Elvira Garner facts for kids

Elvira Garner (1886–1956) was an American author and watercolor illustrator from Florida. She wrote and illustrated several popular children's books in the mid-20th century.

Who Was Elvira Garner?

Elvira Garner was born in 1886 and passed away in 1956. She spent much of her life in Sanford, Florida. She attended Rollins College in 1903 and 1904. However, she could not finish her degree because she had family responsibilities.

Her Life and Books

Elvira Garner became a well-known author and artist. She published five children's books. She also created the illustrations for her first four books. These books were:

• Ezekiel (1937)
• Ezekiel Travels (1938)
• Sarah Faith Anderson, Her Book (1939)
• Way Down in Tennessee (1941)

Her last book was Little Cat Lost (1943).

The Story of Ezekiel

Her most famous book was Ezekiel, published in 1937 by Henry Holt. This book won an award called the Julia Ellsworth Ford Foundation Prize. Ezekiel tells the story of a young Black boy. He lives in Sanford, Florida, with his family.

The book was special for its time because of its unique style. It had many small, colorful drawings mixed into the text. These drawings often helped to tell the story. The book was promoted a lot when it came out. It even had special window displays and dolls made by Elvira Garner herself.

Ezekiel was written using a specific dialect (a way of speaking). This style was common in books about the American South during that period. However, over time, this type of language in children's books became less popular. Today, books like Ezekiel are collected as historical items. They help us understand how stories were told in the past.

Other Stories

In 1939, Elvira Garner published Sarah Faith Anderson, Her Book. This story describes the life of a girl whose father was a missionary. He worked with the Seminole people in St. Augustine, Florida. The book uses both words and pictures to show what Florida was like in the 1800s. Two years later, in 1941, she released Way Down in Tennessee.

Elvira Garner's son, H. Douglas Garner, became a scientist for NASA.