) is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring gifts during the late evening and overnight hours on Chris ...

to tell

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

stories to children. She also practiced her craft with adult audiences: she traveled to Europe to entertain American troops during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Beginning in 1922, Georgene Faulkner began broadcasting on Chicago radio stations; on stations WMAQ and WGN she had programs titled "The Story Lady" and "Air Castle." She also wrote on children's topics for the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

''. Over the space of four decades she wrote or edited a range of children's books. Several of her works were illustrated by

Frederick Richardson Frederick Richardson (1862 – 15 January 1937) was an American illustrator of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, best remembered for his illustrations of works by L. Frank Baum. Life and career A native Chicagoan, Richardso ...

. In the final phase of her career she addressed the problem of racial prejudice, in the books ''Melindy's Medal'' (with John Becker, 1945) and ''Melindy's Happy Summer'' (1949).Diana Johnson-Feelings, ''Telling Tales: The Pedagogy and Promise of African American Literature for Youth'', Westport, CT, Greenwood Press, 1990; p. 106.

Selected works

* ''Old Russian Tales'' (1913) * ''Italian Fairy Tales'' (1914) * ''Christmas Stories'' (1916) * ''Old English Nursery Tales'' (1916) * ''Red Cross Stories for Children'' (1917) * ''The Story Lady's Book'' (1921) * ''Through Story-Land with the Children'' (1924) * ''Tales of Many Folk'' (1926) * ''The Story Lady's Nursery Tales'' (1927) * ''Story Lady's Christmas Stories'' (1927) * ''Little Peachling, and Other Tales of Old Japan'' (1928) * ''The White Elephant and Other Tales from Old India'' (1929) * ''The Road to Enchantment: Fairy Tales from the World Over'' (1929) * ''The Golden Fish: Fairy Tales from the World Over'' (1931) * ''Melindy's Medal'' (1945) * ''Melindy's Happy Summer'' (1949) * ''Hidden Silver'' (1952)

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Faulkner, Georgene American children's writers 1873 births 1958 deaths University of Chicago alumni