Aileen Fisher facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Aileen Fisher
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Aileen Fisher
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| Born | September 9, 1906 Iron River, Michigan, USA |
| Died | December 2, 2002 (aged 96) Boulder, Colorado, USA |
| Occupation | Children's writer, poet, playwright |
| Alma mater | University of Chicago, University of Missouri School of Journalism, BA (1927) |
| Notable works | "Otherwise" "After a Bath" Valley of the Smallest |
| Notable awards | NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children |
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Aileen Lucia Fisher (born September 9, 1906 – died December 2, 2002) was an American writer. She wrote over one hundred children's books. These books included poems, picture books with rhymes, stories about nature and America, and biographies. She also wrote plays and articles for magazines.
Many of her poems have been collected in different books and are often used in school textbooks. In 1978, she received a special award called the National Council of Teachers of English Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children. Aileen Fisher was born in Michigan. Later, she moved to Colorado and lived there for the rest of her life.
Contents
Life Story
Early Life in Michigan
Aileen Fisher was born on September 9, 1906. Her hometown was Iron River, located in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Her parents were Nelson E. and Lucia Fisher. Her father was a homesteader who started several businesses. Her mother used to be a kindergarten teacher.
When Aileen was five, her father retired because of poor health. They moved to a 40-acre property near the Iron River. This home was called High Banks. Aileen and her brother, Leslie Paul, loved playing in the nearby river. They also walked country roads and took care of their farm animals. On Aileen's eighth birthday, her baby sister, Lucia, was born. Aileen thought of her as a birthday gift and soon began helping to care for her. Another sister, Beth, was born six years later.
Education and Early Career
Aileen Fisher attended the University of Chicago for two years. After that, she moved to the University of Missouri. She earned a bachelor's degree in journalism in 1927.
After graduating, she worked for a summer at a small theater. Then, she went back to Chicago. She worked as an assistant helping women journalists find jobs. Later, she became the director of a group for women journalists.
Moving to Colorado
In 1933, Aileen Fisher wanted to live somewhere with beautiful scenery. She also wanted a good library and a refreshing climate. So, she moved to Boulder, Colorado with her friend and fellow writer, Olive Rabe.
Five years later, they bought a 200-acre ranch in Sunshine Canyon. This ranch was at the base of Flagstaff Mountain. They lived there for thirty years without being connected to the main power grid. Aileen loved being active and spending time outdoors. She and Olive even designed and built their cabin on the ranch.
In 1948, Aileen Fisher explained their love for their home. She said, "We bought the ranch, built a cabin, got a dog — and now we don’t care if we ever leave Boulder county." She also enjoyed reading, woodworking, hiking, and mountain climbing.
Aileen Fisher passed away at the age of 96. She died at her home in Boulder, Colorado. Her writings and papers are kept in libraries at Southern Mississippi University and Stanford University.
Her Writing Style
Aileen Fisher believed that "Poetry is a rhythmical piece of writing." She felt it should make the reader feel that life is "a little richer than before." She also thought it should be "a little more full of wonder, beauty, or just plain delight." Even though she wrote many different kinds of books, she saw herself mainly as a poet. She said, "My first and chief love in writing is writing children's verse."
Poetry
Her first work was a poem called "Otherwise." She sold it to Child Life magazine in 1927. This short poem has nine lines and begins, "There must be magic, Otherwise, How could day turn into night?" It has been printed in many collections of poems. Schools still use it today.
Aileen Fisher kept selling poems to magazines. Her first book of poems, The Coffee-Pot Face, came out in 1933. This book was a collection of poems about everyday things. It included poems about ladybugs, tummy aches, and icicles. She drew her own silhouette pictures for the book. It was even chosen as a Junior Literary Guild Selection.
She wrote more than twenty poetry collections. Some of these include Up the Windy Hill: A Book of Merry Verses with Silhouettes and You Don’t Look Like Your Mother. The latter was re-released in 2001. Famous artists like Eric Carle and Adrienne Adams have illustrated her books. In 1991, Harper Collins published Always Wondering: Some Favorite Poems of Aileen Fisher. This book included poems she chose herself.
After she passed away, a book called I Heard a Bluebird Sing was published. Children across the U.S. voted for the poems included in this collection. Aileen Fisher's poems are still found in many poetry collections. Several of her books have been re-released, showing her lasting importance in children's poetry.
Nature Books
Aileen Fisher wrote both rhyming and non-fiction books. Many of these books focused on nature and animals. One of her favorite books was Valley of the Smallest: The Life Story of the Shrew. This book won the Western Writers of America Spur Award for juvenile non-fiction. It was also named a Hans Christian Andersen Honor Book. Horn Book Magazine also put it on its Best Books of the Year list. The story follows the life of a masked shrew. This shrew, like Fisher, lives in a valley in the Colorado Rocky Mountains.
