Elisabeth MacIntyre facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Elisabeth MacIntyre
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Elisabeth MacIntyre and daughter Jane, 1953
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| Born | Elisabeth Innes MacIntyre November 1, 1916 Sydney, New South Wales |
| Died | July 7, 2004 (aged 87) |
| Occupation | Writer, illustrator |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Education | East Sydney Technical College |
| Genre | Picture books, cartoon strips, YA novels |
| Years active | 1941–1982 |
| Notable works | Ambrose Kangaroo Susan, Who Lives in Australia or Katherine Hugh's Zoo |
| Notable awards | Children's Book of the Year Award: Picture Book, 1965 |
| Spouse | John Roy Eldershaw |
| Children | Jane Eldershaw |
Elisabeth MacIntyre (born Elisabeth Innes MacIntyre; 1916–2004) was a talented Australian writer and illustrator. She was best known for her children's picture books and cartoon strips. She also wrote cartoon strips for adults and novels for young adults.
Elisabeth MacIntyre was a strong supporter of showing Australian animals and landscapes in her books. This was important because many children's books at the time came from England. Her picture books were loved for their bright, lively drawings and fun stories, some of which even rhymed! She was successful in Australia, America, and Britain. Some of her novels were even translated into German and Japanese. Her most famous books include Ambrose Kangaroo, Susan, Who Lives in Australia (also called Katherine), and Hugh's Zoo. She won the Australian Children's Book of the Year Award: Picture Book in 1965 for Hugh's Zoo.
Contents
About Elisabeth MacIntyre
Elisabeth MacIntyre was born in Sydney, Australia, on November 1, 1916. She grew up in the countryside of New South Wales. She had one brother and one sister, Peggy C. MacIntyre, who became a playwright. When she was a teenager, Elisabeth became deaf after an accident.
She went to East Sydney Technical College to study commercial art. She later said that artist Thea Proctor encouraged and inspired her. Elisabeth worked as a graphic designer, creating display cards and designing packaging for soap and cosmetics. During World War II, she helped by picking fruit in the Women's Land Army. Around 1950, she married artist John Roy Eldershaw. They had one daughter, Jane. After her marriage ended, Elisabeth worked other jobs, including in the display section of the department store David Jones.
Her Creative Work
Elisabeth MacIntyre's career was full of different creative projects, from popular picture books to novels for older kids.
Ambrose Kangaroo
While working at an advertising agency, Elisabeth started sketching ideas for toys and children's books. Her first book, Ambrose Kangaroo, was published in Sydney in 1941. It was also published in the US the next year. Reviewers loved Ambrose, calling him "delightfully droll" and "irresistible."
Ambrose was a kangaroo in blue trousers with a yellow hat. The book was so popular that it led to more books like Ambrose Kangaroo has a busy day (1944) and Ambrose Kangaroo goes to town (1964). From 1945, Elisabeth also drew an Ambrose Kangaroo comic strip for The Sunday Telegraph for about seven years. She even created an Ambrose Kangaroo TV cartoon that aired on ABC TV starting in 1958.
Other Cartoon Strips
In the 1950s, Elisabeth MacIntyre created other comic strips too. One was about George, a smart little boy who wanted to learn all about Australia. Another was Annabelle, a fun and sometimes clumsy secretary, published in the Australian Women's Weekly. She also drew a weekly cartoon called Mother for another women's magazine, which was based on her own life experiences.
Books About Australia and Learning
After Ambrose was published in the US, Elisabeth was asked to write about Australia for American readers. This was because many American soldiers were stationed in Australia during World War II, and their families wanted to learn about the country.
Susan, Who Lives in Australia was published in the US in 1944. It was later published in Australia in 1946 as Katherine. The main character was a little girl who lived on a sheep station and visited Sydney. This book was very popular and helped Elisabeth become well-known in Australia. People loved its lively drawings and rhyming text.
Other non-fiction books she wrote included Willie's Woollies: The Story of Australian Wool (1951) and Jane Likes Pictures (1959). For Willie's Woollies, she visited a sheep station to make sketches. The book showed how wool is processed and made into clothes. Reviewers thought it was excellent and taught children in a fun way.
Jane Likes Pictures was inspired by her daughter's love for art. It was designed to help young children learn about drawing and painting. Reviewers called it a "delightful" and "happy book" that made drawing fun. Elisabeth's background in commercial art helped her create simple, clear illustrations for children's books. She believed in simplifying ideas so that words and pictures worked together perfectly.
