Ellis Credle facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ellis Credle
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Ellis Credle
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| Born | August 18, 1902 Hyde County on Pamlico Sound, North Carolina, United States |
| Died | February 21, 1998 Chicago, Illinois |
| Occupation | Writer and Illustrator |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Louisburg College |
| Genre | fiction |
| Notable works | Down Down the Mountain |
| Spouse | Charles de Kay Townsend |
| Children | Richard Fraser Townsend |
Ellis Credle (1902–1998) was an American author and illustrator. She wrote many books for children and young adults. Credle (pronounced "cradle") is best known for her popular children's book Down Down the Mountain (1934). Many of her stories were set in the Southern United States.
Ellis Credle grew up in North Carolina. She began her writing career after living in New York City for some years. Later in life, she lived in Mexico for a long time. Some of her later stories are set there. She even worked with her husband, who was a photographer. Her son, who became a famous archeologist, also helped her with some books.
Contents
Ellis Credle's Life and Work
Early Life and Dreams
Growing Up in North Carolina
Ellis Credle was born in 1902 in Hyde County, North Carolina. She called this area "the somber low country." Her parents were Zach and Bessie Credle. Her father was a soy bean farmer. Even though her home was far from railroads and surrounded by swamps, she felt like she was "right in the middle of things."
Her childhood also included time on her grandfather's tobacco farm. She visited North Carolina's coastal islands and the Appalachian Highlands. These early experiences later helped her create characters and settings for her books.
At 16, she went to Louisburg College. This was the same school her grandmother had attended. Ellis became the editor of the school's literary magazine, "The Collegian." After graduating in 1922, she taught history and French at Forest City High School in the Blue Ridge Mountains. She taught for two years but found the work difficult.
Starting Out in New York City
In 1924, Ellis Credle received a small inheritance. She decided to use it to study interior decoration. By 1925, she was at the New York School of Interior Decoration. But she soon realized it was too much about business for her. She then started taking art classes at the Art Students League of New York. She also attended the Beaux Arts Architectural Institute. However, her money began to run out.
For eight years, Credle worked many different jobs. She was a salesgirl, a librarian, and even painted Japanese lampshades. She also worked as a governess for rich families' children. It was while telling stories to these children that she first thought about writing children's books.
Credle said that running out of money in New York led her to become a governess. She read many children's books to the kids she cared for. She soon found that the children liked the stories she made up best. These stories were based on her own childhood on her grandfather's farm and adventures on the Carolina islands. She decided to write them down and try to get them published.
Another story says an editor told her to try writing and illustrating children's books. Credle then went to the New York Public Library. She read "every children’s book they had." She felt many of them were not true stories. So, she decided to create new kinds of books using North Carolina folk tales. She tried writing fairy tales first, but they were rejected. She then focused on more realistic stories from her own life. Her first five attempts at fiction were all turned down.
While looking for a publisher, Credle got a job drawing reptiles for the American Museum of Natural History. This job gave her one full day off each week to work on her dream. A friend let her use his studio during the day. This elegant space helped her feel more creative than her small apartment. She started working on a story set in the Blue Ridge Mountains. She wrote and rewrote, and drew and redrew the pictures. Publishers rejected early versions. One editor told her to make the story less fantastical since the setting was realistic. Another suggested using fewer colors for her illustrations to save printing costs. She took their advice.
Credle heard her job drawing reptiles might end soon. She decided to go back to North Carolina for a while. Then she had the idea to travel to Chicago. She found a room near her brother and his wife. She hoped to paint portraits for money, but that plan failed. Her brother moved away, leaving her feeling alone in Chicago. But when she sought help from the YWCA to return to New York, she was placed in a beautiful mansion. Here, she had time and inspiration to work on her book again. She made great progress before heading back to New York City.
Becoming a Successful Author
Her Big Break
Back in New York, Credle worked for the W.P.A.. She painted murals for the Brooklyn Children's Museum. At night, she finished the pictures for her book. She remembered the editor's advice about colors. She chose to use only two colors: blue and brown. She had seen this color combination on a batik scarf and loved it. She later recalled seeing a broken brown branch with bright blue berries near her North Carolina home, which reminded her of the scarf.
Credle took her finished story to Thomas Nelson and Sons of New York. An editor liked it and thought it might interest the Book of the Month Club. Credle was very excited by this quick approval. She almost left with her manuscript, but the editor stopped her and made a firm offer.
After much hard work, Credle finally found great success with Down Down the Mountain (1934). This book is called "the first picture book ever done of the Blue Ridge country." It tells the story of a poor brother and sister, Hetty and Hank. They grow turnips to sell so they can buy new shoes. On their way down the mountain, they give away most of their turnips to people who need them. In the end, they are rewarded in a surprising way.
Down Down The Mountain became an instant and lasting success. It has sold over 4,000,000 copies. Many editions were published in English. In 1947, General Douglas MacArthur asked for the book to be translated into Japanese for children in Japan. It was chosen as a Junior Library Guild selection. In 1971, it won a Lewis Carroll Shelf Award. The book is also included in Raising Spiritual Children, showing its message of generosity.
