Le Grand Henderson (1901–1964), most often writing under the ''nom de plume'' "Le Grand", was a writer and illustrator of books for all ages. Le Grand was born in 1901 in

Torrington, Connecticut Torrington is the most populated municipality and largest city in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States, and the Northwest Hills Planning Region, Connecticut, Northwest Hills Planning Region. It is also the core city of Greater Torringto ...

. He attended the

Yale Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...

School of Fine Arts for four years. After graduation, he headed for

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. He found work designing heating and ventilating equipment, switchboards for submarines, and window and interior displays for

Macy's Macy's is an American department store chain founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. The first store was located in Manhattan on Sixth Avenue between 13th and 14th Streets, south of the present-day flagship store at Herald Square on West 34 ...

and

Bloomingdale's Bloomingdale's Inc. is an American luxury department store chain founded in 1861 by Joseph Bloomingdale and Lyman Bloomingdale. It was acquired by Federated Department Stores in 1930, which purchased the Macy's department store chain in 1994, ...

. He soon tired of living in the city. He then went to

St. Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 311,527, making it Minnesota's second-most populous city a ...

, where he began a yearlong journey on a

houseboat A houseboat is a boat that has been designed or modified to be used primarily for regular dwelling. Most houseboats are not motorized, as they are usually moored or kept stationary, fixed at a Berth (moorings), berth, and often tethered to ...

down the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

to the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...

. The ''Augustus'' series of books takes place along the Mississippi, based on this trip down the river. Le Grand is best known for his folklore series (9 books, including ''Cap'n Dow and the Hole in the Doughnut'' and ''Cats for Kansas'') for children 4 - 8. The story of "Cap'n Dow and the Hole in the Doughnut" is said to have been written while he personally served as one of the crew of a down-East schooner off the coast of Maine, where men are sailors and doughnuts are doughnuts. He is also known for his ''Augustus'' series (12 books) depicting the country-wide adventures of a " Huck Finn"-type lad, for children 8 - 12. Overall, he wrote over 30 books between 1937 and 1940. He died in 1964.

Works

*Why Is A Yak?, 1937 *Augustus and the River, 1939 *What About Willie?, 1939 *Glory Horn, 1941 *Augustus Goes South, 1940 *Augustus And The mountains, 1941 *Saturday For Samuel, 1941 *Augustus Helps the Navy, 1942 *Augustus Helps The Marines, 1943 *Augustus Helps the Army, 1943 *Augustus Flies, 1944 *Augustus Drives a Jeep, 1944 *Augustus Saves A Ship, 1945 *Augustus Hits The Road, 1946 *Cap'n Dow and the Hole in the Doughnut, 1946 *Augustus Rides The Border, 1947 *Augustus And The Desert, 1948 *Cats For Kansas, 1948 *Here Come The Perkinses, 1949 *The Puppy Who Chased The Sun, 1950 *The Boy Who Wanted to be a Fish,1951 *When the Mississippi Was Wild, 1952 *Home Is Up River, 1952 *Touch Me Not: A Novel, 1952 *Are Dogs Better Than Cats, 1953 *Tom Benn and Blackbeard, the pirate, 1954 *Why Cowboys Sing in Texas, 1950 *Matilda, 1956 *How Space Rockets Began (Scott, Foresman; Invitations to personal reading program), 1960 *Augustus Rides the Border, 1961 *How Basketball Began, (Scott, Foresman; Invitations to personal reading program), 1962

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Henderson, Le Grand 1901 births 1964 deaths American children's writers Writers from Connecticut 20th-century American illustrators People from Torrington, Connecticut Yale University alumni