Edith Ballinger Price facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Edith Ballinger Price
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| Born | April 26, 1897 New Brunswick, New Jersey
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| Died | September 29, 1997 (aged 100) Virginia Beach, Virginia
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| Nationality | American |
| Education | School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts, Art Students League of New York |
| Known for | Writing and illustrating children's books, helping to found the Brownies |
Edith Ballinger Price (1897–1997) was an American writer and artist. She wrote and illustrated many children's books, creating imaginative stories and pictures for 37 different books.
Her grandfather, a landscape painter named William Trost Richards, first inspired her to draw. Edith Price studied art at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts and the Art Students League of New York. Her work appeared in popular magazines like Colliers and children's magazines such as St. Nicholas Magazine. She is also famous for helping to start the Brownies, which is a junior part of the Girl Scouts.
Writing and Illustrating Books
Edith Price wrote many books for young readers. Some of her first novels include Blue Magic (1919), the Bottle Man (1920), Silver Shoal Light, The Happy Venture (1920), and My Lady Lee (1925).
She also worked with other writers. For example, she teamed up with Margaret C. Getchell on the 1916 book Cloudbird. This book tells the dream-like adventures of a little girl named Dorothy Ann and the animals she meets. Edith Price's illustrations for Cloudbird were special. Besides pictures at the start and end of chapters, she drew small animal shapes like bears, roosters, and turtles that jumped into the text itself.
Two years later, Price published Blue Magic. It first appeared in parts in St. Nicholas Magazine in 1918. Then, it became a full book the next year. The story is about a seven-year-old boy named Fen. He is sick and traveling with his family in Egypt and Italy. Because he is unwell, he cannot leave their boat. An old family friend cheers him up by pretending to be a blue genie named Siddereticus.
Helping the Brownie Scouts
Edith Price loved the Girl Scouts. She helped create the Brownie Scouts program. This program was made for younger children who were not yet old enough to join the main Girl Scouts.
She wrote the very first handbook for the Brownies. She also worked on several Girl Scout magazines, including the American Girl, Girl's Guide Gazette, and Girls Today. She was even the national leader for the Girl Scout organization from 1925 to 1932.
Other Interests
Edith Price knew many old folk songs. In 1945, a person who studied folk songs, Helen Hartness Flanders, recorded Edith singing them. Some of the songs she knew were famous ones like "The Two Sisters" and "Gypsy Davey". You can listen to these songs online today.
Gallery
(Selection was limited by availability.)
- Illustrations, Books and a Book Plate
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Illustration for The Happy Venture
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Illustration for the short story "Sister Eloise"
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Illustration for the short story "Sister Eloise"
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Illustration from Us and the Bottleman
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A book plate in honor of both the American Foundation for the Blind and Price's daughter