Other nature books that won awards include Feathered Ones and Furry, illustrated by Eric Carle. Another popular one was In the Woods, In the Meadow, In the Sky.
Plays and Biographies
Fisher also wrote plays for children. These plays often focused on holidays or had patriotic and historical themes. She sometimes wrote these plays with other writers, including Olive Rabe. They also worked together on biographies. These were books about the lives of famous people like Emily Dickinson and Louisa May Alcott.
She also worked with the composer George Lynn. She wrote the words for children's Christmas songs. They also created a song cycle called "The Ladybug and Her Friends" and a folk opera called "The Violinden Tree."
Selected Works
Poetry collections
- The Coffee-Pot Faces, McBride Company, 1933
- Up the Windy Hill: A Book of Merry Verses with Silhouettes, Abelard Press, 1953
- My Cat Has Eyes of Sapphire Blue, Crowell, 1973
- Feathered Ones and Furry, HarperCollins, 1979
- Rabbits, Rabbits, Harper & Row, 1983
- Always Wondering": Some Favorite Poems of Aileen Fisher, HarperCollins, 1991
- You Don’t Look Like Your Mother, Mondo, 2001
- I Heard a Bluebird Singing; Cullinan, Bernice (compiler); Boyds Mills Press; 2002
Fiction
- A Lantern in the Window, T. Nelson, 1957
- Going Barefoot, T. Y. Crowell, 1960
- Secret in the Barrel, Scholastic Books, 1965
- Best Little House, T. Y. Crowell, 1966
- My Mother and I, T. Y. Crowell, 1967
- We Went Looking, T. Y. Crowell, 1968
- Clean as a Whistle, T. Y. Crowell, 1969
Other non-fiction
- Timber!:Logging in Michigan, Aladdin Books, 1955
- Skip, Thomas Nelson, 1958
- We Dickinsons: The Life of Emily Dickinson as Seen Through the Eyes of Her Brother Austin (with Olive Rabe), Atheneum, 1965
- We Alcotts: The Life of Louisa M. Alcott's Family as Seen Through the Eyes of 'Marmee', Mother of Little Women, Atheneum, 1968
- Jeanne D'Arc, Crowell, 1970
- My First Hanukkah Book, Children's Press, 1985
Plays
- Holiday Programs for Boys and Girls, Plays, Inc., 1953
- Christmas Plays and Programs, Plays, Inc., 1961
- Plays About our Nation's Songs, Plays, Inc., 1962
- Bicentennial Plays and Programs, Plays, Inc., 1975
- Up a Christmas Tree, Plays, Inc., 1978
- Blue Ribbon Plays for Girls, Plays, Inc., 1981
- Year-Round Programs for Young Players, Plays, Inc., 1985
Other publications
- Ways of Plants and The Ways of Animals, Bowmar, Inc., 1974 (These were part of a series of ten rhyming nature books with recordings and films.)
- The Ways of Plants: And a Sunflower Grew, As the Leaves Fall Down, A Tree with a Thousand Uses, Mysteries in the Garden, Now that Spring is Here, Petals Yellow and Petals Red, Plant Magic, Prize Performance, Seeds on the Go, Swords and Daggers.
- Ways of Animals: Animal Disguises, Animal Houses, Animal Jackets, Filling the Bill, Going Places, No Accounting for Taste, Now that Days are Colder, Sleepy Heads, Tail Twisters, You Don't Look Like Your Mother.
- Our Christmas Book, Abingdon Press, 1984 (a collection of fiction, non-fiction, skits and crafts)
Anthologies
- Cullinan, Bernice (editor); A Jar of Tiny Stars: Poems by NCTE Award-Winning Poets; Wordsong/Boyds Mills; 1996
- Hopkins, Lee Bennet (editor); Small Talk: A Short Book of Poems; 1995
- Kennedy, Dorothy (editor); I Thought I'd Take My Rat to School; Little, Brown; 1993
- Meltzer, Milton (editor); Hour of Freedom; Wordsong/Boyds Mills; 2003
- Paladino, Catherine (editor); Land, Sea, and Sky; Little, Brown; 1993
- Sampson, Michael (editor); The Bill Martin Jr. Big Book of Poetry; Simon & Schuster; 2008
Learn more
- Biography – Fisher, Aileen (Lucia) (1906-2002): An Article from: Contemporary Authors, Gale Reference Team (digital)
- Interview with Aileen Fisher, Copeland, Jeffrey Scott, Speaking of Poets: Interviews with Poets who Write for Children and Young Adults, vol. 1, National Council of Teachers of English, 1993
- Listen to an A. Fisher interview at boulderlibrary.org/oralhistory/.
