Monica G. Shannon Wing (March 7, 1893 – August 13, 1965) was a Canadian-born American children's author. Her book '' Dobry'', published in 1934, received 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 ...

in 1935.

Biography

Shannon was born in Canada to Irish immigrants Patrick and Eliza Keena Shannon, but moved to the United States before her first birthday. They lived in Seattle first before settling in Montana's Bitter Root Valley, where she grew up on the

ranches A ranch (from /Mexican Spanish) is an area of land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of farm. These terms are most often applied to li ...

her father supervised. The stories told by her father's Bulgarian ranch-hands influenced her writing, as did her love for nature.Chevalier, Tracy (editor), ''Twentieth-Century Children's Writers'', St. James Press, 1989, p. 880. Even as a child Shannon's writing reflected her love for nature and the shepherds on her family's ranch. For one elementary school assignment to write about her favorite Bible character, Shannon chose Joseph of the Old Testament, who was a shepherd as a young boy. The story so impressed her teacher that Shannon won a special award for it. Shannon moved to California and worked at the

Los Angeles Public Library The Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL) is a public library system in Los Angeles, California, operating separate from the Los Angeles County Public Library system. The system holds more than six million volumes, and with around 19 million resid ...

from 1915 to 1925, and later lived at Three Rivers, California. Shannon's first book, ''California Fairy Tales'', was published by Doubleday in 1926. It includes stories from the US, Spain, and Ireland. ''Dobry'' was published in 1934. It tells the story of a young peasant boy who longs to be a

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

. Dobry's father is dead, and his mother wants him to work the land. His grandfather, however, supports his dream and encourages him to follow his dreams. Some of Dobry's experiences come from the life of Atanas Katchamakoff, the Bulgarian-born sculptor who illustrated the book. Monica Shannon, who married Elbert Wing in Santa Barbara in 1925, died August 13, 1965.

Awards

''Dobry'' won the 1935

for the "most distinguished contribution to American literature for children".

Works

*''California in Print'' (Los Angeles Public Library, 1919) * ''California Fairy Tales'' (Doubleday, 1926), illustrated by C. E. Millard * ''Eyes for the Dark'' (Doubleday, 1928), illus. Millard, reissued as ''More Stories from California'' (1935)Library of Congress Online Catalog. * ''Goose Grass Rhymes'' (Doubleday, 1930), illus. Neva Kanaga Brown * ''Tawnymore'' (Doubleday, 1931), illus.

Jean Charlot Louis Henri Jean Charlot (February 8, 1898 – March 20, 1979) was a French-born American painter and illustrator, active mainly in Mexico and the United States. Life Charlot was born in Paris. His father, Henri, owned an import-export business ...

* '' Dobry'' (Viking, 1934), illus. Atanas Katchamakoff

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shannon, Monica 1893 births 1965 deaths American children's writers Newbery Medal winners Writers from Belleville, Ontario American women children's writers 20th-century American women writers American people of Irish descent Canadian emigrants to the United States