Lucy Fitch Perkins facts for kids
Lucy Fitch Perkins (born July 12, 1865 – died March 18, 1937) was an American artist and author. She is famous for writing and illustrating many children's books. Her most well-known works are The Dutch Twins (published in 1911) and the popular Twins series that followed it.
About Lucy Fitch Perkins
Lucy Fitch was born on July 12, 1865, in Maples, Indiana. Her parents, Appleton Howe and Elizabeth Fitch, were both teachers. Her father later helped start a barrel stave factory. When Lucy was young, her family faced money problems after a big financial crisis in 1873. They moved to Hopkinton, Massachusetts, to live with her grandparents.
Later, in 1879, the family moved to Kalamazoo, Michigan. Lucy finished high school there in 1883. She then moved to Boston, Massachusetts, to study art at the Museum of Fine Arts School. During her studies, she met Dwight H. Perkins, who would later become her husband. Lucy also started writing stories for children for a magazine called Young Folks.
After graduating in 1886, Lucy worked as an illustrator for an educational company in Boston. A year later, she moved to Brooklyn, New York. There, she became an assistant at the Pratt Institute. On August 18, 1891, Lucy married Dwight Perkins and they moved to Chicago, Illinois.
At first, Lucy mostly took care of her home. She only wrote sometimes. But after her husband had financial difficulties in 1893, Lucy began writing more. This helped the family earn extra money. She worked for the Prang Educational Company in Chicago for ten years. This job gave her chances to teach and create illustrations. In 1905, her husband became the main architect for the Chicago Board of Education. This allowed them to build a new house in Evanston, Illinois.
In 1906, Lucy published her first book, The Goose Girl. It was a collection of rhymes for children. The next year, she released A Book of Joys. However, these books were not very popular. Her big breakthrough came in 1911 with The Dutch Twins.
This book was inspired by a friend who saw a drawing Lucy made of two Dutch children. Her friend suggested she create a series of books about twins from different places. Lucy took this advice, and the Twins series became very successful. She wrote 26 books in this series for the Houghton Mifflin Company. For each book, Lucy would often talk to someone who grew up in that country. This helped her understand the local customs and traditions. Later books in the series, like The American Twins of the Revolution, focused more on history than geography.
Lucy Fitch Perkins sold over 2 million copies of her books. She was the most profitable author for her publisher, Houghton Mifflin. Her last book, The Dutch Twins and Little Brother, was published in 1938, after she had passed away. Lucy died on March 18, 1937, in Pasadena, California, from a heart attack. She had recently moved there to improve her health. Lucy had two children: Eleanor Ellis, who became a writer, and Lawrence Bradford, who became an architect.
Lucy Perkins' book The Dutch Twins is known for inspiring the famous children's author Beverly Cleary to start reading. Lucy also drew pictures for a series of fairy tales by Edith Ogden Harrison in the early 1900s. A public school in Chicago was even named after Lucy Perkins.
Selected Works
- Prince Silverwings and Other Fairy Tales, written by Edith Ogden Harrison (1902) – This was the first of several books she illustrated for Harrison.
- The Goose Girl: A mother's lap book of rhymes and pictures (1906)
Before starting her famous Twins series, Lucy Perkins also illustrated new editions of classic stories. These included Aesop's fables, fairy tales by Hans Christian Andersen and the Brothers Grimm, and stories about Robin Hood.
The Twins Series (Complete List)
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Geographical Series
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Historical Series
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