Kate Seredy (November 10, 1899 – March 7, 1975) was an American writer and illustrator of children's books. She won the

Newbery Medal The John Newbery Medal, frequently shortened to the Newbery, is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), to the author of "the most distinguished contr ...

once, the Newbery Honor twice, the Caldecott Honor once, and the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award. Most of her books were written in English, which was not her first language. Seredy seems to be unknown (and untranslated) in her native Hungary, despite the fact that her story of the Good Master, and the sequel set in World War I are intensely about Hungary.

Life

Kate Seredy was born on November 10, 1899 in Budapest, Hungary.Cech, John, ''Dictionary of Literary Biographies'', Gale Research, 1983, Vol. 22. She was the only child of a schoolteacher, Louis Peter Seredy, and his wife, Anna Ireny. Seredy received a diploma to teach art from the Academy of Arts in Budapest. During World War I Seredy traveled to Paris and worked as a combat nurse. After the war she illustrated several books in Hungary. In 1922 Seredy moved from Budapest to the United States. She studied English language, working as an illustrator and artist to support herself, while preparing to illustrate children's books. From 1933 to 1934 Seredy owned a children's bookstore. Though the store wasn't a success, she later credited it with helping her understand children and what makes a good children's book. In 1935 Seredy met May Massee, the children's editor at Viking Press. Massee didn't have any illustration work for Seredy, but encouraged her to write about her childhood in Hungary, promising to publish the book for Christmas. After several months of work, Seredy submitted what would become '' The Good Master'', which she also illustrated. Though not autobiographical, Seredy did spend her summers as a child on the plains of Hungary. She used many of her impressions and experiences in the story about young Kate, who is sent by her widowed father from Budapest to the country to live with her Uncle and his family. ''The Good Master'' was named a Newbery Honor book in 1935, a runner-up to '' Caddie Woodlawn'', which Seredy illustrated for Simon and Schuster. In addition she designed the jacket and endpapers for '' Young Walter Scott'', which was another Newbery runner-up that year. In 1936 Seredy wrote and illustrated ''Listening'', set in rural New Jersey. That same year she purchased, "Listening Hill", a one-hundred acre farm near Montgomery, New York. It was here that she wrote '' The White Stag'', an historical retelling of the legends of

Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th centuries AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was par ...

settling Hungary. Seredy learned these stories from her father when she was a child. This book, which she also illustrated, won the Newbery Award in 1938. In 1959 it received the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award. '' The Singing Tree'' appeared in 1939. A sequel to ''The Good Master'', it tells of the effects of World War I on Kate and all of her family. The book shows the terrible effects of war on ordinary people, especially those who are forced to leave their lands and homes to fight. ''The Singing Tree'' was also named a Newbery Honor book. Seredy continued to write and illustrate her own books as well as those of other writers. In 1945 she illustrated ''The Christmas Anna Angel'' by Ruth Sawyer. When the Caldecott Honor list was created in 1971, Seredy was retroactively named an Honor winner for those illustrations. Seredy had twelve children's books published, but she considered herself an illustrator before an author. She had a unique style, primarily based on drawing, and considered her books "an excuse for making pictures".Kate Seredy as illustrator
Her last book, ''Lazy Tinka'', is dedicated to her long-time editor, May Massee. Kate Seredy died on March 7, 1975, in Middletown, New York, at the age of 75. Her papers and illustrations are held at the May Massee Collection at Emporia State University, Emporia, Kansas, and the University of Oregon Library.Chevalier, Tracy (editor), ''Twentieth-Century Children's Writers'', St. James Press, 1989, pp. 870;

Works

Written and illustrated

* '' The Good Master'',

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 ...

, 1935 ^ * ''Listening'', Viking, 1936 * '' The White Stag'', Viking, 1937 + * '' The Singing Tree'', Viking, 1939 ^ * ''A Tree for Peter'', Viking, 1941. Reissued Purple House Press, 2004, 2014. * ''The Open Gate'', Viking, 1943 * ''The Chestry Oak'', Viking, 1948. Reissued Purple House Press, 2015. * ''Gypsy'', Viking, 1951 * ''Philomena'', Viking, 1955 * ''The Tenement Tree'', Viking, 1959 * ''A Brand New Uncle'', Viking, 1961 * ''Lazy Tinka'', Viking, 1962

Selected illustrated books

* ''Friendly Stories'' by Arthur I. Gates and Miriam Blanton Huber, Macmillan, 1930 * ''The Pathfinder : Readings from Modern Literature'' by Lawton B. Evans, Macmillan, 1930 * ''God our Father'' by Virgil George Michel and Basil Augustine Stegmann, Macmillan, 1934 * ''The Prince Commands'' by

Andre Norton Andre Alice Norton (born Alice Mary Norton, February 17, 1912 – March 17, 2005) was an American writer of science fiction and fantasy, who also wrote works of historical and contemporary fiction. She wrote primarily under the pen na ...

(Norton's debut), D. Appleton–Century Company, 1934 * '' Caddie Woodlawn'' by Carol Ryrie Brink, Macmillan, 1935 + * ''Common Sense for Mothers on Bringing up Your Children from Babyhood to Adolescence'' by Estelle Mulqueen Reilly, Funk & Wagnalls, 1935 * '' Young Walter Scott'' by Elizabeth Janet Gray, Viking, 1935 ^ * ''The Selfish Giant and Other Stories'' compiled by

Wilhelmina Harper Wilhelmina Harper (April 21, 1884 – December 23, 1973) was a children's librarian, and a children's author. She was a supervisor of children's work for the Kern County Free Library. Early life Wilhelmina Harper was born on April 21, 1884, i ...

, David McKay, 1935 * '' Winterbound'' by Margery Bianco, Viking, 1936 ^ * ''Smiling Hill Farm'' by Miriam Evangeline Mason, Junior Literary Guild and Ginn and Co., 1937 * ''An Ear for Uncle Emil'' by E.R. Gaggin, Junior Literary Guild and Viking, 1939 * '' The Christmas Anna Angel'' by Ruth Sawyer, Viking, 1943 < * '' The Wonderful Year'' by Nancy Barnes, Junior Literary Guild and J. Messner, 1946 ^ * ''Little Vic'' by Doris Gates, Viking, 1951 * ''A Dog Named Penny'' by Clyde Robert Bulla, Ginn, 1955 + Newbery Award Winner
^ Newbery Honor Book
< Caldecott Honor Book

Notes

References

External links

Guide to the Kate Seredy papers at the University of Oregon
*
Kate Seredy
at

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 ...

Authorities — with 33 catalog records {{DEFAULTSORT:Seredy, Kate 1899 births 1975 deaths American children's writers American women children's writers American children's book illustrators Hungarian children's writers Hungarian women children's writers Hungarian children's book illustrators American women children's book illustrators Hungarian emigrants to the United States Newbery Medal winners Newbery Honor winners Writers who illustrated their own writing Writers from Budapest Hungarian University of Fine Arts alumni 20th-century Hungarian women writers Hungarian women children's book illustrators