Credle was very happy when her book was accepted. With hope for the future and her advance money, she went on a cruise to South America. On this trip, she met photographer Charles de Kay Townsend. They married the next year. They traveled a lot instead of settling down. Ellis changed her name to Ellis Townsend, but she continued to use her maiden name, Ellis Credle, for all her published books.
More Books and Challenges
After Down Down the Mountain, Credle wrote three more picture books. Then, she and her husband went to North Carolina. They worked together on a photo storybook called The Flop-Eared Hound. This book was set on her late father's farm in Hyde County.
Encouraged by their success, they went to the Blue Ridge Mountains for another photo story project. This one was called Johnny and His Mule. Credle remembered that a schoolbook publisher accepted the book. But then, it was held for five years without being published. At the same time, her previous publisher held back her royalties for two years. They claimed she had broken a contract rule. Credle said this caused "financial ruin" for a time. During this difficult period, her son Richard was born. Her husband got a job at The National Gallery of Art. The Townsend family moved to Washington, D.C..
Eventually, she got Johnny and His Mule back. The book was finally published, and she received her other royalties. Her career continued, but for a while, this setback made her doubt if writing for children would be profitable.
Her Art as an Illustrator
Ellis Credle's artwork has been compared to Thomas Benton's. People noted its "undulating line" and "restless energy." The art in Down Down The Mountain is praised for its "rough-hewn, deep-cleft, unfinished quality." The use of blue and brown for the pictures and brown for the text gave the book a cheerful and unique look. The New York Times said in 1934 that Credle's illustrations had "zest and humor." They also showed a good understanding of the mountain country. Later reviews noted the "sturdy simplicity" and "easy, fluid style" of her work.
Credle was also praised for how accurate her drawings were. For example, the setting and clothes in Down Down the Mountain show the real folk culture of the Appalachian region during the Great Depression. A drawing of the mother making soap in traditional clothes, and an illustration of the cabin's inside, were specifically praised. In her retelling of Big Fraid, Little Fraid, her "visual presentation is quite authentic." This includes the log cabin, fireplace, and rainbarrel.
However, not everyone loved her illustrations. One reviewer said her drawings for Caleb's Luck showed the mountain culture but didn't add much to the story. They felt her illustrations for her own stories were better.
Her Style as a Writer
Even as her writing career grew, Credle found it hard to come up with new plots for her editors. However, she felt that children "don't mind if the plot is time-worn." This is because their experiences don't include many plots. She did agree that young children "require well-plotted stories." They will "lose interest if one wanders from the main line." Credle often used North Carolina folk tales and her own childhood experiences to help her structure her writing.
In the early 1980s, Credle was working on two novels. She still found it hard to think of plots. So, she would start with just the setting and characters. As she wrote about what might happen to her characters, she would eventually find a logical ending. Credle said that once she knew the end, she could "go back, motivate the people a little more, rearrange the chapters to maintain suspense." She described this process as "wasteful and time consuming." But she thought it was like how many lives are lived, by "trial and error."
Working with Others
Ellis Credle started her career by both writing and drawing her books. But she also worked with other creators many times. She illustrated Posey and the Peddler (1938) by Maud Lindsay and Caleb's Luck (1942) by Laura Benét. She wrote Tall Tales from the High Hills, and Other Stories (1957), which shared old tales from the Southern mountains. Richard Bennett did the artwork for this book.
She also worked with her husband, Charles de Kay Townsend. They created books like Johnny and his Mule, Mexico: Land of Hidden Treasure, and My Pet Peepelo. She wrote the stories, and he took the photographs. Her son Richard illustrated her book Little Pest Pico (1969).
Later Life and Legacy
Credle had visited Mexico in the early 1930s and enjoyed it. In 1947, she and her family moved to Guadalajara, Mexico. She and her husband lived there for the next 38 years. Even though it was called a retirement, she kept writing. Many of her new stories were set in Mexico. However, these books did not become as famous as her Blue Ridge country tales. After her husband passed away, she moved to the shores of Lake Chapala.
"I have never regretted coming to Mexico,” Credle said. “I have always felt happy, at home, and strangely safe here." She visited the United States sometimes to see her son in Chicago. She was also invited to give talks about North Carolina folklore. At one meeting for librarians, she played guitar and sang songs from her childhood. Ellis Credle was visiting her son in Chicago when she died on February 21, 1998.
Her Lasting Impact
Some of Ellis Credle's papers are kept at the University of Oregon Libraries. This collection includes sketches from her books, letters with her editors, and some handwritten drafts.
Another important part of Credle's legacy is the work of her son, Richard Fraser Townsend. Richard became a leading expert on the art and history of ancient America and other cultures. He has said that his interest in understanding new cultures began when his family moved to Mexico in 1947. Young Richard explored the "monuments and landscapes" of his new home with his parents. Ellis Credle also explored Mexico's past and wrote Mexico, Land of Hidden Treasure, with photographs by Charles Townsend. Later, her son became the head of the Department of African Art and Indian Art of the Americas at the Art Institute of Chicago. He also wrote and edited many books of his own.
