Elizabeth Yates (writer) facts for kids

Elizabeth Yates McGreal (born December 6, 1905 – died July 29, 2001) was an American writer. She is best known for her book Amos Fortune, Free Man. This book won the famous Newbery Medal in 1951. Another one of her books, Mountain Born, was also a Newbery runner-up in 1944.

Elizabeth Yates started her writing career as a journalist. She wrote travel articles for newspapers like The Christian Science Monitor and The New York Times. Many of her books were illustrated by the British artist Nora S. Unwin. She also wrote a three-part story about her own life.

Growing Up and School

Elizabeth Yates was born in Buffalo, New York. She was the seventh of eight children in her family. Her father owned a large farm. From a young age, she loved animals and the land. These experiences shaped her writing later on.

She went to Franklin School and finished in 1924. Then, she spent a year at Oaksmere, a private school near New York City.

Books were very important to Elizabeth. Her mother read aloud to the family, which made Elizabeth love reading. When she was 12, her father asked her to read the entire Bible. It became one of her favorite books. Her sister also helped her find many good books to read.

Elizabeth Yates enjoyed writing from a very young age. As a child, she turned an old pigeon house on her family's farm into her secret writing spot.

Her Writing Career

After finishing school, Elizabeth moved to Manhattan. She began writing book reviews and articles for newspapers. In 1929, she married William Henry McGreal. The couple then moved to England, where they lived for ten years. Her first book, High Holiday, was published in 1938. It was a novel for adults set in the Swiss Alps.

In 1939, Elizabeth and William moved back to the United States. They settled in Peterborough, New Hampshire. They bought a farm, and while fixing up their farmhouse, they found old artwork. This discovery inspired Yates to write Patterns on the Wall. Many of her novels were based on her own life experiences. Her love for the land led her to write The Road Through Sandwich Notch. This book helped save a part of New Hampshire and add it to the White Mountain National Forest.

Elizabeth Yates also taught writing workshops. She taught at the University of New Hampshire, the University of Connecticut, and Indiana University. She also led the New Hampshire Association for the Blind.

Elizabeth Yates' husband passed away in 1963. She died on July 29, 2001, in Concord, New Hampshire, at the age of 95.

Awards and Recognition

Elizabeth Yates received many awards for her books. In 1943, Patterns on the Wall won the Herald Tribune Award.

Her most famous book, Amos Fortune, Free Man, won several awards. It received the Newbery Medal, the first ever William Allen White Children's Book Award, and another Herald Tribune Award.

Mountain Born was recognized with a Newbery Honor in 1944. In 1955, her book Rainbow Round the World won the Jane Addams Children's Book Award.

In 1970, she received the Sarah Josepha Hale Award. This award recognized her amazing work in literature.

In the 1990s, the New Hampshire Association for the Blind started the William and Elizabeth Yates McGreal Society. Elizabeth had been the president of their board. Her husband was the first leader of the association.

In 1994, the Concord, New Hampshire Public Library created the Elizabeth Yates Award. This award honors people in the Concord area who inspire young people to read.

People have described Elizabeth Yates' books as being "the result of extensive research, a strong underlying belief in God, and a vivid imagination."

Books by Elizabeth Yates

• Someday You'll Write, 1962

Books She Compiled or Edited