Today In History: Alice Dalgliesh Is Born

A child's interests and the kinds of experiences he is having should have much to do with the book that is selected for him. Farm and seashore books will mean most to the child at a time when he is having, or just had, farm and seashore experiences. A child who has a definite interest in mechanics will be starved mentally if he is given only "pretty" picture books and fairy tales.  We are beginning to realize that we should not buy merely "a book for a six year child" but "a book that fits the child's age, experience, interests and environment."

-- Alice Dalgliesh,  Selected Books for Young Children; Selected Pictures for Young Children

A prolific writer of children's books, Alice Dalgliesh was born on October 7th, 1893 in Trinidad, British West Indies; immigrated at thirteen years of age with her family to England; and came to the United States to pursue higher education.  After studying kindergarten education at Pratt Institute, Alice Dalgliesh attended Teachers College, Columbia University where she earned her BS (1922) and  AM (1924). She went on to teach at the Horace Mann School for seventeen years, while also teaching classes on children's literature and story writing. She reviewed books for leading publications, including Publisher's Weekly, School Library Journal, The Saturday Review, and The Horn Book Magazine. She also edited social studies children's books for Charles Scribner's Sons until late in her 60s', eventually becoming editor of "Books for Young Readers" in The Saturday Review of Literature, a position she held until 1966.

Known as a pioneer in historical children's fiction, Alice Dalgliesh won Newberry honors for The Silver Pencil (1944), in which a girl from Trinidad begins her career as a short story writer; The Bears of Hemlock Mountain (1952), in which an eight-year old boy crosses the Catskills to borrow a stew pot for his family; and the semi-autobiographical work, The Courage of Sarah Noble, (1954) telling of an eight-year-old girl's experiences living with the indigenous people of Connecticut.  Rand McNally & Co, published her first book, A Happy School Year, in 1924, and Scribner's followed suit with more than forty more children's books written by Alice Dalgliesh who contributed simple line drawings and collaborated with such leading artist-illustrators as Katherine Milhous, Helen Sewell, and Leonard Weisgard.

The papers of Alice Dalgliesh are held at The University of Minnesota Libraries and Boston Public Library; the Archives of Charles Scribner's Sons are held at Princeton University Libraries.

The following articles are drawn from Proquest Historical Newspapers, which informs and inspires classroom teaching and learning.

• The Piper. (1934, Oct 29). The Song of the Books. The Christian Science Monitor (1908-) 
• H. T. (1937, May 17). Children's Book Forum to Open in Westchester: Authors and Artists to Talk Today and Tomorrow. New York Herald Tribune (1926-1962) 
• May, L. B. (1945, Jul 01). The Reader's Guide. New York Herald Tribune (1926-1962) 
• DeCosta, A. (1951, May 26). Books for Billikens: "The Young Aunts" by Alice Dalgliesh. The Chicago Defender (National Edition) (1921-1967) 
• Fenner, P. (1954, May 23). Connecticut Pioneer: The Courage of Sarah Noble, by Alice Dalgliesh.  New York Times (1923-) 
• Hormel, O. D. H. (1954, Nov 11). Primary Americana. The Christian Science Monitor (1908-) 
• L, S. B. (1955, Nov 13). Art and Story Open Young Eyes Wider. New York Herald Tribune (1926-1962) 
• Maugaert, S. L. (1957, Mar 10). Books for Boys and Girls: Pamphlet Guides for Parents. New York Herald Tribune (1926-1962) 
• Mercer, M. (1960, Apr 15). For Twenty-Six Years She Edited Juveniles. New York Herald Tribune (1926-1962) 
• Asbury E. E.  (1979, Jun 13). Alice Dalgliesh, 85; Children'a Author: She Wrote More Thank 40 Books-- Was an Editor at Scribers; Immigrated to United States; A Perennial Favorite. New York Times (1923-) 

Tips:

• Burke, A., Conard, E. U., Dalgliesh, A., Hughes, E. V., Rankin, M. E., Thorn, A. G., Garrison, C. G., & Hill, P. S. (1924). A Conduct Curriculum for the Kindergarten and First Grade. C. Scribner’s Sons. Closed Stacks Research ; LB1169 .B85.
• Dalgliesh, A. (1937). First Experiences with Literature. Scribner.  Closed Stacks Research ; PN1009.A1 D3 1937. 
• Dalgliesh, A. , and Scherman, R. Selected Books for Young Children; Selected Pictures for Young Children. (Second edition) New York City: Educational Playthings, Inc., 1934.   e-book.
• Garrison, C. G., Dalgliesh, A., & Sheehy, E. D. (1937). The Horace Mann Kindergarten For Five-Year-Old Children.  TCANA ; LB1169 .G35 1937. e-book.  
• More books authored by Alice Dagliesh.

Images:

• Collage of Books by Alice Dalgliesh
• Poster Image: Book Cover, The Courage of Sarah Noble

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