Fun Picture Books
Mr. Koala Bear (1954) was another of Elisabeth's fun picture books for young children. It was about an old koala who gets a surprise visit from two young koalas who think he's their uncle. This book was praised for its funny and pleasing illustrations. Reviewers loved the musical rhymes and suggested it was perfect for reading aloud.
Elisabeth also illustrated two children's books by other authors: Three Cheers for Piggy Grunter by Noreen Shelley (1959) and The Story House by Ruth Fenner (1960).
Books About Nature and Conservation
Elisabeth MacIntyre cared deeply about nature. She wrote that her books were a way to share what she believed in. She felt that a story could teach about conservation in a gentle way.
Both Hugh's Zoo (1964) and The Affable, Amiable Bulldozer Man (1965) had messages about protecting Australian plants and animals. Hugh's Zoo tells the story of a boy who catches animals from the bush to make his own zoo. But a dog helps the animals escape. Hugh is sad at first, but then he realizes the animals are happier in their natural homes. He learns that he can still enjoy them there. This book was praised for being entertaining and sensible.
Hugh's Zoo won the Children's Book of the Year Award: Picture Book in 1965. Even though there was some discussion among judges, they felt the book was "strongly and effectively presented with honesty and sincerity." Many reviewers agreed it was a "well deserved" award.
In The Affable, Amiable Bulldozer Man, a bulldozer comes to clear the bush, destroying the homes of birds, animals, and insects. A tiny ant bites the driver, and the story ends happily. This book was seen as a sensitive way to talk about how development affects nature.
Novels for Older Readers
From 1974 to 1976, Elisabeth MacIntyre received a special fellowship from the Australia Council for the Arts. This allowed her to visit the United States to study and write in the new area of young adult literature. She also traveled to New Guinea, Italy, and Japan. She said that she became more interested in how things "seemed to be" rather than just how they looked.
Ninji's Magic (1966) was Elisabeth's first full-length novel for older children. It was set in New Guinea and told the story of a young boy from the highlands who encounters white people and Western education. Reviewers found the story "absorbing" and "informative." They felt it helped young readers understand how cultures change and how people adjust to new things.
Her other novels were The Purple Mouse (1975), It looks different when you get there (1978), and A wonderful way to learn the language (1982). In The Purple Mouse, the main character, Hatty, is deaf, just like Elisabeth herself. It looks different when you get there is about a student who leaves university to have a baby and tries to find a place where she belongs. Ninji's Magic and It looks different when you get there were translated into Japanese, and Ninji's Magic was also translated into German.
Other Projects
Elisabeth MacIntyre also wrote radio stories and articles about her travels and craft ideas for magazines like The Bulletin and the Australian Women's Weekly.
She also designed toys. In 1941, she had an exhibition in Sydney showing her wooden toys, felt toys, and painted nursery plaques. She made many toy animals, including Ambrose Kangaroo, and other Australian animals like emus and platypuses. Later, in the 1960s, she made small models of Australian animals as ornaments. She called them "Currency Lads," a playful name related to the new Australian money introduced in 1966, which featured Australian animals on the coins.
Selected Publications
- 1941 Ambrose Kangaroo (Australian Consolidated Press)
- 1944 Susan, Who Lives in Australia (Scribner's, USA)
- 1944 The Black Lamb (Jons Productions, Sydney)
- 1946 Katherine (Australian version of Susan, The Australian Publishing Company; revised editions in 1958 (Angus & Robertson) and 1963)
- 1951 Willie's Woollies (Georgian House, Melbourne)
- 1954 Mr. Koala Bear (Scribner's, USA)
- 1956 'Susan and the sheep stealing', a chapter in Round the year story book (ed. P. R. Gawthorn; Purnell and Sons, London)
- 1959 Jane likes Pictures (Collins, London)
- 1964 Hugh's Zoo (Constable Young Books, London)
- 1965 The Affable, Amiable Bulldozer Man (Angus & Robertson, Sydney)
- 1966 Ninji's Magic (Knopf, USA)
- 1975 The Purple Mouse (Nelson, USA)
- 1978 It looks different when you get there (Hodder and Stoughton, Sydney)
- 1978 Ambrose kangaroo delivers the goods (Angus & Robertson, Sydney)
- 1982 A wonderful way to learn the language (Hodder and Stoughton, Sydney)
Awards
- 1955 – Mr. Koala Bear, Children's Book of the Year Award: Picture Book: Commended
- 1965 – Hugh's Zoo, Children's Book of the Year Award: Picture Book: Winner
- 1974–1976 – Children's Literature Fellowship from the Australia Council for the Arts
- 1976 – Australia-Japan Foundation grant
