Phyllis Krasilovsky facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Phyllis Krasilovsky
Born	(1926-08-28)August 28, 1926
Died	February 26, 2014(2014-02-26) (aged 87)
Nationality	American
Occupation	Writer
Known for	Children's books

Phyllis Louise Krasilovsky (born Manning) was an American writer who created many wonderful books for children. She was born on August 28, 1926, and passed away on February 26, 2014.

Life of a Children's Author

Phyllis Louise Manning was born in Brooklyn, New York. She finished high school at James Madison High School there.

She once shared that she started telling stories to her fiancé's five-year-old cousin. The young cousin was very sick at the time.

First Book Published

Phyllis Krasilovsky got her first book published in a very interesting way. She walked into the offices of Doubleday, a big publishing company. She insisted on seeing an editor right away. This was because she and her fiancé were about to move to Alaska.

A children's book editor named Margaret Lesser heard the conversation. She invited Phyllis in and read her story. Just a few minutes later, she accepted The Man Who Didn't Wash His Dishes for publication. Phyllis's husband, who was studying to be a lawyer at Cornell Law School, carefully checked the contract.

Adventures in Alaska

After the book was accepted, Phyllis and her husband headed to Alaska. They had a tiny car called a Crossley. It was so small that its wheels were too narrow for the wooden tracks on the unpaved Alaska Highway. They often had to hitch rides over bridges with their car on the back of trucks.

Phyllis was very good at convincing people. In the Yukon, she even managed to get them a place to stay overnight in a jail when they had nowhere else to go. Their adventures were featured in an article in Ladies' Home Journal called How America Lives: Newcomers to Alaska.

Popular Books and Achievements

Over the years, Phyllis Krasilovsky wrote 20 books for children. Some of her well-known books include The Very Little Girl and Scaredy Cat. Two of her most famous books are The Cow Who Fell in the Canal and Benny’s Flag.

She said that her book The Popular Girls Club was one of the first books about mean kids. Her books were translated into 14 different languages around the world.

In the late 1960s, Phyllis Krasilovsky joined other famous children's authors. They wanted to make sure they got paid fairly when their books were sold in other countries. This is called "foreign rights." The first meeting with authors like Maurice Sendak and Margret Rey happened in her living room in Chappaqua, New York.

Teaching and Honors

Starting in 1970, Krasilovsky taught children's literature at Marymount College in Tarrytown, New York. She taught there for three years. Even though she didn't have a college degree, she was asked to lead the graduation ceremony.

When she was a child during the Great Depression, she went to James Madison High School. She studied skills like typing and shorthand (stenography) for office jobs. She also joined the debating team and won a medal in her final year. This is where she met her future husband.

Her book The Cow Who Fell in the Canal was very successful. The Dutch government honored her with a special party at their Consulate in New York. They also gave her a trip to the Netherlands. Besides writing for many magazines, she also wrote several opinion articles for The New York Times.

Phyllis and her husband had four children: Alexis, Jessica, Margaret, and Peter.

Later Years

Phyllis Krasilovsky passed away on February 27, 2014. She was 87 years old. She died in Redding, Connecticut, due to problems from a stroke.

Books by Phyllis Krasilovsky

Here are some of the books Phyllis Krasilovsky wrote:

• The Man Who Didn’t Wash His Dishes (Doubleday, 1950), illustrated by Barbara Cooney
• The Very Little Girl (1953), illustrated by Ninon MacKnight; a 1992 edition was illustrated by Karen Gundersheimer
• The Cow Who Fell in the Canal (1957), illustrated by Peter Spier
• Scaredy Cat (1959), illustrated by Ninon
• Benny's Flag (1960), illustrated by W. T. Mars; a 2002 edition was illustrated by Jim Fowler – This book tells the story of Jon Ben Benson, a young boy who designed the state flag for Alaska.
• The Very Little Boy (1962), illustrated by Ninon; a 1992 edition was illustrated by Karen Gundersheimer
• Susan Sometimes (1962), illustrated by Abbi Giventer
• The Girl Who Was a Cowboy (1965), illustrated by Cyndy Szekeres
• The Very Tall Little Girl (1969), illustrated by Olivia H. H. Cole
• The Shy Little Girl (Houghton Mifflin, 1970), illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman
• The Popular Girls Club (Simon & Schuster, 1973), illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman
• L. C. is the Greatest (1975)
• The Man Who Tried to Save Time (1979), illustrated by Marcia Sewall
• The Man Who Entered a Contest (1980), illustrated by Yuri Salzman
• The Man Who Cooked for Himself (Parents Magazine Press, 1981), illustrated by Mamoru Funai
• The First Tulips in Holland (1982), illustrated by S. D. Schindler – This is a story about how a Dutch merchant brought tulip bulbs from Persia.
• The Christmas Tree That Grew (1987), illustrated by Kathy Wilburn
• The Happy Times Storybook (1987), illustrated by Ruth Sanderson
• The Man Who Was Too Lazy to Fix Things (1992), illustrated by John Emil Cymerman
• The Woman Who Saved Things (1993), illustrated by John Emil Cymerman